Sunrise
by Just4fun37
Summary: I imprinted on an Angel, everything was suppose to be perfect now, so why was our life together still a struggle? - Story follows Jake & Nessie's changing relationship through the years w/many ups & downs in between. Begins 1 month after Breaking Dawn. Later comp. btwn Jake & Nahuel and danger from Joham. Separated into first 8 years of Nessie's life & beyond. J & RPOV. All Canon.
1. Moving Talk

**A.N. -** This was my first story I ever wrote. It's complete but I have gone back and am fixing a number of things including my writing style which I think (hope) has gotten slightly better; I'm in the process of fixing and reposting the revised version under the new title _**Orbiting Satellites**_ , while keeping this original for those of you who like it the way it is.

(Spoiler Alert - sort of) As for the changes I don't think I got Jacob exactly right. He needs to be more Alpha, less second-guessing of himself. I'm not going to change the major events of the story, just his reactions and internal monologue on things.

I am also writing actual chapters for the first few "50 years after" recap chapters and have it be more consistent with the rest of the story. And I have thought of a few other things I wanted to add in that are missing. This is going to make the story even longer so I plan to republish it in 5 smaller installments.

You can find Book 1 of the new version here - **s/13204890/1/Orbiting-Satellites**

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

 **Sunrise**

 **Year 1. 2006 , Birth- age 6, Moving talk**

 **Year 2. 2007, 6+ - 11, 1st birthday, The New House**

 **Year 3. 2008, 11+ - 15, 2nd birthday, Period**

 **Year 4. 2009, 15+ - 18, 3rd birthday, Nahuel**

 **Year 5. 2010, 18+ - 20, 4th birthday, Dating**

 **Year 6. 2011, 20+ - 22, 5th birthday, Joham**

 **Year 7. 2012, 22+ - 23, 6th birthday, Pregnancy**

 **Year 8. 2013, 23..., 7th birthday, Forever After**

Year One

Chapter 1, Moving talk

Chapter 2, Nightmares and Meetings

Chapter 3, Dinner Plans and chaperones

Chapter 4, Rose and Valentines

Chapter 5, Barbie's and Cars

Chapter 6, Agreement and Charlie

Chapter 7, Quileute & Bonfires

Chapter 8, School and a Wedding

* * *

 **Year One, Chapter One**

 **Moving talk**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was the third of February, 2006, just over one month after our encounter with the Volturi, the rulers of our Vampire world. We had been successful and things were peaceful again between us. Life had begun to settle into a comfortable routine.

Some in the Cullen house had started talking amongst themselves soon after, that maybe, it might be time to leave Forks, Washington. It was thought that we needed to move and start over, not only because of the recent unpleasant memories now associated with this area but because my father, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents have been here too long and people were starting to notice that the family didn't age; moreover Grandpa and Grandma's ages never matched up, even at the beginning.

My Grandpa Carlisle was eternally 23, but was currently trying to pass for someone closer to 35. People at the hospital where he was a doctor were getting more and more suspicious, and the plastic surgery rumors were only keeping peoples suspicions at bay to a limited degree. And Grandma Esme was forever 26 not someone looking old enough to have been married for the past decade.

It was a bit better for their "children". Although Uncle Emmet, Uncle Jasper and Aunt Rosalie could pass for high school seniors, being that they were first turned into vampires when they were each between 18 and 20 years old, it had been harder to pretend to be the 16 year old Juniors they had claimed to be, when the Cullens first moved to Forks, four years ago. Now, however they are easily passing for 20 year olds.

My dad, Edward, still looks 17, instead of the 19 years old he is trying to pretend to be, but again it's not that bad. Aunt Alice was changed when she was 19 but at only 4'10 she can pass for much younger which is good because she started out as a 15 year old sophomore, and now is now able to keep up the charade as a 19 year old.

My mother, Bella, is still the 19 year old she is suppose to be, although if you ask her, she will forever claim to be 18, just shy of her 19th birthday when she gave birth to me and was changed into her new vampire self.

Then there is my Jacob. Jacob Black, is a shape shifting werewolf who is technically 17, but appears, and will forever look to be around 25 years old. That is, he will if he continues phasing; this is due to the changes that occurred with him when he first became a wolf. He has effectively stopped aging and became immortal like the rest of my family. He is the Alpha, the leader, of his wolf Pack and the biggest, fastest, strongest, bravest wolf in La Push. He's perfect and I love him.

Lastly there is me, Renesmee Carlie Cullen, Nessie for short. I have only been alive for five months, but appear similar to a three year old toddler and have the mental equivalency of a young adult. I grow so quickly, that I must mostly remain hidden from humans for now, probably until I stop growing, when I turn seven.

Everyone will probably agree easily to move with one exception . . . my Jacob. I surmised that my mother is going to put up somewhat of a fight since it means having to move away from her father, my Grampy Charlie, but I believe she will eventually be okay. Jacob is the only one I am truly worried about.

The whole family, Grandma Esme, Grandpa Carlisle, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jasper, Aunt Rosalie, Uncle Emmett, Mom, Dad, Jacob and I of course, were sitting around the dining room table, well I was sitting on my Jacobs lap. I heard Grandpa Carlisle speaking to my dad earlier in the day regarding his desire to call this family meeting. His intent being to discuss the upcoming move and pick a suitable location.

"Thank you everyone for meeting me here today, since this involves us all," Grandpa Carlisle began. "As you are all aware we have been in Forks for approximately four years now but in light of _recent events_ I believe it is time for us to move on."

"WHAT?" Jacob yelped from his chair. "You can't just leave. I thought we settled this back in September?"

I knew why Jacob was so upset. He had imprinted on me the day I was born, the first moment he had looked into my eyes. Aunt Rosalie was holding me while my father was desperately trying to save my mother after my traumatic birth. It's events like that that make me wish I could not always remember every single detail of my life. But then I think that if I did not have such perfect recall I might not remember the look on my Jacobs face when he first saw me. It was love at first sight. Not romantic, I was just a baby after all, but still love. We are bound together, forever. He can no longer leave me anymore than I can leave him.

Carlisle continued, "Jacob, circumstances have changed. Of course we understand that you cannot be away from Renesmee, since you imprinted on her, and we are taking that into consideration regarding the proximity of our destination. While this means that we are asking you to break from your Pack, at least temporarily, we are also taking that understanding into our deliberations for the destination of our next move.

"Huh?" was all Jacob seemed able to get out.

At the same time Rosalie started screaming. "You want the _dog_ to come with us? Now we're never going to get rid of the stench."

"Hush Rose!" Grandma Esme snapped, then turned to us and added "Jacob, we were assuming that you would want to come with us and we would _all_ love to have you." Since I was sitting on his lap I could feel him relax beneath me, as soon as she said this.

Uncle Jasper spoke next. "We need to be logical about this move. I believe we need to move, yes, but we also need to stay in the area."

Some confused looks swept through several members of the room, but not all. I assumed my father already knew want Jasper was going to say since he could read his mind. And by the sound of the conversation, Grandma and Grandpa were already in on some of the details of the travel plans, even if all of the details have not been worked out yet. And Aunt Alice must have seen us moving, in one of her visions of the future.

But as Jasper continued his plan made a lot of sense. Always the (battle) strategist. "Obviously we need to leave the immediate area, for three main reasons."

Three? I could only think of two currently. What was I missing?

"First, as Carlisle stated, we have been here too long and cannot risk human exposure."

Agreeing nods swept across the table.

"Second, we've already been exposed to too many unknown vampires, who are a possible threat. A lot of vampires now know not only about us, and our vegetarian diet, but also about Renesmee, one of only a handful of half-vampires. While those that stood witness with us should not be a threat, I cannot think the same of those that stood with the Volturi."

"What about the Volturi? They're still a threat too aren't they?" Jacob asked, as if it was the most obvious statement in the world.

"The Volturi are always a threat," Aunt Alice grinned, "but not immediately. I saw to that. They publicly went on record in front of the majority of the vampire world, stating that we broke no laws and Renesmee was not a threat, so I don't see them attacking; at least any time the near future"

"Great." I heard Jacob mumble under his breath.

"Third", Uncle Jasper continued, "we should leave the immediate area unless we want the entire Quileute tribe changing into werewolves." he said with a smirk in Jacob'sdirection.

Jacob had a puzzled look on his face again, and I wasn't completely sure what he was thinking.

"That being said, I don't think we dare go too far. We should stay close enough to Forks to monitor any possible nomadic vampire curiosity in the near future, yet far enough away that we won't continue to set off the Quileute wolf gene. And also," he now turned to speak directly to my Jacob, "if you do choose to come with us, it would seem best for you to be able to stay in communication with your Pack. At least for this move. That limits us to within 300 miles from here, I believe."

Jacob just nodded.

Now I was confused, which almost never happens given my perfect recall, vampire enhanced thought processes and advance brain. But I had to ask something. "Wait, why is there a question as to whether my Jacob would come with us? If the whole family had to move wouldn't that include him too?"

Why didn't Uncle Jasper, or the others, think Jacob was a part of our family? I knew Aunt Rosalie wasn't always the nicest to him, but even in the closest families not everyone always got along. But he was my family, I didn't think anyone else would want him gone, how could I have missed something that big?

Aunt Alice turned to me and spoke. "No, Renesmee, that's not what Jasper means. No one" she glanced so quickly over to Aunt Rosalie I almost missed it, "wants Jacob to leave us. But he has another family on the reservation. He might not want to, or be able to leave them to come with us."

My heart sank at this news but I guess I could understand that. Jacob had his father, Billy, and sister, Rachel, back on the reservation. He, for all intents and purposes lived with my parents and me, at the cottage. It was hard for me to picture him living with his other family. He had lived with us for my entire life, not that it had been that long, but I just took it for granted. I guess it had not always been like that. But he had imprinted on me, didn't that mean he would be with me forever, wherever and whenever I went? Was I wrong? Was I being selfish? Was I taking him away from his other family? His real family? Weren't we his family too? Wasn't I his real family? Wasn't he. . .

I was snapped out of my head by the sound of my Jacobs voice. "I'm coming with you. I'll work something out with my Pack. If we stay within 300 miles it won't be a problem. I'll figure it out." He was talking to everyone, but looked directly at me when he spoke.

Oh no, I didn't even think about how this would affect his Pack.

"What about you family Jake?" my mother spoke for the first time. "Will they be okay without you? Or you without them?" She added thinking the same as me. We always seemed to be in agreement on most things.

"They have each other. My dad will be fine. He has Rachel to look after him, keep him company, and help him if he needs anything. And she has Paul." Paul Lahote was a wolf in another Quileute Pack under Sam Uley, he had a bad temper sometimes, but he had imprinted on Jacob's sister and loved her more than anything, he would never hurt her. She had been away at school but had moved back into her old room at Billy's ages ago to be with Paul. And Jacob told me that they already decided they were going to live with Billy for a time after their wedding, while they saved up to buy a place of their own. "Jasper is right we need to leave."

"What about you, Jake? Can you really leave them?" my mother tried again.

"It won't be a complete break yet, not totally, Bella," my father spoke up. "We can still visit now and then. You can visit Charlie, and Jacob can see Billy, Rachel, and his Pack. We will have to limit our travel to vehicles, no running, to minimize our scent trail. There will be no point in moving if we just lead more vampires to our new home. And of course, at that close of a distance it won't be too hard for them to visit us as well."

With that my mom seemed to relax a bit and the discussion moved on to choosing a new town to live in. When it was all said and done we all agreed on Hoodsport, WA. It was only around one hundred miles away from La Push, on the other side of the Olympic National Forest, well within the three hundred mile limit, and a three hour drive since we would need to go around the Olympic National Forest. But that meant my family and I would still be able to hunt there in emergencies, and we already knew the local "food supply". All regular hunting was agreed to be conducted further away, in Canada, everyone again agreed to travel back and forth by car, to minimize our scent trail in the area. The town had a high school that mom, dad, my Aunts, Uncles and Jacob would attend.

Jacob still had to complete his Junior and Senior years in order to graduate, since he had to drop out when he first began phasing into a werewolf, and everyone else would go to keep up appearances.

Grandma Esme agreed to home school me and Grandpa Carlisle should have no problem getting another medical job at the local hospital there.

We decided that we would wait to move until mid September, after my mother's and my birthday's so Grampy Charlie Swan would get to celebrate with his daughter at least once more. This also gave Grandpa Carlisle enough time to give appropriate notice at the hospital. They would have plenty of time to be able to find a suitable replacement, and he could secure a new job in Hoodsport. We, well my mother and Uncle Jasper, technically, also needed to get in touch with Mr. Jenks to create new identifications, school transcripts, credentials, and whatever else we would need for everyone to start over. I was told that he was a human who specialized in those types of things for the family, in exchange for a very generous monetary compensation. Everyone would get new identities except me and my Jacob, actually. He really did drop out of school his Junior year so he just needed to re-enroll and his father agreed to fill out the needed paperwork for Grandpa Carlisle to become his temporary guardian.

In the meantime, Grandma Esme was thrilled to be able to start working on finding a suitable house and converting it to meet our needs, so that when September rolled around we would be able to move right in to a completely renovated and furnished house.

Please review, I would love to know what everyone thinks.


	2. Nightmares and Meetings

**Year One, Chapter Two**

 **Nightmares and Meetings**

Jacob's Point Of View

That night I tucked Nessie into her bed, then snuggled in next to her. She feel into a peaceful sleep right away. I hope she would stay that way all night long. She had started having nightmares after our encounter with the Volturi and we - Bella, Edward and I, found that the only way to get her to stay asleep was if I stayed in bed, beside her, throughout the night.

It must have been too much for her little mind to handle. She seemed so mature for her age, and mostly talked and acted like an adult, it was sometimes easy to forget just how young she really was. While she was technically only five months old, she looked like a 3 year old girl, but her intelligence was miles ahead of that. She could play Mozart on the piano, had already read Moby Dick among many others, and just yesterday claimed that she is just a few games away from being able to beat Jasper at chess, which, while I don't know how to play chess myself, have no reason to doubt.

But she was also just a child in some ways, with only five months of life experiences. I am not really sure how to comprehend that. She understood everything that was going on around her from the moment she was born, before she was born, actually. Nessie had understood how she was hurting Bella in her womb, when Edward explained it to her and she worked on modifying her movements to ease Bella's pain and suffering. There was no point in her life so far where she just reacted to situations. She analyzed the information that was presented to her and formed an appropriate response based on that information and her own observations. But she knew we were all worried and scared about the Volturi and it had affected her, much more than any of us had realized, it turned out. While she seemed to put up a good front at the time, now that it was over her façade slowly crumbled.

And now here we are. She mostly seems fine when she is awake. But at night the nightmares began. I talked to Edward about it. He told me how she is smart, "Duh I already knew that", I didn't say it out loud, but he could read it in my mind, I didn't need to. Her conscious mind understands that the danger is gone but her unconscious mind is still working through things. Edward thinks it will just take time. I'm hoping he is right, I hate seeing Nessie so upset, but would do anything for her. "Calm down, even adults get nightmares," I thought to myself.

So here we are. The two of us squeezed into her tiny bed, in the cottage. I was a bit cramped but didn't mind as long as it meant Nessie got a good night sleep. It was however a bit disturbing being down the hall from Bella and Edward. There are some things I just didn't want to hear. Luckily, though, my being here meant Nessie never woke up. Edward told me she still had nightmares occasionally, even with me here, but never even close to as bad as when I was sleeping away from her; and never as strong or scary enough to wake her in the middle of the night.

That night I laid awake, unable to fall asleep, myself. We would be leaving my home soon. One hundred miles was not that far, I could still visit from time to time, well, for this move anyway. But, it just hit me. I was going to live for a very long time, maybe forever, literally. Well for at least as long as Nessie, I hoped, and that seemed like it was going to be a long time. Nahuel, the only male half-vampire known to exist, who had helped us with our encounter with the Volturi, was one hundred-fifty years old and still looked like he was in his early twenties.

Nessie's childhood was going by so fast. The entire month of December she lived under a death sentence. I had tried to make January extra fun for her. But there was only so much you can do while cooped up at home and only leaving to hunt in the woods nearby. I want to take her to La Push, meet some new people, kids even. I'll have to talk to Bella and Edward right away. I don't want her to miss out on any more of her childhood. It would be gone before we knew it.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of all of the fun I hoped to squeeze into Nessie's condensed youth.

The next morning I woke up with my angel still asleep beside me. I managed to maneuver my way out of bed as gently as I could so that I didn't wake her. I wanted to find Bella and Edward and get their okay with taking Nessie to the reservation, before I even brought it up with her. I just hope I won't be walking in on anything. I assume Edward had already heard my thoughts so this should be fairly easy.

As soon as I walked out of Nessie's room I could smell the breakfast someone was cooking. When I turned the corner to the kitchen I saw Bella over the stove.

"Morning Bells, where's Edward?"

"He had to take care of a few things. But before he left he mentioned that there was something you wanted to ask me."

Thanks Edward, he couldn't have just told her? "Yeah, I was hoping to take Nessie with me today, maybe go to La Push, let her play with some other kids?"

"Jacob, you know I trust you to care for, and protect Nessie, with your own life. There is no one I trust more, besides Edward and myself." That made me feel good and a huge grin spread across my face. It was short lived though with what she asked next. "But, is she allowed on the Reservation? Isn't that against the treaty?"

I never even considered that. No vampires, not ever the Cullens, were technically allowed in La Push, according to the treaty. An exception was made once when I had been hurt fighting the Newborn army, but that was an emergency situation. The Cullens are the ones who first made the treaty, with my ancestors, decades ago. And Nessie technically was a Cullen and a half-vampire. But she was also my imprint. According to the werewolf's "law" no wolf was allowed to hurt another wolves imprint but it said nothing about not prohibiting them from our lands.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. I guess I should clear it with the council. I really don't need any more misunderstandings right now. It shouldn't be too hard though."

The Tribes Council of Elders currently consisted of my Dad, Sue and Old Quil. I probably should invite Sam too, Sam was the alpha of the other Pack and technically the unofficial chief of the tribe, although others thought I was. It was more of an unofficial thing anyway and I don't really care what he thought, though, but I didn't need to make waves. Things were finally better between us since I first broke from his Pack. Sam and I had reconciled, my Pack was allowed back on the reservation, and both Packs coordinated and shared patrolling duties.

I quickly took out my phone and called Billy. "Hey Dad, could you get the council and Sam together at the house in about 30 minutes? I need to talk to everyone about something."

" _Is everything okay son? Do we have another vampire problem?"_ He sounded worried which made me feel bad, I hadn't meant to frighten him.

"No, nothing's wrong," I tried to reassure him with the most soothing voice I could muster over the phone. "I just need to clear something with everyone. See you soon dad. There is nothing to worry about."

As soon as I hung up I saw that Nessie was awake and lifted herself up easily, into the chair next to me, at the kitchen table.

"Morning Nessie, how did you sleep?

"Good morning, my Jacob." I love how she calls me that, because it is true, I am hers, in every way and I am glad she knows it. I am so lucky to have ended up with such a wonderful imprint. It's strange though, I never had to tell her, she just somehow always knew. I get that someday we will need to talk about exactly what it means, but not yet. "You know I always sleep well when I am with you."

"Now that you're up Nessie, Esme wanted me to pass along a message to the two of you. She wants to meet with the both of you sometime soon so you can go over with her how you would like in your room set up in the new house. Paint colors, design styles, art for the walls, that sort of thing."

"That sounds like fun. I would love some input on my new room." Nessie exclaimed.

"I'm sure whatever you choose will be wonderful Nessie. Bella, could you let Esme know I will try to come by later. I have to get going soon."

"I thought I heard you on the phone, Jacob. Are you going somewhere?"

Of course she overheard my call to Billy. I wonder if she knew of my conversation with Bella before that. "No," I thought to myself, even if I missed it, Bella would have heard if Nessie was awake and she would have talked to me much softer, so Nessie could not overhear.

"Yes, I have to go to La Push this morning, but I won't be gone long and then we can spend the rest of the day together. How does that sound?"

"Ok," was all she said before turning and digging into her breakfast of scrambled eggs. She loved eggs. It was weirdly one of the only "human foods", as she called it, that we could get her to eat. She still preferred blood though.

Really, that's it? I was prepared for a bit more of a fight. She usually wanted to spend every second with me. I wonder if she is up to something, but don't have time to get into it now. I needed to leave right away if I wanted to make it to the res on time. And I did not want to give them any reason to deny me my request, not that I really thought they would.

My dad knew how important Nessie was to me. And Sue was probably going to be her step-grandmother eventually. I know it was still early in their relationship but everyone knew where Sue and Charlie were headed. If Charlie ever worked up the courage to ask her to marry him, I am sure she would say yes in a heartbeat.

Then there was Old Quil. His grandson, Quil Ateara V, was one of my best friends. So even if Old Quil never imprinted, himself, he must have heard the pull we wolves have to our imprints from him.

I rode my motorcycle, that I had restored, with Bella a couple of years ago, and arrived at my house twenty minutes later, just in time. As I climbed off my bike I could see Sue's car already in the driveway. Billy Black and Sue Clearwater were chatting in the kitchen. I think my dad had hoped to start something with her someday, but Charlie beat him to it. He never made a big deal out of it, Charlie was his best friend after all, but I could tell he hasn't gotten over it, completely, yet.

"Hey, son. Sam is bringing Old Quil. They should be here any minute." Just as he finished talking I heard Sam's truck pull up and a minute later they walked through the door. Times up and I was suddenly nervous. I wasn't sure why. It's not like I couldn't stay just living at the Cullens cabin with Nessie, at least until September. I would still see her every day. But she would miss out on some things. I wanted her to see where I grew up, see how normal people lived, and play with other children.

The Cullens could give her a lot, buy her anything, well, almost anything, she wanted or needed, but interacting with normal people was not one of them. She needed this. Yes, we could go somewhere else. Forks, Port Angeles, Seattle, anywhere really, but I thought this was better. This was home. I felt connected to this place and I wanted to share it with her. My home was also safer with all of the wolves around. No vampires would be able to set foot on the res.

"Ok, were all here. What do you want Jake?"

"Gee Sam, nice to see you too." I said.

"Boys, play nice." Jake what can we do for you? Billy said that it wasn't a new vampire problem so why do you need to talk to us?" Sue could be so diplomatic.

Okay, here goes. Maybe if I just blurt it out, everyone will say "yes" before having a chance to think about it.

"Well, as you all know I imprinted on Nessie Cullen. And wanted to bring her here, to La Push, take her to First Beach, let her play with some of the kids around her age, bring her to a bonfire or two…"

Old Quil cut me off before I even got to finish. "NO! My father and the other elders made a treaty with those bloodsuckers back in the 1930's for a reason. We will not change it now, imprint or no imprint."

My heart sank. "But she's just a child. Nessie is half-human. She eats human food." I didn't mention that she also drinks animal blood. "She is alive, her heart beats, she grows and learns and loves." I can't believe it I was having the same argument that Edward was having with those evil Volturi leaders back in December.

"Dad, Sue, Sam, You've met her. You know she's not a danger to anyone here."

"Calm down, son. I agree with you. Renesmee is a sweet little girl. I don't see a problem with her being here."

"So let me get this straight," Old Quil began again, "she is NOT a vampire? She does not drink blood, she does not have vampire strength or speed?"

Dame. I guess I should fess everything up.

"Well, honestly, Nessie does drink blood, but only from animals. And, yes, she is faster and stronger than humans, and she also grows incredibly fast. But she learns even faster. She knows right from wrong. She knows killing humans is wrong. She has never lost control."

I turned to look directly at Sue now. "Sue, you have been around her with Charlie. She is perfectly safe. She would never bite either of you. You know that."

"That's true Jake. But I also knew the risk I was taking. The children here are innocent." Now Sue was against me? This was not going how I thought it would.

"There won't be any risk. I will personally guarantee that. She will never leave my side. Please." I was begging now, great.

"Sam, you have been awfully quiet through all of this. Is there anything you would like to add?" Old Quil asked.

"You know I was never a fan of the Cullens," Sam began, "but over this past year, fighting beside them, getting to know them, seeing how they live and hunt only animals, I have begun to see why Jake trusts them. But I also heard how Renesmee drank human blood just a few months ago, although also how she has been fine around the limited human contact she has been exposed to. I do worry that being on the reservation, completely surrounded by humans, might be overwhelming for her. I am not saying she would lose control and start attacking everyone, but it is something that we should be aware could be a possibility."

"I think we have heard enough. Son, why don't you and Sam give us a few minutes to talk about this, alone." Dad gestured towards the door. I guess that was out cue to head outside.

As soon as we were out the door I turned to Sam and pushed him. He wasn't expecting that and fell to the ground. "How could you say such a thing? You've met Nessie. You know she would never hurt anyone. She's an angel."

"Jake, she's not an angel, I know you cannot see that." He was back on his feet now and in my face, yelling at me, "She's your imprint, and a half-vampire. You only see the good in her. But it's my job to protect our people."

"It's my job to protect our people too. And I know Nessie is not a threat. I would never bring her here if she was. I would not have imprinted on her if she was," I yelled right back.

I was shaking and about to phase when I heard Sue's voice calling to us.

"Hey, break it up you two. Come back inside before you seriously hurt each other. We have come to a decision."

I minute later, back in the kitchen, my father told us their decision.

"Jake, son, we have come to a sort of compromise," my father began, while shooting a sideways glance at Old Quil. I guess he was not completely onboard but was going along with whatever it was. "Renesmee may come to the reservation," YES! "with certain conditions." Ok, I could live with that. "You need to be with her the entire time she is here." That's fine I already said I would do that. "And one other wolf, from Sam's Pack, needs to be with her." No problem, we could deal with a babysitter. "No other Cullen is allowed on La Push." That's fine, no different than before. "And we want 24 hours advanced notice whenever she will be here." Oh, sell I guess that means today is out.

"Fine, then you can expect us around ten tomorrow morning. Sam, can you arrange for someone from your Pack to meet us at the boarder?" I knew the routine, I had to go through something similar, two years ago, shuttling Bella back and forth, while protecting her from Victoria. Although this time I was on the other side and the Packs were trying to protect people from Nessie. Ridiculous.

"If that is the council's decision, then fine. Jake, I'll have someone there in time to meet you." With that Sam took off without another word. I guess he was pissed but I didn't care.

Sue ended up giving Old Quil a ride home while I hung around to talk to my dad. I needed to tell him about the Cullens upcoming move and how I would be going with them. He took it pretty good. I think he just wanted me to be happy. And he was glad I would be going back to high school.

By the time I finished going over all the details of our move it was time to go. I had promised Nessie we would spend the day together and I didn't want to return too late.

I still had to talk to my Pack about the move but one disaster at a time was all I could handle right now.


	3. Dinner Plans and Chaperones

**Year One, Chapter Three**

 **Dinner Plans and Chaperones**

Renesmee's Point of View

Jacob was off, on something important he had to take care of, at the Quileute Reservation, so I decided to use this time to start planning his Valentine's Day present. My mother and father told me Valentine's Day was a day you spend with the person or people you love and that you can give them a gift, to show them how much they mean to you, but it was not required.

"Mom, what do you think would be a good gift to give Jacob?" I asked.

"I have a great idea, let's go shopping. I'm sure we can find something." Alice appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Thanks Aunt Alice but I would like to make him something. That way it will be more personal. What does he like the most?"

"Food." Uncle Emmett yelled from somewhere in the house.

I think he was trying to be funny, but it was true. Jacob loved to eat.

"That's perfect. I can make him a special Valentine's Day Dinner. Mom, can you help me with it?"

"Of course sweetheart. What would you like to make?"

Hmmm. "All of his favorite foods." I said.

"That is going to be a big meal. I don't think there is anything that I have ever seen him not eat. Maybe we should narrow it down a bit."

"What does he like to eat the most?"

"The _most_ , I'm not sure. Why don't you ask him when you see him later?" My mother suggested.

"I would but I don't want to ruin the surprise."

"You don't have to tell him why you want to know, Nessie. I am sure he would tell you anything you wanted to know about most things without question." Alice alleged.

That's true. The imprinting did seem to smooth the way for most things whenever I had wanted something. But I never wanted to push him, or take advantage. But this was something small and it was something that would make him happy. I guess I could just ask. But I didn't want to be that obvious. Maybe I could be a little sneaky; talk to Billy and some of his Pack. Seth would definitely know.

The next day Jacob surprised me by taking me to the Quileute Reservation. I had never been there before. This was going to be so much fun, I just knew it.

"Nessie, do you remember Paul? He's in Sam's Pack?"

"Of course, he imprinted on your sister, Rachel, right?" I never forgot anything, and Jacob knew that so I was not sure where he was going with this topic of conversation.

"That's right, Nessie. Well he is going to meet us at the Quileute border. He has to . . . I think it would be nice if the two of you got to know each other a bit better."

"That sounds like a good idea if we are going to be family someday," I replied. I know there was more to it than that, but I was not sure what, and I didn't want to push. If it had been important I know Jacob would tell me. He would never intentionally want to hurt me, even by keeping something from me.

We met Paul by the side of the road. Jake never even stopped the car, he just slowed down a bit and Paul jumped in, then we all off, headed to First Beach where Jacob said his whole Pack was waiting to meet us.

It was just after 10am, and my mother and father said I could stay out with Jacob until dark. I was so excited to not only be able to spend the whole day getting to know Paul but being _anywhere_ that was . . . different from the house, cottage, or surrounding woods. And this also gave me the perfect opportunity to ask Jacob's Pack about his food preferences.

We had taken Jacob's Rabbit to the beach and as I got out and walked a few feet I noticed a strange sensation. The ground was moving weirdly. I looked down and noticed I had crossed from the paved parking area to sand. I had seen it before – in movies and television shows, depicted in paintings, in photos, books, and the like . . . but this was my first experience actually coming in contact with it. I wasn't sure if I liked it yet.

I could see Jacob's Pack were already waiting for us about 30 feet away.

Thirty more steps was what I would need to take on this unfamiliar, and increasingly objectionable shifting surface. The thought was not pleasant. Maybe if I ran, not full speed. My mother had warned me about not exposing myself to any humans that might be around, but I did run as quickly as humanly possible.

There we go. Safe on the blanket someone had set up.

"Nessie, are you okay?" Jacob said after he and Paul jogged up to me. He looked concerned.

"Yes," I didn't want him to think anything was wrong, "I was just excited to see everyone again." Please don't make a big deal about this?

He seemed to be able to read my mind because he just gave me a smile and sat down next to me and started some small talk with the rest of his Pack. Thank goodness. I didn't want to have to resort to using my gift to explain my (most likely) over reaction to sand.

I needed to get my mind off of the creepy beach texture.

"So guys, what's for lunch?" I know we had just arrived, but why wait. Maybe I could slip in my hidden agenda right under Jacob's nose. What was the harm in starting my plan right away?

"Wow, you really are perfect for Jake. You think with your stomach too." Embry Call laughed.

"Nope! That's possibly the only thing I've found that we don't have in common." Jacob counter.

He was right we were really well matched despite the fact that I currently look like a three year old girl and he appeared to be that of a 25 year old man, with 16 years more life experience than me.

"I'm just a kid, what can I say; I'm picky." Okay, so I'm not _really_ picky, I just prefer blood over human food, but this was not the place to talk about that.

"Well, don't worry, I am sure we can find you something to eat", Seth Clearwater said.

"Or someone", Paul huffed under his breath, while looking away angrily.

"Shut up Paul." Seth shouted back in my defense.

"Maybe if I tried some new things I might find something I like. What is everyone's favorite foods?" I asked being sure not to signal anyone, meaning Jacob, out. Perfect.

"We're wolves, Nessie. We eat anything and everything." Quil spoke up.

"Okay, but what is the best, the most delicious, delectable things you like." I asked while almost absent mindedly playing with a handful of sand. I was trying to get use to it. The more I did the more I realized that it wasn't so bad. I truth I had never seen or touched it before, not really. I had seen pictures of it in books, but to actually see it up close, to feel it slip through my fingers, to crush it into a ball, then break it back up . . . it was just so weird. Different than anything I had ever touched before. Then there was the smell. it smelled like fish. It wasn't my favorite, having an utter hatred for eating the vile things. They were smelly and revolting. But I tried to ignore that aspect.

Back to my inquiry. "Perhaps from before you became wolves, when your tastes were more, . . . discerning?"

Quil's eyes grew wide. Oh no. What had I done wrong?

"Wow, nice vocab, little one. You don't sound at all like Claire," he exclaimed.

Phew.

Clair was Quil's imprint, and unlike me, her mind and body where that of a three year old.

"She just looks three, Quil. Nessie's probably smarter than all of us combined," Jacob told him.

They all got quite after that. This was not going well.

"Um, so about your favorite foods . . ." I started again, trying to change the subject back.

"Nessie, even before we were wolves we were still teenage boys, we always, pretty much, ate anything," Seth replied, lightening the mood.

"Thanks," Leah Clearwater said while punching her brother in the arm.

I guess she didn't like always getting grouped in with the boys all of the time. She was after all the only female werewolf . . . ever.

"So then what are your least favorite foods then?" Maybe a reverse of tactics would work better.

"That's easy, vegetables," Seth said.

"Salad," Embry added.

"Anything unseasoned, Quil joined in.

"Or boiled," Leah said, speaking to me for the first time.

"What about you Paul?" He really hadn't spoken much since we had arrived, besides his one snide comment.

He looked at me like I was speaking another language.

"Um, mushy things I guess," I guess a quick quip was all I was going to get from him, since he looked back out to the ocean after he spoke. He didn't seem to really want to be here, despite what Jacob had first told me.

"Jacob?" He was the only one left that hadn't answered.

"Yes Nessie?" A smile spread across his face simply because I was talking to him. I loved how easily we could make each other happy.

"You haven't told me your least favorite food yet."

"Nessie, you have eaten every meal with me, every day of your life. I am sure you already know," he replied as he held out his hands, which I quickly climbed into before he placed me in his lap, to give me a giant hug.

Maybe he was right. Was I overthinking this? Did I already know? Probably.

Looking over at everyone, they had begun talking to each other about various things when I noticed that they had all taken their shoes off. Why would they do that? The only time I would take mine off would be when I went to bed or took a shower, or something. Jacob would rarely wear shoes, what with all of the phasing he had to do, perhaps it was just a wolf thing. I decided to just ask Jacob, so I gingerly placed my hand on his cheek and used my gift to ask, unnoticed.

"It's normal at the beach. Go ahead and take your shoes off and feel how the sand feels between your toes," he quietly replied with a smirk. "I bet you'll love it."

I doubt that, but I took my shoes off anyway. Jake had never lied to me before.

He was right, of course. The sensation of grains of sand passing between my toes actually felt nice once I gave it a chance.

Just then Paul turned to Jacob, not noticing our private conversation, and asked to speak to him alone for a moment. They went off a bit and almost in a hushed tone Paul whispered to him, "Look Jake, I need to get back to Rachel, I'll call someone else to come babysit, but something came up this morning and I really need to get back."

With that he took out his phone and made arrangements for Brady to come take his place.

 _Jacob, what did Paul mean by getting someone else to babysit?_ I asked him, with my gift when he returned to me, placing me once again in his lap.

I could feel Jacob immediately stiffened under me.

"You heard that, did you," he asked more rhetorically, than an actual question. "Nessie, I should have been completely honest with you before, but I didn't think it was anything you needed to know, I'm sorry.

"That's okay, my Jacob. Just please tell me now." I responded calmly with a hint of a smile. My getting upset would not help anything and I wanted to ease my Jacobs discomfort as much as possible. Whatever it was, it seemed to be really troubling him.

"You know your family has a treaty with the Tribe, right?"

"Yes, my family agreed to not bite humans or go on Quileute land."

"Well, the Tribes elders agreed to make an exception for you to be able to come here, but they . . . they thought it would be best if someone from Sam's Pack kept an eye on you, just in case. I know you would never do anything. They're just being ridiculously, overly cautious, Nessie. Please don't be upset," he nervously started pleading.

There really was no need. I understood.

"My Jacob, calm down, it's okay," I said out loud, as I placed my hands on his cheeks and looked directly into his eyes.

 _I'm not going to hurt anyone, and this will just give me an opportunity to meet more of Sam's Pack_. I added with my gift.

"Nessie," Jacob signed in relief, "you are too good to be true. Thank you for being so understanding. What do you say to building a sand castle?"

A sand castle? While I knew what they were, I had never actually made one.

Jake must have seen the apprehension on my face, or simply felt it through our imprint bond, because he sent me a reassuring smile and started explaining how to build one.

Not too long later we had a pretty good foundation going. Everyone, except Paul, was helping.

Before long the only thing needed was a flag on top. I found a twig and leaf that would work perfectly, but we had built the castle so big, and I still only had the physical appearance of a three year old. There was no way I could reach the top tower at my present height so I reached over and touched Jacob's cheek and sent him an image of him lifting me up so I could plant my flag on the top of the castle.

Soon after we were done putting the finishing touches on it – a window here, a drawbridge there, Brady showed up and Paul took off. I wondered what was going on with him. I will have to ask Jacob later, if he ever finds out himself.

The rest of the day passed peacefully, with everyone playing on the beach. Someone found a ball that entertained the guys for over any hour. Jacob and I went swimming in the water for a bit while the rest of the Pack went cliff diving. I thought I might like to try it when I got a bit older but I had a feeling my mother and father might not like it if I attempted something like that yet. It's not like I would get hurt, but I think they like to pretend I am a little girl still. And I didn't want to upset them by crushing there fantasy.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

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	4. Rose and Valentines

**Year One, Chapter Four**

 **Rose and Valentines**

Renesmee's Point of View

Valentine's Day was tomorrow and I had Jacobs dinner all planned. I will be cooking him all of his favorite foods that I had noticed him eat over the past nine days (and the months before that), over at the main house, while my mother "supervised." My mother, father, and I were in the kitchen there, putting the final touches on the menu.

"Dad, do you think you will be able to distract Jacob for an hour or two before dinner tomorrow so I will be able to cook everything without his knowledge?"

My mother had been giving me cooking lessons all week. We did a practice run of all the different components of tonight's meal, mixed in with a variety of others, so he wouldn't be expecting everything together. That way I was also able to gauge whether or not I had deciphered his favorite foods or not, based on his physical and emotional reactions and sums of each food eaten. I tried to be very scientific about it.

"Of course sweetheart. After that though, I am going to have to steal your mother for the remainder of the night" he smiled over at my mother.

I understood. It was their first Valentine's Day together since they got married. He had already talked to me in private about my staying in his old room tomorrow night instead of at the cottage. I didn't mind, and I would rather not hear _anything_. They deserved some time to themselves. It was a little funny though to see the embarrassment on this face. He tried to hide it as best he could, but I have always been able to see though his façade.

"Sure dad, thank you for both of your help. I hope he likes everything."

"Renesmee he will love it, if not for any other reason than because it came from you."

"Yeah, you could serve him road kill and the dog wouldn't know the difference."

"Rosalie, that's not very nice. Nessie worked hard on this and she wants to do something special for Jake," My mother said. "It's going to be great sweetie."

"Nessie, you know that's not what I meant. I know you will do an amazing job cooking. Everything you do is remarkable. I just wish you would not waste your time on that mongrel."

"Aunt Rose what is your problem with my Jacob? Why do you say things like that and treat him so badly? What has he ever done to you?"

I have never asked her directly. I had seen her animosity towards him but never have seen a reason why. I knew my family, being vampires, and Jacob and his pack, being werewolves, didn't get along naturally. But from all of the stories I had heard, that should all be over. Between the battle with Victoria and the newborns and the encounter with the Volturi I though the hostility was gone now. Rosalie attitude toward Jacob seemed to be the last remaining holdout. I have not spent that much time with Sam's pack to be completely certain of them, but I have never heard anything negative on their part.

When she didn't answer right away I went on.

"Don't you see, that when you hurt Jacob, you hurt me? Why would you do that to me?"

Rosalie looked at me like I had slapped her in the face. Then her face relaxed and it was replaced with something else, shame maybe?

She didn't say anything for a long time, then finally she started to apologize. "I'm so sorry Nessie, I didn't mean to hurt you…." Aunt Rosalie started to say when Jacob walked through the front door and ran up the stairs to the kitchen.

"You HURT her?" He screamed and ran over to me, kneeled down, and began running his hands over my arms and legs, I guess checking for open wounds, or broken bones, or something. When he didn't find anything physically wrong with me he turned to Aunt Rose.

"What did you do to Nessie?" He was right in front of her now, his face inches from hers. Jacob looked so angry. Was he shaking?

"Get out of my face, dog!" She screeched back at him.

I guess he didn't hear the entire conversation; including the earlier part about me cooking him dinner. A quick look over to my father and he gently shook his head "no". That's good, my surprise wasn't ruined, but I really don't want Jacob and Aunt Rose to fight.

"Easy Jake, it's just a misunderstanding. No one hurt Nessie. Calm down." My mother tried defusing the situation.

"Jacob," I started, reaching up to gently place my hand in his, "mom's right, I'm fine." He stopped shaking as soon as I touched him.

"Then why did I hear you say she hurt you?"

"You missed the beginning of the conversation. She just said something stupid that hurt my _feelings_. Aunt Rose loves me." I turned to look directly at her now. "She would never do anything to Intentionally hurt me. Right Aunt Rose?"

"Of course not Nessie. I am really sorry. Forgive me?" She asked.

"I think that is really up to you, and your behavior in the future." I didn't want to say anything more with Jacob standing right there, but I know she knew I meant that she needed to start treating Jacob better.

Then I squeezed in between the small space between her and Jacob and gave Aunt Rose a hug, well I gave her legs a hug since I was only two and a half feet tall.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I guess I over reacted. I know you would never harm her," Jacob apologized now.

"Let's get out of here for awhile. Can we go hunting?" I asked, turning to Jacob. I think we need a break.

Jacob lets out a sigh. "Sure Nessie. Whatever you want."

….

Jacob's Point of View

It was Valentine's Day and there was only one person I wanted to spend the day with. Well she was the person I spent every day with.

I had been sneaking away while Nessie was having her daily school lessons to work on a gift for her. Each member of her family would teach her some knew subject each day. This week they seemed to be focused on math. Monday it was Algebra, Tuesday was Geometry, and then today was Calculus, I think. Crazy! What was tomorrow going to be -Theoretical Physics? Her amazing mind remembered and seemed to understand everything. I really need to step up my game if I'm going to be worthy of her.

I wonder sometimes if my mind had improved from when I first became a wolf. It would be nice to be more on Nessie's intellectual level. In addition to phasing into a giant wolf, with freaky wolf mind telepathy, I had gotten taller and stronger in my human form too. I think my memory was better than before also. None of the other wolves mentioned noticing anything but there was a lot that happened over the last year to distract us. Our brains had to have changed with all of the rest of the physical changes. The wolf telepathy proved that, right? I could now recall precise smells and forest terrains with exacting detail, which I don't think I had ever been able to do before. Not that I had spent much time focusing on that sort of thing in the past.

I had done okay in school before I had to drop out, mostly getting B's. But I hadn't been back to the local school on the res, in over a year, none of us had. It should be interesting to see how I do when I go back next year with the Cullens?

Shaking myself out of my own thoughts I needed to concentrate on this last part so I wouldn't wreck it. I did not have time to start over. I wanted to give it to Nessie tonight during dinner.

I knew she was planning a special meal for me. It was cute how she wanted to surprise me and I didn't want to ruin that for her so I never let on what I suspected. I was assuming she asked Bella to cook us something. She had been asking a lot of food related questions for the past couple of weeks and she barely eats so my curiosity was peeked and I started paying more attention to all of her questions.

I think the carving was just about done. It was a bookmark. My girl was always reading. The carving was so thin and delicate I had accidently already broken three in my previous attempts. I was using a thin piece of wood that I had engraved so deeply it looked like one of those cheep laser cuttings you can buy at any mall, but this was a lot nicer. If you glanced at it quickly it might just look like lace but it was actually an old Quileute script.

Just as I finished Edward walked up to me. I was in the woods behind the cottage, not wanting to go too far from Nessie. School must be over for the day. He knew that I knew about Nessie's surprise dinner, but I wasn't sure why he was here now.

"She asked me to keep you away from the house while she cooks." He responded to my unspoken question.

"She's cooking, herself?" A huge smile broke out on my face. And a sense of pride filled me just to know that my little Nessie would go through so much effort just for me.

"I believe she is MY little Nessie, at least for the next few years anyway, Jacob," Edward smirked at me. He was always smirking these days. I guess that was a good sign. Better than an angry, hostile Eddie.

"Yes it is," he responded back. "and don't call me Eddie," he added with a chuckle.

"Fine, Ed….ward…," I said, dragging out his full name, " what would you like to do until dinner is ready?"

"I thought we could talk about tonight. I have something planned for Bella and I could use your help."

Um gross, I may have gotten over my feelings for Bella, since I imprinted on her daughter, but I had no desire to hear the details of what Edward had planned for the two of them tonight. I know it was Valentine's Day but - really?

"That's not what I meant, Jacob," He scowled. "I have already talk to Renesmee about this and I just wanted to let you know also. I realize you are already aware that Carlisle and Esme departed for Isle Esme three days ago. But I believe you may have missed the fact that Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose are also away for the next few days."

Really, when did that happen?

"They left last night. Bella and I will be _occupied_ at the cottage tonight, and I would appreciate it if you would keep Renesmee entertained at the main house for the next few days… and nights. Please watch over her, the house will be empty, except for the two of you."

Like he would even have to ask. I would be there for her, forever.

"I know you would, I just wanted to do you the courtesy of asking. And just call my cell phone if you need anything."

"Yeah, no problem." There is no way I was going anywhere near that cabin in the immediate future, I had already heard more that I had wanted to, trying to keep Nessie's nightmares away.

"I'm sorry Jacob, I didn't realize. We will try to be more considerate in the future and make other arrangements. It seems I have been too preoccupied to notice your… awareness."

"Yeah, well it was not something I really wanted to dwell on. You know?" I SO do not want to be having this conversation. Couldn't we all just keep pretending to _not_ acknowledge the giant elephant in the room. We all knew what everyone was doing at night, everyone knew I knew. Even Nessie knew. We're not stupid.

"Nevertheless, Bella and I will find an alternative location in the future."

"Sure, Sure." Can we never talk about this again, please.

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Jacob," Edward smiled, embarrassingly.

Huh! These one way conversations with Edward were getting less and less creepy (well, maybe except this one) and turning into real time savers.

We had been walking in the woods away from the main house for awhile now and I noticed it was starting to get dark.

"If we start back now we should get there just in time for your dinner, Jacob." Edward said just before we both took off running towards the main house.

Nessie had finished cooking dinner just as we arrived.

I pretended to act surprised, since I knew she really wanted it to be that way. It made her so happy and the food smelled amazing.

"Well you two enjoy your dinner and we will see you in a few says." Edward and Bella turned and left us after hugging Nessie, and unnecessarily reminding me, again, to look after her.

After we finished eating Nessie's amazing dinner, well, I ate, Nessie just nibbled on a bite or two, I gave her my gift. She loved it just as I hoped she would.

"What does it say?" She asked me shortly after unwrapping in and inspecting all of the delicate work closely. I knew she wouldn't just think it was some abstract design. Nessie was too thoughtful and considerate, not to mention unbelievable smart.

"It's Quileute. It roughly translates to 'Health and happiness in all of your days'."

"That's beautiful my Jacob. Thank you. Would you teach me Quileute sometime?"

"Really Nessie, of course." Quileute wasn't that hard to learn but it was not like any other language. I knew she had already started learning Spanish just by flipping through the channels on the TV. She'd probably pick it up in under a month, I chuckled to myself.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing Nessie. I was just thinking of how nice it is going to be to actually get to teach you something for a change."

"What are you talking about, Jacob? You teach me things all the time. You were the one to teach me how to hunt, and just last week you taught me how to swim at First Beach."

"Nessie, I never taught you how to swim." What was she talking about?

"Yes you did. I had never swam before that day. I learned by watching what you were doing and coping it. You have been with me every single day of my life. Have you ever seen me learn to swim?"

Dame, I messed up. "You're right. I'm sorry I should have been looking out for you better. I completely missed that you didn't know how to swim." I felt horrible. I should have known better.

"It's ok, Jacob."

"No, it's not Nessie, you could have drowned."

"How could I have drowned, silly? You never left me side, the entire day," She chuckled. You would never have let that happen. And I am half-vampire, who knows if it is even possible for me to drown."

"Well let's not try and find out, ok?"

"Ok, Jacob."

"What would you like to do next? I asked.

I smile spread across her face, and we spent the rest of the night watching movies in the living room, and feel asleep on the couch.


	5. Barbie's and Cars

**Year One, Chapter Five**

 **Barbie's and Cars**

Jacob's Point of View

A week later I had made arrangements to meet my pack on First beach. I had to tell them about my upcoming move with the Cullens and was not looking forward to it. I decided to run in wolf form from the Cullens house to save time. I had procrastinated in leaving and was now running late. When I arrived almost everyone was there.

"So you finally decided to show your face around here again sometime other than when you have to patrol. We were starting to think you ran off with you new vampire family," shouted Embry over to me as he saw me phase back onto two feet.

How ironic, he didn't know how right he was.

"So where is Quil?" I asked no one in particular, I only wanted to have to say my news once.

"He should be here soon, he said he was going to be bringing Claire, you know how she loves the beach."

Yeah, I know Claire is Quil's imprint and all, but she is only three years old. This might get ugly and I don't think she should be around a bunch of wolves if this went bad, like I assumed it might. On the other hand with her here, it might keep everyone in check. This could work out to my advantage.

Leah, Seth, Embry and I were joking around by the water trying to throw each other in, until fifteen minutes later when Quil and Claire finally arrived.

"Hey, Jake, sorry were late, Claire had an accident and I needed to turn back and change her," he whisper an apology to me.

"No problem man, I remember going though that with Nessie." In truth I didn't, Nessie managed to potty train herself in one day when she was a couple of weeks old, but there was no need to make him feel bad.

"So guys, . . . and Leah, you're probably all wondering why I wanted to talk to you. Why don't we all sit down over here," I said while gesturing to some large driftwood logs, "so we can all talk together."

"Well, this ought to be good, Black," Leah sneered.

"You are running off with the Cullens, aren't you? I knew it. It was only a matter of time before they took you away from us, " Embry was shouting, and getting upset.

"Well it was fun while it lasted, guess we'll have to go back to Sam's pack." Seth added.

"Guys, calm down. Look, if I had imprinted on a regular, human girl, I would eventually give up being a wolf to age with her, my moving away to be with Nessie isn't really that different." I growled at them and so did several others in my Pack back at me. I needed to regain control of things. "Yes," I let out a deep breath to help me relax, phasing and fighting were not going to help. And Claire was here. Claire was sitting on Quil's lap and he was holding her tight to himself just in case. "It's true that I will be leaving with the Cullens when they move in September, but we are not going that far. Just over one hundred miles, to the other side of the Olympic National Forest. You know that means that I will still be in communication range in wolf form. We can stay a pack; that is, if you want. Of course, if you wanted to rejoin Sam's pack, I won't stop you."

"We don't have to come with you if we want to stay in your pack, do we?" Quil asked. I could see him pull Claire ever so slightly closer. I could understand what he was thinking. The whole reason I was leaving was to stay with Nessie.

"No, I am the only one going. All of you will stay here whether you remain in my pack or rejoin Sam's."

Then a thought occurred to me, "Well, I guess you could come if you wanted to, I could talk to Carlisle and work something out."

Everyone just looked around at each other, shaking their heads, and I was left with the definite impression that no one was interested in that idea." "Okay, so never mind. But you are always welcome if you change your mind." Better to leave things open, anyway.

"And just how are you suppose to lead us from so far away? We'll never see you. Not that we ever really see you now, but what if there is trouble?" Embry questioned.

"That's exactly why the Cullen's are leaving, to keep any more curious or nomadic vampires from seeking them out and coming here, and if there is ever a problem you can always call my cell if you need to get in touch with me when I'm not in wolf form."

"I guess that this means that with no vampires permanently nearby no new Quileute's will be phasing, were the last of the wolves." Seth added in. He seemed strangely sad that there won't be more wolves.

"Yeah Seth, that's the Cullens theory, anyway." I turned to speak directly to Leah now, "There is one other thing, Leah, as my second, everyone will be looking more to you now to guide them. Do you think you can handle these three hoodlums?" I joked.

"Not a problem, I'll make sure everyone stays in line."

"Good, but that's the easy part I'm afraid. You will also have to be the one to coordinate the patrolling schedules and everything else with Sam and his pack."

Even though she was probably well aware of this, having me say it out loud made it more of a reality and her, up until now, breezy attitude about the whole move, darkened considerably.

"Yeah, well as long as he's not in my head anymore I'm sure I will be alright."

"You sure?" This was all seeming too easy.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll call you if I actually have a problem."

"So are we going to be expected to keep up the same levels of patrolling now that were going to be a man down once you leave?" Quil wondered.

"No, I still need to talk to Sam about this but the patrolling range needs to shrink a bit. Starting when we leave, in September. You will still need to continue to stay on our side of the treaty lines around the Cullens home but should no longer go past the midsection of the Olympic National Forest. "

"What! Why?" Seth and Embry wondered at the same time .

"The Cullens don't want anyone following us. When we leave we will only be traveling by car, no running. We don't want to leave a scent trail. If the wolf Packs cross the lines other vampires might follow. The Cullen's and I will patrol the edge of the other side of the Olympic National Forest and it's best if you just avoid the Cullen's current residences. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, I am going to talk to Sam about this too, before I leave later."

"So, we need to have like the biggest, best bonfire sometime before you leave for good," Seth suggested.

"Awesome idea, man," Embry agreed.

"Sure, sure. But it's not for good, I will be back eventually, now and then, at least. You guys set it up and just let me know when, so I can get someone from Sam's pack to chaperone my dangerous and ferocious imprint." I chuckled .

They all joined in my laughter, but we all knew it was ridiculous, Nessie would never harm anyone.

"What does ferocious mean Quil" Claire asked him.

"It's where something is scary, but Jake was just kidding, Nessie isn't scary. She's a little girl like you. "

"Can she come play with me?"

"What do you think Jake, would Nessie be interested in a play date?" Quil asked. I was glad he didn't see Nessie as a threat the way his grandfather did.

Good question, though. She looked like she was the same age as Claire, but we all knew she was way past three years old intellectually. Would she be bored hanging out with an actual child, who was so much younger than her mentally? Hell, she would probably be bored hanging out with me, if I followed that reasoning. She was already smarter than me or anyone I knew. Well anyone who wasn't a vampire, anyway. It would probably be good for her to interact with other kids.

"I'll ask, when I go back there later, okay kid?" I said with a smile, getting down to look her in the eye.

….

Of course I had nothing to worry about. Nessie was so excited to meet Claire and even decided to try and pretend to act like a normal three year old girl, for the day. She told me she wanted to make it an experiment and see how closely she could resemble a young human child. I thought it was a good idea, even pretending to be a kid would be good for her and would keep her entertained by the play activities Claire would want to do.

And it would make it much more fun for Claire too, to have someone to play with at her own level. Quil was great with her, but he was a 17 year old guy. The imprinting ensured that he would be a great playmate, but I had a feeling it just wasn't the same as playing with another little kid.

Two days later we had made arrangements to meet at Quil's, of course accompanied by a member of Sam's pack. When we arrived at the treaty line I was surprised to see Sam there waiting for us, I assumed he would send one of the guys.

"Sam, hey. What are you doing here?"

"I thought it would be good to meet your imprint myself, since she is the one causing all of this. . . "

"Hey, this isn't our fault, it was the councils idea. And I don't see it as that big of an inconvenience." What was his problem ?

"Whatever, so what exactly are you and your imprint planning on doing here today?"

"Her name is Nessie, and she is right here," I said, gesturing to her sitting, in the front seat of my truck; right next to me. "You could be polite and say 'hi'." I was getting irradiated, he didn't need to be rude.

"Hello Renesmee," he huffed to her and then turned back to me. "You still haven't said what your plans were for today."

"Oh, we gave a thrilling day planned" he was going to just hate this, I snickered to myself.

Nessie was holding my hand and used her gift to show me that she wanted to have a little fun with Sam. _'Just go with it'_ , she thought.

"I'm going to play Barbie's!" Nessie cooed so cutely as she started bouncing up and down in her seat like a real little kid.

"Huh? Barbie's, really? " Sam looked skeptical.

"Yeah, we're meeting Quil and Claire. Claire promised to bring some of her dolls to share with Nessie. What did you think we would be doing?" Okay, so it wasn't typical Nessie behavior, but Sam didn't know that, even if he did suspect, and it was just too funny.

We spent the rest of the day playing Barbie's, braiding the girls hair, and watching cartoons. Claire, at least, had a wonderful time and Quil kept thanking me over and over for making the day so special for Claire. And of course he knew Nessie was acting for Claire's benefit, but never said a word. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but as long as everyone was happy then whatever.

At some point in the day Sam even started being nice to Nessie and treating her like the normal little girl she was pretending to be, what he now considered her to be. I know it was because we had kinda tricked Sam, but I didn't see any harm in it. Besides Nessie came up with the idea for Claire's benefit long before we knew Sam would be joining us.

When we arrived back at the cottage Nessie ran through the day's events for Bella using her gift and of course Edward was able to see it in her mind as she showed Bella.

"I hope your little trick doesn't end up coming back to bite us later," Bella said to us.

"Oh, come on Bells, what harm was done by making a little girl happy? "

"That's not what I meant Jake, and you know it!"

….

The next day Nessie and I went back to La Push to visit my dad and hopefully give my Rabbit a much needed oil change.

Since we were going to my dad's I assumed we would be accompanied by Paul. He was always there anyways visiting my sister (and his imprint), Rachel.

I was surprised to see Jared waiting for us at the border.

"Jake, man, long time, no see. Hi there Nessie, Jake being good to you? . . . Err, I'm Jared, do you remember me? It's been awhile since I've seen you, you've grown so much, I can't believe it. Wow, how old are you now?", Jared rambled on and on.

Nessie just stared at him and started chuckling, waiting for him to finish.

"Hello, Jared. It's nice to see you again; I currently have the appearance of a three year old. Will you be spending the day with us?" Nessie was always so eloquent.

"Um, yeah, I guess so." He replied then turned to me. "So we're are we headed?"

"Just over to my dad's place. We might not even need you today. Paul's probably there already with Rachel."

"No, that's why I'm here, Jake. Rachel had some doctors appointment and Paul offered to take her."

"Oh, I guess I've been out of the loop on things since I've been staying with the Cullens."

Just then Nessie grabbed my hand to use her gift. " _My Jacob, I'm so sorry I've kept you from your real family. Please forgive me?_ "

"Nessie, you have not kept me from my family, you are my family just as much as they are. I choose to be with you. I love you."

As we pulled up to the house I grabbed Nessie and pulled her into a hug.

" _I know it's not long, but do you want to stay with your dad and sister until we leave in September? You won't be seeing them much after that."_

She was so sweet and thoughtful.

"Nessie, I could never be away from you that long."

" _So let me stay here with you."_

"As much as I would love that, I'm afraid, you can't. You know your family aren't allowed on the reservation. You wouldn't be able to see them everyday like you do now, and they would never agree to that."

" _I'm taking you away from your family, possibly for the rest of your life. I am sure they can survive the next 7 months without me, and I will be fine as long as I'm with you."_

"It might not be that easy for you, Nessie. And we would have to get a lot of people to agree to it.

" _So, let's start asking for permission."_

"We can ask, but I'm not making any promises." Nessie was right though. I would like to spend as much time with my dad, before we left, as I could.

"That's all I ask." She said out loud with a smug look on her face, like her just having me agree to the possibility of something made it real.

I don't think Bella and Edward would agree to my taking her away from them for that long. It would be the equivalent of 3 or 4 years of a normal child's growth. I would take away their toddler and return with a 6-7 year old.

I was even less convinced the Tribal Elders would allow her to remain on the reservation that long. But I couldn't say no to Nessie, so I at least had to ask, later.

For today we ended up spending the beginning of the day hanging out with my dad in his house. Jared planted himself on the couch and watched TV the entire time we were there.

Nessie being the wonderful soul that she was wanted to be nice and made everyone a lunch of pasta and chicken cutlets from stuff she found in the kitchen. My dad seemed a little worried when she dragged a chair over to the stove, but after the Valentine's day dinner she cooked me I knew she could handle it.

While she was busy setting the table I snuck in and quickly mixed up some scrambled eggs for her, knowing she would prefer them.

After finishing lunch and catching up with my dad Nessie and I headed to the garage.

"My Jacob, can you teach me about cars?"

"You want to learn about this stuff?" I questioned.

"Yes, my Jacob. You seem to enjoy it so much, I bet it is fascinating." That was so sweet of her. I wonder if she was really interested in it or just wanted to learn because I liked it? Either way it meant I could spend even more time with my angel.

We spent the next few hours going over the names and purposes of all of my tools, and some of the engine parts. There was a lot more I could teach her but that was enough for one day.

"Ok, Nessie, I think we need to stop for today. I really need to change the Rabbits oil before I drive her again."

"No problem, my Jacob. Can I do it. I'm sure I would be able to do it if you just talked me through it."

"I thought you might say that," I replied handing her a pan for the oil to drip in. I gave her a quick run through of everything she would need to do. She was such a fast learner that that was probably all she needed to do the whole thing on her own. She crawled under the car to begin just before Sam walked it.

"Hey, Jake. Where's little Nessie. I thought she was scheduled to be here today. I brought her something." He waved a frilly pink doll at me.

"Oh, she is, . . . she's um. . . helping me today."

"Hello Sam," Nessie called from under the car. "I will be out in a few, I'm almost done."

Two minutes later Nessie emerged with the tray full of used oil, poured it into a second container, and then climbed onto the hood to pour in the new oil.

Sam looked dumbfounded standing there, with the doll still in his hand, then his face changed to anger.

"What is going on here?" He questioned towards both of us.

"Jacob has been teaching me about cars and he most recently just finished instructing me on how to complete an oil change. I believe I completed it correctly. I'm sorry we mislead you the other day, we were just trying to make Claire feel more comfortable and I got carried away. Please don't be angry with my Jacob. It's my fault."

"No Nessie, it's not, it's mine."

"I don't care," Sam sputtered, throwing the doll on the floor and turning to me. "Deceiving people, for whatever reason is just the beginning, who knows what else she has done, or will do. It's just like I thought, she's a vampire and is not to be trusted. She should never have been allowed to come here."

"Sam calm down," He was working hard to not phase right in the middle of the garage. He knew he couldn't hurt my imprint, but knowing he wasn't suppose to do something and not doing it were two different things. Accidents happen.

I wanted to put some distance between Nessie and Sam but she had other ideas. Before I could stop her Nessie had sidestepped me and was reaching for Sam. NO!

In one swift motion she walked over to Sam, pulled him down to her level and placed her hand on his cheek. She must have been showing him something, I'm not sure what but he quickly stopped shaking and calmed down. As a slight smile appeared on his face I let out a sigh of relief.

"Renesmee, please accept my apology. It's my job to protect the tribe and I take it very seriously. Sometimes I can be a little . . . narrow minded and stubborn."

That's it? Everything's okay now? Hmmm, I'll have to ask her later what exactly she showed him.

Please review, I would love to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks.


	6. Agreement and Charlie

**Year One, Chapter Six**

 **The Agreement and Charlie**

Renesmee's Point of View

As Jacob and I made our way home from La Push I started planning my rationale, to my parents on why I should be allowed to stay with Jacob there until we move away in September. Jacob parked the Rabbit at the main house and we ran to the cottage, well he ran and gave me a piggy back ride. It was so much fun, being so high up, sitting on his shoulders.

Just as we were approaching the front door it opened and my mother and father greeted us. Okay, greeting wasn't the right word. That would imply my father was in a good mood and happy to see us.

"No! Absolutely not. Jacob, you are not taking my daughter away from us."

"What's going on?" my mother asked as she turned to my father. She look confused instead of mad so he must not have told her, yet.

"I think I will leave that up to you, Nessie," he seethed and directed us into the cottage's living room. My mother sat on one side of the couch with Jacob on the other and me in his lap. My father was in the chair next to my mother but he never took his eyes off of Jacob. I have never seen him look at Jacob with anger. After we were all seated I leaned over to my mother, placed my hand on her cheek, and showed her a replay of the conversation Jacob and I had earlier. She did not look happy when I finished.

"This seems a little extreme. Jake you can go back and forth between here and La Push whenever you want. It's a 20 minute car ride, even faster if you run, why do you feel the need to take our daughter away from us?" My mother asked.

"I'm not trying to take Nessie away from you, Bella. I would never do that. You're her family, I know that."

"Mom, Dad, this is not fair to my Jacob, can't you see that. We are going to be taking him away from his family, possibly forever, very soon. He deserves this last chance to be with them."

"We know that sweetheart, no one wants to hurt Jake."

"It's his choice, he doesn't have to come with us if he does not want to," my father curtly added.

"He does not have a choice. He imprinted on me, don't you understand how much it hurts when we are away from each other, do you want to be responsible for that pain?"

"What about another solution," My mother offered. "Couldn't we try talking to the Tribal Council and see if we could change the treaty so that we would be allowed to come and go from La Push as we please. They know us well enough to know we aren't a danger."

"I'm not sure if that would work, it was hard enough just letting Nessie come with me during the day when we had a chaperone." Jacob had a point, maybe this won't work at all. But we had to try, for him.

"Could we just talk to the council and see what they say?" I offered.

"I think you are getting ahead of yourself Renesmee." My father reminded me. "Your mother and I have not agreed to this, yet."

Yet? That means they will be agreeing at some point in the future. I smiled until I saw the sad look on my father's face.

"The Elders might not be a problem, but Sam is still an obstacle. He is having enough problems with Nessie there as it is. He needs something . . ." My father cut Jacob off before he could finish.

"How do you think he feels. The three Elders are all the parents or grandparents to every member of your Pack, Jacob. Sam has no familial representative on the Council and he is only an alpha wolf simply by default of being the first to phase. We need to be respectful of his feelings."

"Think of what he has been through since becoming a wolf. He phased first, before every other wolf. He had no one to help him, guide him, even explain to him what was going on. He had to figure out everything on his own, right down to how to phase back to human form, the very first time. Then he imprinted on someone other than his fiancée, having to break her heart, and literally hurt his imprint."

Sam has had it very rough. "I guess I never thought of it that way." I said.

"Um, Edward, not to get off subject but did you say that EVERY member of my pack was directly related to a member of the council?" Jacob asked my father. Where was he going with this?

"You caught that, did you? Yes, Embry is the biological son of Quil Ateara V making him Quil's half-brother. But that is probably not information that should be shared."

"Are you kidding me Edward, how do you expect me to keep that from them the next time I phase. Our minds are like open books when we are in wolf form."

"Relax, Jacob. I did not mean for you to keep it from them. Of course you should enlighten them. As you are aware, most already suspect it, I do not see how informing your entire pack would do any harm. I would however recommend against informing the entire tribe. If Quil and Embry choose to take it further it is on them, though."

"Just how long have you known about his, Edward?," Jacob asked.

"I learned about it after the fight with Victoria, when I assisted Carlisle in your recovery. If I had not gone to the reservation that day I probably never would have heard Old Quil reflect upon it. It was your injury that seemed to get him thinking about how it could have been one of his own grand-children that could have been hurt. His son must have divulged the information to him at some point before he left. There was so much that was going on back then that I did not feel it was the right time to bring it up."

"And there was no point in the past two years that you thought might have been a good time?"

"Jacob, I do not wish to upset anyone. But I do see how decimated Sam's confidence is in his own standing among the tribal elders, since your break from his pack. Although he is unsure of Embry's lineage, he does suspect it. And he is of course aware of Seth and Leah, and Quil and yourself being directly related to the entire council. I am concerned that he feels that everyone is against him and his leadership simply by his . . . oh how should I put this. . . his lower birth status. It is not true of course, but it is how he sees it. Not a single member of his remaining pack has a direct relation on the council and that worries him. From what I can gather I believe he has nothing to worry about, but I doubt he would listen to me. "

"That's ridiculous, he's the Tribes chief, sort of. Well, you know, if we still had chiefs. He knows that. I have never tried to take that away from him, and have no desire to. I even included him in the discussion to let Nessie come on the res."

"But he was kept out of the final decision."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jacob relented.

"Not that this isn't fascinating, but can we get back to the matter at hand," my mother interjected. She started talking to Jacob and my father, switching back and forth between the two. "I agree with you Jake, that it is unfair of us to take you away from your family, and that IS what we are doing Edward," she added looking directly at my father. "We should give Jake a chance to spend this time with Billy. But I am also not willing to give up my daughter for that long, Jake. I understand you cannot be away from her for that long, but neither can I."

My father spoke up next. "Jacob, can you set up a meeting for us with the Tribal council, and Sam, so we can all sit down and work something out? I am not going to allow you take Renesmee away from us for seven months, but I am sure some compromise can be arranged."

In the end somehow an agreement was reached that everyone was willing to live with. Well sort of, they had at least agreed to it anyway. Jacob and I would stay on the reservation during the week, returning to the Cullen's on the weekends, for one month. Then the next month it would alternate, going back and forth until we left for good in September.

I still needed a chaperone, someone from Sam's pack, anytime I was not at Billy's house. But that was the reason we were there and why Jacob wanted to go. And my being next to Jacob was the only place I really wanted to be, so it didn't really matter to us that much.

….

Jacob's Point of View

The next day Nessie and I made our way over to the big house, with Bella and Edward. Bella's father, Charlie, was coming over to visit his daughter. I think he had figured out that Nessie is his real granddaughter and not really Edwards niece that he and Bella adopted, like they told him. But neither he, nor anyone else said anything, so I was not about to bring it up. He preferred his "need to know" approach. I just wondered how he rationalized Nessie's rapid growth? I guess it didn't really matter though. He loved Nessie, everyone did, and that was all that mattered to me.

We all gathered in the living room to wait for Charlie. Everyone had dropped their human façade around Charlie awhile ago so no one felt the need to pretend today. Nessie started playing a game of chess with Jasper, with Emmett looking on; I heard him make a bet with Jasper, thinking maybe today was the day Nessie would win. As I looked around the rest of the room, I saw that Alice and Esme had their laptops out and were working on designs and furniture for the new house, Esme had found for us. Edward was on the other side of the room teaching Bella how to play the piano, she had just started the other day and already sounded impressive, to me anyway. Carlisle, as usual, was nose deep in some medical book. Luckily I didn't see Blondie anywhere and really couldn't care where she was.

I dropped into a chair in front of the TV, the Cullens got every single channel available, so there was bound to be something on I liked.

Half an hour later Charlie arrived.

Just as he knocked on the front door, Bella blurred past everyone to let him in. In an instant she appeared down at the front door but remembered to wait a minute so she didn't freak out her dad by appearing so fast. Charlie had been coming by once every week or two to visit, but since we had made the decision to leave, Bella was going a little nuts, in my opinion. It was as if she was trying to fit in a lifetime of memories with him, into each of his visits. I knew how she felt, I already missed my dad. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Edward wince a little to himself. I guess he didn't care for what I was thinking. He didn't like anything that upset Bella, but he must have known before, I thought of it, that she would be upset leaving her father.

"Grampy," Nessie exclaimed, as she got up and ran to him just as he made his way up the stairs to where we were.

After Nessie quickly hugged him she ran over to me and grabbed my cheek _. "Jacob we need to go hunting."_

"But Nessie, Charlie just got here don't you want to spend some time with him? "

"Jacob, take Renesmee now," Edward practically shouted over to me, his eyes were wide and he was gesturing with his head towards the back door.

What's wrong with him? But when I turned back to Nessie I got my answer. She _Needed_ to hunt, _Now_! "Oh," CRAP, "yeah, let's go," and without another word we ran out the back door. Jasper was right behind us. That made sense, he probably picked up on Nessie's desire for blood and became overwhelmed himself.

Nessie and Jasper broke off towards the West at full speed, I needed to undress before I phased, so as soon as they were out of sight, I stripped as quickly as I could, then phased mid stride. I was easily able to follower their scents and caught up to them quickly, since wolves are faster than vamps, and Nessie, being only half and added to that, still a child, was even a bit slower. About a third of the way into the Olympic National Forest we spotted a herd of deer. Perfect!

Nessie, still being so young, was too small to completely take down her prey all by herself but while Jasper nabbed a larger buck on his left, I cornered one to the right to let Nessie easily go in for the kill. We had become the perfect team over the months. I was so proud of her.

While Nessie was feeding I phased back and pulled on my shorts. The rest of my clothes were somewhere, scattered around the Cullen's backyard; I will have to find them before we go back into the house. Charlie was bound to have enough questions about our sudden departure, returning without my clothes didn't need to be one of them. He was okay knowing I was a wolf, sort of, but I think learning his granddaughter almost ate him would probably push him over the edge.

"Oh, my Jacob." Nessie rushed over to me and I scooped her little body up easily in my arms. I know she was upset and needed to be comforted. "What did I almost do, how could I have let that happen? I've never lost control. I came so close today. What is wrong with me? Nessie started sobbing in my arms.

"It's okay, Nessie. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't hurt him. You were perfect, you ARE perfect. As soon as you thought you might have a problem you let me know we needed to leave. That's exactly what you should have done."

"But why did that happen? I've always been able to control my thirst."

"I think I might have an answer for you Renesmee," Jasper offered. He was larger than Nessie, of course, and needed to feed on at least one other deer if he was going to be able to return while Charlie was still at the Cullens, so he was just getting to us now. "I overheard your conversation with Edward and Carlisle regarding your feeding schedule. Am I correct in assuming that you have begun to lengthen the intervals between hunts due to your declining growth rate?"

That was true, Nessie had been hunting once a week, but since she was not growing so fast anymore, (she was still growing super fast compared to a regular human), Edward and Carlisle had talked to Nessie and me about cutting back. They figured she would not need as much blood, I think this might prove differently.

"Yeah, we've only been hunting once every 10 days, for the past few weeks," I answered for her. She was still sobbing and I don't think she could answer even if she wanted to.

"Well, I believe that this would suggest we reevaluate that theory. It seems Renesmee requires a more regular blood supply if she would like to remain vegetarian."

Duh! No kidding. "Yeah, I don't think anyone would disagree with you." I then turned my attention to the little angel in my arms. "Nessie how are you feeling? Did you hear Jasper? This wasn't your fault. Do you hear me? We just need to make sure you hunt more. Everything will be fine, no harm done." I smiled at her. Please be okay, it killed me to see her cry.

"I'm," sniff, . . . "okay," sniff, . . . "my," sniff, . . . "Jacob."

"Renesmee, look at me. You know I would never let you hurt Charlie. But you didn't even need me to. You are so strong, and now that we know what the problem is, we can easily fix it, right?"

"Right?" she answered, but it came out more like a question.

"You love Charlie, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"And you would never hurt him, right?"

"Of course not."

"Then there is nothing to worry about. We are a team, and I will always have your back. But you didn't even need it, I am so proud of you."

"Really, you're not mad at me?"

"Why would you think I would be mad at you?"

"Because you are a werewolf. You exist solely to kill those that behave like I almost did. How could you not hate me?"

"Nessie, I love you, I could never hate you. No one can be perfect all the time, but you try so hard. You only think of others, you are so good. Just because you ALMOST slipped doesn't mean I could ever hate you. And even if, someday, you do skip I would still love you. This was not your fault."

She stopped crying and I finally saw a slight smile on my angels face. "You mean it?"

"Yes, of course. Now do you think you are ready to go back? Charlie is probably still there and I bet he wants to see his favorite grand-daughter."

"I'm his only grand-daughter, silly," she chuckled to me.

I love her laugh. I could listen to it forever, and if I was lucky enough, I would.

When we arrived back at the Cullens I got my clothes; someone had found them, and placed them by a tree close to where we entered the forest. They smelled sickeningly sweet now, but I would just have to deal.

Nessie, (and Jasper) now well fed, had no problem being around Charlie and the rest of his visit went well. He was amazed by Bella's progress on the piano, especially since she had shown no sign of musical ability before and had seemingly picked it up easily. It was funny how he kept muttering to himself "need to know, need to know" over and over again while he watched Bella and Nessie play a piece that, I think, Edward had written. It was beautiful and Nessie did a wonderful job. She is so talented.

Please review, I would love to hear what you think. Thanks.


	7. Quileute and Bonfires

**Year One, Chapter Seven**

 **Quileute & ****Bonfires**

Renesmee's Point of View

In a few days it would be Monday, and the first day Jacob and I were going to start staying with Billy on the Quileute Reservation. My mother and I grabbed the four suitcases and three bags of clothes that Aunt Alice had packed for me. I was only going to be gone for five days and was already dressed for today. How many clothes did she think I would need, and where was I going to put them all?

Oh well. It was just easier to go along with Aunt Alice in matters such as this, than try and reason with her. I had already learned that lesson. Maybe I will just keep these clothes at Billy's, if there was room for them. Jacob's room was barely big enough to house his minuscule collection of clothes. I am not sure where I am going to put everything. I'll just have to figure something out when I get there.

The look on Jacob's face when my mother and I walked over to his car caring everything was priceless. I assume he was thinking the same thing I was.

"Alice?" he questioned.

"Who else?" I answered, as he started putting the bags in his Rabbit.

Just then my entire family emerged from the house to say goodbye to us. I was instantly engulfed in a massive group hug.

"Guys, I'm only going to be at the reservation for less than a week. You will have me back this Friday night, and I can meet you at the boarder whenever. Your squishing me," I laughed.

"We know Renesmee, but we have never had you away from us for that long. We're going to miss you." My father told me. He was trying to seem cheerful, but I could tell how sad he really was. I was going to miss my family as well, but I needed to do this for my Jacob. And I knew it would be good for me to get away, even temporarily, and I _was_ looking forward to seeing how others live.

Soon enough my family released me and said their goodbyes and Jacob and I were off towards Billy's.

As we pulled up to the house we were surprised by the sight that met us. Billy's home looked like it has been on one of those home makeover shows. The roof no longer had a tarp on it and had been replaced by a brand new one, there was also a new coat of paint on the outside and the rickety old wheel chair ramp Jacob had built, when he was younger, had been replaced.

"Did you know about this?" Jacob turned and asked me.

"No, but what would you expect from my family. They have been wanting to do this for awhile now. My coming here was the perfect excuse. I wonder what the inside looks like?"

"I wonder how and when they got permission to even come here to do all of this. And why no one told us."

The inside of Billy's house had been renovated just as the outside. The floors had been refinished, the walls painted, new furniture replaced the broken ones, a new flat screen hung on the wall and across from it on a brand new couch sat Billy.

"Hi kids," he smiled up at us, while glancing briefly from a football game on the TV. "So what do you think?"

"Um, it's nice. You let the Cullens do all of this?"

"Bella and Edward took me aside, along with Old Quil, Sue, and Sam, after the meeting regarding Nessie. We worked out the details so they could come here and fix up the place a bit for her. It was a onetime deal. I never dreamed they would do so much, we only agreed to let them on the res one day."

"They work fast."

"Yeah, they did a tone of stuff, most of the furniture and your clothes arrived yesterday, though. It was delivered in the morning and Sam's pack set it all up. Rachel put your clothes away but you'll probably want to reorganize them. There's a note from Alice that mentioned an extra dresser for Nessie, too."

"Sure, sure." I was amazed, even with vampire speed it looked like a lot of work for only one day.

"You've barely seen anything. They replaced all of the appliances in the kitchen, and the washer and dryer, and even added a dishwasher. There's also a new water heater and furnace. Everything is now wheelchair accessible, too including my bathroom."

"Your bathroom? We only have the one bathroom dad."

"Not anymore, son. We all have our own. I guess you didn't notice from the front, but the house is a bit bigger now. The Cullens turned your room into a bathroom for Rachel and they added an addition onto the back of the house, you have a new bedroom and bathroom. There's a Queen size bed in there for you too. I guess they don't want their daughter to be cramped."

"And you are okay with all of this?" Jacob questioned.

I could see why Jacob was worried. Billy was a very proud man and was not one to accept charity.

"Sure, as far as I am concerned they can come here anytime."

"Really, I didn't think you felt that way," Jacob looked puzzled and seemed to disbelieve his father.

I pulled Jacob down so I could use my gift and talk to him without Billy hearing me. " _My Jacob, please don't be upset? We own Billy so much more than this. We are taking you, his only son from him, and the only thing we can do, to even begin to compensate him for it is some paint and furniture. We own him so much more, you are worth so much more. Don't you see that? We could never do enough for Billy, this doesn't even come close to what you are worth. Don't you know how valuable you are, how loved you are? Please, never forget that."_

I am not sure if I helped but Jacob smiled at me and we went on a tour of the rest of the house. It was just as nice as Billy had said, also the kitchen, and a new pantry, had been fully stocked with food and Jacob had a new closet full of clothes.

In the back of his room I found a long empty dresser, perfect for my height. "So, I assume this is the dresser Aunt Alice mentioned in her note, where all of the clothes she packed for me are suppose to go." I started chuckling to myself.

"I wonder why she just didn't have all of the clothes waiting her for you already, like she did mine?"

"Why does Aunt Alice do anything? I am sure she has her reasons though." When I thought about it, it did make sense. "She probably wanted to make everything here a surprise and if she didn't let me bring any clothes, with me, I would know there was something suspicious going on."

We both started laughing at how ridiculously extreme this all was.

"I should probably call them and thank them, before we do anything else."

"Alright, Jacob, I am going to put my clothes away while you do that."

When we both were done he asked me what I wanted to do on my first day here.

"Do you remember what you promised me, Jacob?" He seemed confused so I continued. "Will you still teach me to speak Quileute?"

"Of course Nessie, did you want to start right now? I could run down to the school and asked to borrow some early readers that they use to teach the children with?"

"I don't think that would be necessary Jacob. Are you forgetting," I pointed to my head, "super vampire brain. Would it be inappropriate of me to ask if you and Billy could just speak nothing but Quileute for a little while so I can pick it up?"

He looked bewildered. I was not sure why. I thought he knew how I learned Spanish, by just watching people speak it on the television. Maybe I had offended him somehow.

"I'm sorry. Never mind Jacob. We can do something else."

"No Nessie, I told you I would teach you to speak Quileute, I just didn't realize it would be that easy. It's my fault, you seem so human sometimes I forget your half-vampire. Well, let's go see if Billy is game." He took my hand and led me into the living room.

Jacob explained everything to Billy, who had no problem with my request, he just asked to finish watching the game first, so Jacob thought it might be good to start me off with some nouns and we proceeded to walk around the house while he named everything in sight.

Over the next few days Billy and Jacob spoke nothing but Quileute and by Friday the three of us were able to converse entirely in Quileute.

"Ok, kids, that's it I'm done, I think we can all switch back to English. This has been fun and Renesmee you are remarkable. But I need to start preparing for the council meeting tonight. You kids are coming, right? There will be a huge bonfire on the beach."

"What's the meeting for?" Jacob asked.

"We need to initiate young Renesmee here, into the tribe, of course. If she is going to be living here, that is. She is family after all, or will be eventually." He grinned at us.

"Don't start getting ahead of yourself dad."

….

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie's "initiation" into the tribe turned out to be more of an introduction of her to those who did not already know her, Billy told some tribal stories about the wolf legends, that she had already heard from me, followed by a bonfire on the beach.

There were several fires going with Billy, Sue and Old Quil along with every member of both packs and their imprints, minus Claire since it was past her bedtime, dispersed throughout the beach.

"Nessie, do you want a hotdog?" I asked while holding a plate stacked high with them.

"No, thank you, my Jacob. I think I would like to go hunting with you tomorrow, though."

I tensed immediately, were we going to have another close call, like the one we had with Charlie? We had returned to her previous hunting schedule, of once a week. I thought that would be enough to take care of any problems, but Nessie was not use to being around this many people. Was this too much for her? "Do we need to leave right now?"

She saw the worried look in my eyes and reached up to my face, _"No, my Jacob, I just really hate the taste of those thinks,"_ she chuckled pointing to the plate of hotdogs. I immediately relaxed.

"In that case, it's a date." I smiled back at her. I loved watching her hunt, she was so graceful and strong. And every time we went hunting she got better and better. Sure, in the beginning, getting her to hunt animals was a bit of a challenge. She preferred the donated blood she received when she was first born, and she could be stubborn when she wanted to be. But it turned out she was very competitive and I soon discovered that if I made it into a contest she readily agreed to the challenge. Now she loved to hunt, as long as it was with me, no one else in her family could get her to go usually. I felt so honored that it was something she normally shared only with me.

"Hey, everyone," Paul started shouting, "could everyone gather around, Rachel and I have some news we would like to share with you all."

" _What's going on?"_ Nessie asked me with her gift.

"I have no idea, but let's go and find out." I said as I scooped her up and carried her over to where Paul and Rachel were.

As soon as everyone had made their way over, Paul started again. "Thanks everybody. Rachel and I just though you all should know that she, . . . um, . . . well we . . . um" Was he sweating? I didn't think that was even possible for a wolf.

"Were pregnant!" Rachel shouted over Paul's stammering. Everyone started shouting and cheering.

Rachel looked so happy but I wondered how Billy would take the news. Rachel and Paul were not even engaged, let alone married. Would he be upset, or did it not even matter anymore, what with the imprinting. It's not like he would ever leave her, and would love her more than any man ever could. To a wolf, imprinting was the closest bond you could form with a person. To us a wedding was more of a ceremony just for the benefit of others to watch.

I looked over to my dad. Billy, not being a wolf himself, but knowing of the imprinting bond, I was unsure of how was he going to react to this? I could see him wave Rachel and Paul over to him and gave each of them a hug. He whispered something in Paul's ear, but even with my enhanced wolf hearing I could not make it out over all of the cheering and shouting happening around me. I guess I will have to find out later.

"Nessie, let's go congratulate them and then we need to get going. It's getting late and we told your parents we would meet them at the border at ten."

"Alright, my Jacob."

Minutes later Jared was dropping us off at the boarder were Edward was already waiting for us. He did not seem happy. What did I do now? Were we late? I checked the clock on the cars dashboard and saw that we had arrived two minutes early. What was his problem?

Nessie seemed unaware of his mood or was just choosing to ignore it. She dashed out of the car and leapt into his arms, throwing her own arms around him in a long hug. I know she really missed him, this was hard for her being away from her family, but she hadn't complained once around me. I tried to make the week fun for her, but maybe I hadn't done enough. Edward must have heard something in Nessie's thoughts that I missed, that's why he was mad at me. She must have been miserable and I had completely missed it. I felt awful. I let my imprint down and didn't even realize it.

"That is not why I am . . . troubled, Jacob. You did a wonderful job with Renesmee this week. It is your thoughts that have upset me."

Mine? He had a problem with my thoughts? I had been replaying Paul and Rachel's announcement in my head on the drive over, trying to figure out how my dad was taking the news. Why would Edward be angry with that?

"Nessie, could you please wait in the car for a moment while I speak to Jacob," he asked her as he closed the door and walked into the woods a bit waiting for me to follow. I didn't really like the idea of leaving Nessie alone in the car but it seemed that Edward wanted to talk to me without Nessie hearing. When we got out of her hearing hang he began.

"Jacob, do you really think that I would be okay with the idea of how you intend to, one day, _take_ my daughter."

"What?" I was stunned. Take? What did he mean by that, I just brought her back. Two seconds later I got it. " _NO_ " I screamed in my head. I had never thought of Nessie that way, where was this coming from. She is still a little girl. I would never. Why did Edward believe I would even think that?

"Do you forget that I can read your mind?" He was livid. What is his problem.

"Believe me I haven't forgotten, but why would you think that?" I was getting irritated now. He was attacking me for no reason. I would never do something like that to Nessie.

"No, not yet, but someday."

"Edward, if one day, I am lucky enough where Nessie loves me enough to choose me to be with her, in _that_ way, or any way, then that is her choice. You know that." What am I missing, he knows about the imprinting, He knows that that is where all imprinted couples end up, eventually, well hopefully, if all goes right.

Ok, think, There has to be something more and Edward wasn't helping. I was thinking about Rachel and Paul, there announcement, everyone congratulating them, seeing my dad hug them. Of course, they're not married, and I was worried about how my father would react.

"Oh." I got it. He was upset that I thought imprinting was more important than a wedding ceremony and wouldn't bother having one before Nessie and I . . .

"Oh? That is all you have to say for yourself?"

"Come on Edward, don't you think you are getting a little ahead of yourself? You know I don't even see her like that. Who knows what is going to happen years from now."

"That is not making me feel better, Jacob. Why would you even consider disrespecting her like that?"

"This is ridiculous," I growled at him. "I'm not _disrespecting_ her, and I never would. Don't you think she should be the one to decide what she wants to do. Of course I would love to marry her, someday, if she would have me, but that is her decision."

"You would marry her?"

Was he kidding? "Of course, you know me Edward. I will always do what Nessie wants. If she wants to marry me, someday, it would make me the happiest man alive." After a minute of us just glaring at each other I added, "If there is nothing else, can we go now, I think we have been gone long enough. I don't like leaving Nessie alone this much."

When we got back to the car Nessie was asleep in the back seat.

As we arrived back at the cottage I carried Nessie to bed and thought about what Edward had said. Even though he was angry with me, he had basically implied that he, not only assumed, but accepted that I would marry his daughter someday. Even if that doesn't happen I am still the luckiest guy in the world, just to be in her presence. I have never had a more blissful sleep that night, cuddled up with my angel, my reason for being, my everything. I was truly happy and content with our current friend-like love.

…..

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	8. School and a Wedding

**Year One, Chapter Eight**

 **School and a Wedding**

Renesmee's Point of View

Over the next few months Jacob and I continued switching back and forth between living at my family's house and cottage, just outside of Forks, and Billy's house at La Push.

Jacob filled my days on the reservation with every conceivable form of childlike fun we could think of. I got to play with some of the La Push children, and attempted to experience the childhood of a normal little girl. Jacob and I built sand castles on the beach, and went to the park where Jacob pushed me on the swings. I even played tag with some of the La Push kids, they seemed to have fun, but I had to hold back on my speed the entire time and be mindful of my strength as to not hurt any of them.

I was also able to convince Jacob to teach me more about repairing cars. I think I might be able to show Aunt Rosalie I am capable of helping her tinker with her car, now. She loves that thing so much she hasn't let me do anything but watch her work on it, up until this point.

When Jacob and I were back home, I would occasionally go with my mother to visit Grampy Charlie, but mostly my family decided I needed to double up on my school lessons.

I was learning French and Music Composition from my father, and he was continuing to teach me the piano, English Literature from my mother, History and my favorites, Psychology and Philosophy from Uncle Jasper. Aunt Rosalie was teaching me Chemistry and Physics. I was also having fun learning Art Appreciation from Grandma Esme. As well as Calculus and Business Finances from Aunt Alice, and Science and Biology from Grandpa Carlisle.

Uncle Emmett took it upon himself to teach me "Gym", well I assume meant Physical Fitness. Hopefully when I grow a bit more he will start teaching me how to fight. Not that I wanted to go around getting into physical altercations, but it would seem wise to learn to defend myself, or at least hold an attacking vampire off long enough for help to arrive.

Jacob at least used my home schooling time to patrol. Although he hated being away from me, he also felt guilty that soon he would no longer be helping his Pack out, in that area. I understood why he felt that way. We both also knew, though that he would be patrolling with my family in Hoodsport, so he would still be doing his part. Never-the-less, daily patrols helped alleviate some of his guilt, right now, so I was not about to argue.

….

Sam and Emily's wedding was finally happening. I had been hearing about all of the preparations for months. It sounded like it was going to be amazing. It was taking place on August fourteenth at 3pm. Jacob and I were looking forward to attending it together. Aunt Alice made a huge deal out of the dress I would where. I, of course had never been to a wedding so I let her dress me in whatever she felt was appropriate. Once we arrived I wish I didn't.

"My Jacob, why didn't you tell me not to wear this dress?" The long, frilly gown, she placed me in was completely over the top and too formal for the event. Everyone was in sundresses, including the bride.

"Sorry Nessie, you know I love you, but Alice gets crazy scary sometimes," he chuckled. "Don't worry we just need to take a couple of pictures of you in that dress here, to show Alice, then we can go back to Billy's. I asked Rachel to dig out some of her old dresses, I am sure there is at least one, more appropriate, for today, that you can change into."

I sighed in relief. "Okay, let's get this over with," I said with a wink. Time for some embarrassing pictures.

Fifteen minutes later, after I had changed into a cute sundress we returned just in time for the beginning of the wedding ceremony. I enjoyed watching the Quileute wedding traditions that Sam and Emily chose to incorporate into their otherwise contemporary wedding ceremony. Jacob was quietly explaining the meaning behind different aspects of the ceremony to me as they were happening until a man sitting in front of us turned around and shushed us.

Whoops! I didn't think we were being that loud.

Once the wedding was over everyone moved to a tented deck over the water on a part of First Beach I wasn't familiar with, for the reception. Half of it was covered in tables and the other was left open for dancing.

It was a bit old, but had been decorated beautifully. Peach gauze and peach and ivory flowers were hung from the tent ceiling and weaved around the polls. The tables were covered in more peach tablecloths, since it seemed to be the official wedding color. There was no electricity in the tent but the tables were covered in candles and the light peach colored flowers creating a lovely soft glow.

We were seated at a round table with the rest of Jacobs Pack. Seth, Leah, Embry and Quil were all sitting quietly and looking a little bored. Well except Leah, she looked pissed.

"Hi Quil, is Claire with you?' Those two were inseparable. I was surprised she wasn't sitting with him.

His face dropped. "She's here. Her mom is insisting she eat with them, family thing I guess." Oops, I hadn't meant to upset him.

"Oh, get over it, Quil. You can play with your little imprint soon enough." Leah huffed. I'm surprised she was here at all. I had heard the stories about her and Sam. This must be hard for her, but that was no reason to take it out on Quil.

"Lay off Leah," Seth tried to quiet his sister. "You said you would behave if you came."

"Hey, they should be happy I came at all. I don't know why they even invited me."

"She's you're cousin, Leah. And your best friend."

"Correction, she _was_ my best friend. . ."

"Will the two of you drop it, this is supposed to be a party and I would like to try and have fun." Embry started in. "And that does not include listening to the two of you bicker. Leah, can't you drop it for one night, it's her wedding."

"Yeah, you agreed to come, so suck it up." Quil added.

This should be a fun time.

The wedding was being catered by a local company on the reservation, but after waiting thirty minutes I heard Sam give them a call. With my half-vampire hearing I easily overheard his entire phone call, apparently the van broke down on the way over and they were waiting for a replacement to come.

"What so we do now?" I asked Jacob. Everyone had just been sitting around the tables talking to one another, getting more and more impatient, waiting to eat, but now I, and the wolves, whose hearing was as good as mine, knew the food was going to be delayed even more.

Jacob stood with his hand out, "How about a dance?"

"I can't," I shook my head, "I haven't learned how to dance, yet."

"Not a problem, Nessie. I can teach you. It's not that hard. Just listen to the music and move to the beat. You are amazing at playing the piano so I am sure you can pick it up easily. Come on," he grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the dance floor.

There were a few people dancing already, but mostly it was little kids jumping around and acting silly. Jacob was a great teacher and I started getting the hang of it. This type of dancing did not seem to have a predetermined choreographed set of steps, like the dances I had seen some of my family do. It was freer and more rhythmic where dancers created their own interpretations and movements to the music.

I had just about gotten to where I thought I was no longer completely awkward when I saw Quil come on the dance floor with Claire.

"Hey guys, looks like you had a good idea." Quil smiled over to us. He looked much happier now that he was with his imprint.

"Nessie!" Claire exclaimed and ran over to me. "Did you bring any toys, I'm bored."

"Oh, no I'm sorry Claire, I don't have any toys with me, but Jacob is teaching me how to dance. Why don't you ask your Quil to teach you the same."

"I already know how to dance. Watch me." And with that she started jumping all over the dance floor. She was having so much fun but didn't seem to be dancing to the song the DJ was playing, Quil didn't seem to mind though, he started jumping along beside her. They looked slightly ridiculous but happy, or maybe they were just ridiculously happy. Either way our dancing was cut short. The replacement catering truck finally arrived.

We made our way back to our seats and ate some, now very cold, food. The wolves would eat anything, and all human food, with very few exceptions tasted unappetizing to me, so it really didn't matter if it was hot or cold, but I could see that the rest of the guests didn't look too happy.

After dinner was finished Sam and Emily got up to cut the cake. It had been placed on a small table in the middle of the dance floor. Whoever made it did a lovely job. It consisted of two layers with three pillars separating the layers and peach flowers made from frosting cascading down the sides in a sweeping wave. The cake cutting went off without a hitch, once someone was able to track down the special knife they wanted to use. I didn't see what was so important about a knife. How was one knife different than any other. But they wanted this one, this _missing_ one. After a while it was found at the bottom of a box somewhere and they fed each other a bite, which Jacob told my was a normal wedding custom.

The DJ then stopped the music so people could start giving speeches and toast the happy couple while the cake was cut and distributed. Halfway through the toasts the microphone went out, and after some fiddling it was determined that the generator they borrowed from the reservations community center had died. This also meant there would be no more music. On the plus side the tent was not too big and a microphone was not really essential, so the speeches continued. An old battery powered boom box was dug out of one of the guests trucks so eventually there was music, of sorts, for the end of the reception, and the bride and groom still managed to have their first dance.

"I feel bad for Emily, it's too bad the reception was such a disaster." Jacob whispered to me. I squeezed his hand to reassure him, after a quick glance over to the head table told me that Emily hadn't even noticed anything was wrong. She seemed so happy. Why wouldn't she, she was an imprint marring her wolf. Wasn't that all that really mattered.

Jacob must have heard my thoughts. I didn't even realized I sent them to him since I wasn't touching his face but he responded to my thoughts just the same.

"Your right, Nessie. That is all that matters."

"My Jacob, did you just hear my thoughts?" Maybe it was just a guess?

"Yes, why would you ask. . ." Confusion turned to wonder in his eyes when he realized I hadn't been touching his face like I normally needed to. "Amazing. Try it again and see if you can repeat it."

I held his hand again, _"Jacob, can you hear me?"_

No response, so I tried again. _"My Jacob, can you hear me?"_

Again no response. "Jacob, did you hear anything?

"Nothing, Nessie. Maybe it was just a fluke. But we should probably let you family know about it just the same. The reception is winding down, we can leave soon without it looking rude."

"Time for the bouquet toss," someone yelled.

"What's going on?"

"It's another wedding tradition. All of the unmarried ladies gather on one side while the bride tosses her bouquet from the other. Whoever manages to catch it is suppose to be the next one to get married. It's just a superstition but it's funny to see all of the women battling over some flowers. Do you want to stay and watch?"

"Sure."

Just as Jacob had said, all of the women gathered on the far side of the tent, minus Leah; not surprisingly. Emily turned with her back to the group and then flung her bouquet over her head. It managed to go completely wide, in the opposite direction, right towards Leah. Ha! I wonder if that was intentional?

Leah dove out of the way, when she saw it coming towards her, and the bouquet landed on the table behind her. It ended up knocking over some candles, which set the flowers and tablecloth on fire.

I thought I heard Jacob chuckling. "Yup, that seems about right." Jacob was being a little cavalier about the whole thing, but it did seem to fit the mood of the day. What else could go wrong?

Luckily, the fire was quickly put out by Jared who was standing next to an ice bucket and just dumped it over the table and no one was hurt. No one seemed too bothered and before long the guests started laughing and dancing again. This seemed to be the perfect time to make our exit.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure, Sure. Let's say goodbye to everyone first. Then we need to stop back at Billy's so you can change back into the 'Alice dress'. We wouldn't want her finding out."

We made our way over to the Bride and Groom, saying our goodbyes to everyone on the way.

After that was done Jacob found Billy and asked if he needed a ride home. It was not needed though, he already had plans to leave with Rachel and Paul, since they had brought him and he wanted to stay a bit longer, anyway. Her baby bump was getting bigger and she looked so happy.

Once I had changed back into "the Alice dress" as we were now referring to it we, went back to the main Cullen house. Jared had ended up accompanying us part of the way and then ran back to the wedding in wolf form as he left us at the border. I am sure everyone at home would want to hear how my first wedding experience went and it was only just after 7pm.

"Hey kiddo," Emmett boomed from the main room, how as it? Kill anyone getting the bouquet?" He always thought he was funny but he just didn't realize how close he was this time.

"No, no one caught it actually, and luckily no one was hurt from the fire."

Everyone looked concerned, except my father who saw the whole thing in my head, he just winced a bit.

"Here, let me show you," and one by one I replayed the wedding and reception to my family, making sure to edit it so they saw me in "the Alice dress" and not Rachel's old sundress.

My father would see the truth in my mind, but he didn't look like he would say anything. I shot him a quick glance and he shook his head, agreeing to keep my secret. " _Thanks_ ," I thought back.

"Well you certainly had an entertaining experience," Grandpa Carlisle started. "I am more intrigued by this new development of your gift, though. We should run some experiments and see if we can duplicate it."

"I already tried at the wedding, I could not get it to work again."

"Don't worry Renesmee," my mother came to me, "when I was first starting to expand my shield I had similar difficulties. It will probably just take practice."

"Okay, but can we try tomorrow. It has been a long night and I would like to go back to the cottage and relax before bed."

"Of course, Renesmee. We will see you later." My father said as he hugged me goodnight. The rest of my family followed his lead, and then Jacob scooped me up in his arms and carried me back to the cottage.

Over the next few weeks I tried over and over again to send thoughts to my family by touching them, anywhere other than their cheek, with limited success. I was able to repeat occasionally, so that was something, but I could not control it as well as I would have liked. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, and on more than one occasion it happened when I wasn't even trying. This could potentially be embarrassing. I assume it will just take time, like my mother said.

…...

By the beginning of September I had the appearance of a six year old. It was thought that I was mentally the equivalent of a full grown adult; but would you expect otherwise when I had learned how to talk at three days, walk at one week, and read at three weeks?

...

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	9. Wolves and the Volturi Laws

Year Two

Chapter 9, Wolves and the Volturi Laws

Chapter 10, The Goodbye Party

Chapter 11, The New House

Chapter 12, Legal Matters

Chapter 13, High School

Chapter 14, Home School

Chapter 15, Christmas and Jake's Birthday

Chapter 16, Books and Suits

...

 **Year Two, Chapter Nine**

 **Wolves and the Volturi Laws**

Jacob's Point of View

It was early September when Huilen and Nahuel showed up one night, out of the blue. I remembered them from our encounter with the Volturi. Alice and Jasper brought them back with them to help prove Nessie would not be a threat to the vampire world. Nahuel was a half-vampire just like Nessie, except he was over one hundred fifty years old, and still looked somewhere between 20 to 25.

We were remaining in Forks for the next week, before moving. Nahuel and Huilen said they came for Nessie's birthday and were hoping to stay and visit through September so I guess they would be going with us to the new house in Hoodsport, WA. It didn't seem like a big deal to me and we did owe them for helping us with the Volturi. Hell, it wasn't even my house. Just as long as they stuck with the agreement they made, the last time they were here, and didn't hunt in the area.

I made sure to inform Sam's Pack and my own, so no misunderstandings occurred. Everyone probably remembered their scents but I just didn't want to take any chances. I thought phasing would be the easiest. That way not only could I talk to my Pack but Sam as well and also pass along the memory of Huilen and Nahuel's scents in case anyone forgot or confused them with someone else's from a year ago. Nessie was having a piano lesson with Edward, she really was sounding amazing, so I decided to slip outside. I had let the Cullen family know I would be contacting my Pack so no one would be alarmed when I howled. It was an easy way to let any un-phased wolf know to phase, without having to call everyone one by one. Two minutes later everyone was in wolf form and I could hear my entire Pack.

" _Jake, do we have a problem?"_ Embry.

" _Yeah what's going on?"_ Seth.

" _We can be there in 5 minutes_ ," Embry again,

" _Is Nessie okay?"_ Quil.

" _This better be important."_ Leah being her usual charming self.

" _Guys, it's not an emergency, calm down. I didn't mean to worry everyone. But there are some Vampires in the area, and I needed to let you know."_

" _What are we waiting for, let's go get them."_ Embry seemed to be looking for a fight. I wonder what was up with him today.

" _No can do, Embry. Their friends, sort of. That's why I'm letting you know, so no one attacks them."_

" _Jake, you know we wouldn't attack any vegetarian vamps, the yellow eyes are easy to spot."_ Seth tried reminding me. If only it were that easy.

" _Well, see, the thing is, they are not vegetarians like the Cullens. But they agreed not to hunt in the area. They were here last year. You probably will remember them."_

" _Oh, so they were some of the witnesses that are friends of Carlisle?"_ Quil suggested.

" _No, they weren't . . ."_

" _Jake you can't think we are going to let the Volturi stay here?"_ Seth began too, couldn't they just stop and let me explain.

" _Relax they aren't members of the Volturi."_

" _So they were some of the Volturi witnesses, Jake that's not much better. I say we take them out now, before they know what hit them."_ Really what is up with Embry?

" _GUYS, Listen and chill, especially you Embry. After this I think we need to have a little talk. Anyway, do you guys remember the Half-Vampire and his Aunt that Alice and Jasper brought back with them from South America?_

I heard everyone think " _yes_ ", so I continued.

" _Well they came for a visit. And since the guy, Nahuel, is basically the reason that the Volturi let Renesmee live and it didn't turn into a giant bloodbath, we need to give them a pass. They agreed not to hunt in the area, anyway."_

" _Yeah, I see your point, Jake. I guess we can do that."_ Leave it to Seth to be so understanding.

" _Everyone understand?"_ More " _yes_ " responses from everyone. "Good, Hear are there scents, remember them in case you come across them again." I added as I recalled there scents in my head. It would be as if my Pack smelled the vamps themselves.

" _Okay, that's it. Oh, one more thing, does anyone have eyes on Sam?"_

" _Yeah, he's by me."_ Quil responded.

" _Great, could you phase back and ask him to phase in about 10 minutes, so I can relay everything to him."_

Once everyone phased back it was time to see what was up.

" _Embry, let's talk. What's going on?"_

" _I don't know what you mean Jake."_

" _You're really trying to keep something from me? You know how the Pack mind works. You are eventually going to let it slip and then everyone will know. Why don't you just tell me. If something is wrong maybe I can help."_

" _Jake, I told you, nothing's wrong, just butt out."_

" _Sure, sure. You seem really testy . . . Fine, whatever. I'm not going to push, just make sure it doesn't interfere with your patrols."_

Just then I heard Sam's thoughts so I let Embry go and went through everything again for Sam, so he could pass along the scents to his Pack. He was even less happy about the situation than my guys, but he at least agreed to not attack Huilen and Nahuel.

With that taken care of I phased back and returned to the Cullens house just as Nessie was finishing her piano lesson.

"Hey, there you are, my Jacob. How did your talk go with your Pack?"

"All good Nessie, Huilen and Nahuel shouldn't have any problems from the wolves."

" _That's good. Come on, let's go hunt_." She thought as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. She was getting better and better using her gift to communicate other by touching them somewhere other than their faces.

…

Nessie's first birthday was a few days away. I hope she will like the gift I am making her. It's almost done, I wanted to have had finished it by now but Huilen and Nahuel's arrival put me behind schedule, by a few hours, this morning.

I had carved small figurines of all of the original wolves –Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth, and myself. I used a local wood that I was currently staining darker to match each wolves fur color. I had given each one a slightly different pose and stance that I felt matched each wolves personality. I wonder if she will be able to figure out who is who? She had spent the most time with my Pack and had gotten to know Sam, Paul and Jared pretty well. What am I even worried about, she is the smarted person, well non-vamp, I know, of course she will be able to tell who's who. I needed to hurry up though.

Huilen and Nahuel said they had something important to speak to all of us about tonight and wanted to meet everyone around 8pm. It was already 7:15 and I still had three wolves left to stain. I needed to finish this today in order for the stain to dry in time to give it to Nessie for her birthday.

Huilen said she wanted to let us know the reason for her and Nahuel's visit, right away. I guess coming here was more than just for a birthday party, like Nahuel had said.

Once again we were dragged into a family meeting, this time led by Huilen, around that dame dining room table. I was really beginning to hate that thing. Nothing good every seemed to happen around it.

Nahuel had been out hunting earlier, and had not returned yet, Carlisle suggested she start without if it was that important, but Huilen insisted we wait for him. It was now well past Nessie's bedtime. By the time Nahuel finally arrived and he and Huilen began speaking it had gotten so late Nessie had already fallen asleep on my lap.

"I am sorry for my tardiness. Hunting so far away took longer than expected. Thank you for waiting for me." Nahuel apologized. "Huilen and I came here for two reasons, first to see everyone and wish Renesmee a happy birthday. I enjoyed my time here last year with all of you even if it was not under the best of circumstances," smiling first over to Bella and then to a sleeping Nessie, I didn't really like that, but I wasn't completely sure why.

"The second reason was because we learned of some interesting news that we wanted to make sure you received," Huilen continued for him.

"After our encounter with the Volturi last year, and they learned about my existence, along with my father, Joham, and my sisters, then went to pay my . . . _family_ a visit."

We all assumed that the Volturi would kill Joham and possibly his sister's but why would those Volturi bastards ever do what we expected?

"Aro took Jane, Alex, Renata, Felix and Demetri with him to South America, looking for them. It took much longer than expect to located them, apparently."

"Hum, I wonder if Demetri can't track half-vampires just like I can't see their futures?" Alice chimed in.

"That would be interesting." Carlisle added in. "It might mean some extra protection from the Volturi in the future if they don't know where exactly we, or at least where Renesmee, is."

That theory made me relax a bit, which was funny since I was not completely aware I was so worried about a future Volturi attack on Nessie. Of course I was always worried about anything that could hurt Nessie but I hoped that particular problem was gone, for now at least. Now I started thinking though, maybe I was the only one who thought that way. Was everyone else in the room on constant alert of another imminent Volturi attack?

I was taken out of my thoughts by more of Nahuel's ramblings. "The Volturi let Joham and my sisters live. I believe Aro used his gift on each of them first and learned whatever it was he specifically went there for. After a brief _warning_ from Jane, _"_ we all knew what that meant, pain, pain and more pain; I almost might have felt sorry for Joham if I hadn't heard what a sick bastard he was, "Aro informed Joham that his experiments must cease immediately and the only reason they were letting him live was because they did not have a law previously forbidding the creation of half-vampires."

When they returned to Italy we heard that the Volturi issue a new law, the first in millennium I believe," Huilen added. "They made what Aro had told Joham official, regarding their ban on creating any new half-vampires. Then they went one step further and decreed that any other half-vampires that currently exist need to present themselves to the Volturi, but swore after a _routine_ examination, they would not be harmed."

With that the table erupted with everyone talking at once.

"I don't see how they expect to get away with something like that?" Carlisle wondered.

"It makes sense but I don't see how they would expect to enforce such a law?" Jasper stated.

"Why would other half-vampires put themselves in such a position, voluntarily?" Questioned Bella.

"What is ' _routine examination'_ suppose to mean?" Esme seemed truly troubled.

"They can't do that!" Emmett shouted over and over.

"Does this mean Nessie is protected from other vampires who might want to hurt her?" Rosalie asked. Hmm, that would be nice.

"I wonder how many more are out there that I can't see?" Alice actually looked sick at that news.

"Everyone calm down!" Edward yelled over the other voices. Amazingly Nessie was still asleep in my arms. I was extremely thankful she is not awake to hear any of this. She already has a hard enough time sleeping. "We cannot be responsible for the rest of the vampire world. We are not the Volturi and I don't think anyone in this room wants to be. I suggest we quietly monitor the situation. For all we know there may not be any other half-vampires that exist. The Volturi did not know of any until last year and they have been around longer that any of us. Even Stephan and Vladimir did not know of any half-vampires existences and they are older than the Volturi. Joham intentionally tried creating half-vampires and was only successful 4 times in the past 200 years."

"This is true" Nahuel spoke up. "I heard from my sisters how he tried many times over the centuries to create more half-vampires and while he knew what he was doing he still was rarely successful."

Edward and Nahuel were right and soon everyone began to calm down.

Carlisle then spoke up, "I suggest that if we hear of anything disturbing in the future we can reconvene and discuss this again. But let's not worry about something that probably will never happen."


	10. The Goodbye Party

**Year Two, Chapter Ten**

 **The Goodbye Party**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was Tuesday, September 11, 2007 and today was my first official birthday. I was only going to have seven of them so I intended to make the most of each one. Grampy Charlie was suppose to be coming over around 6pm along with whomever else Aunt Alice invited. I knew she had a giant party planned but that was all the details I received from her. We were moving tomorrow so my birthday celebration was also doubling as a going away party for Jacobs family and Pack.

Jacob had left at five to go to La Push and pick up his father, Paul, and Rachel in his Rabbit. I was not sure why exactly. Paul could have more easily driven Rachel and Billy over in his car without all of the fuss, but Alice insisted. And everyone, even the werewolves, know not to go against her. But this meant Jacob would have to drive them all back home when the party was over, I wonder what she was up to?

Just before 6pm the guests started arriving. Jacobs four Pack members all came up the stairs and into the living room together. They probably all ran here in wolf form. Quil didn't bring Claire, like I hoped he would, the party would run late and she was only 4 years old. I would have likes to have seen her one last time, while I was still little looking, not being sure when the next time we would be back would be. It didn't make that much of a difference to me, but it would to her.

"Hey Nessie, Happy Birthday," Seth ran right over and picked me up into a great big hug.

"Thanks, Seth. Did you see or hear from Jacob on your way over? He was suppose to pick up his family and come right back."

"Yeah, they are right behind us. It should take them a bit longer for them to get here, since they're driving."

"Hey where's my little girl?" I heard Grampy Charlie call from the front door."

"I'm upstairs, dad." My mother called to him. "Come on up, we are in the living room. "

Well most of us were in the living room. Leah, Embry, and Quil seem to have migrated out to the back porch. It must have been hard for them being here with my families too sweet vampire smells everywhere. They have not gotten use to it, like Jacob had. My family probably were grateful for their current location as well.

"Excuse me Seth, I'm going to go find Grampy Charlie."

With that I bounced away, but before I found him, Sam and Emily arrived with some of the younger wolves they had given a ride too. I didn't know all of their names. Occasionally one of them would babysit Jacob and me at La Push but they never seemed too friendly. They mostly kept to themselves and never talked to me. I didn't mind though. I wasn't there to talk to them, I was at La Push to be with my Jacob, enjoy my "childhood" and give Jacob some time with Billy and Rachel.

A few more of Sam's Pack trickled in, and some even brought their imprints. It was nice to have more girls with all of the wolves here.

I received 'Happy Birthday' wishes from everyone as they came in but I kept looking at the door as the time got later and later. Jacob still had not arrived.

"Hey, there is my granddaughter. Happy birthday Nessie."

"Hi Grampy."

"I can't believe it is your first birthday. You are getting to be such a pretty your lady." He looked a little unsettled. Today was an extra reminder, to him, that even though I looked like a six years old I had only been alive for one year. He was still on his 'Need to Know' policy. I wonder if he married Sue, if she would she let him in on the whole vampire / werewolf secret?

"Mom finally let you go I see. I've been trying to say 'Hi' to you all night, but between her hogging you and everyone else hogging me, I kept missing you."

"Well you have me now."

Grampy Charlie and I chatted for awhile. It was nice seeing him one last time before we left, even knowing it wouldn't be the last time I saw him. It didn't really feel like goodbye to me, not like how my mother was acting like it was.

Finally almost two hours later Billy, Paul, Rachel and my Jacob arrived. I wonder what took them so long? Maybe Jacob just wanted some alone time with Billy. It had just been the two of them for years before Rachel moved back home and Jacob came to live with me.

"Nessie, time for cake," Aunt Alice chimed from somewhere. The cake was massive. Suddenly all of the wolves, that had spent most of the night on the back porch magically reemerged. I bet they would devour the entire cake before the night was done.

My mother and I blew out the candles, since we were pretending it was her birthday party too, for Grampy Charlie's sake anyway.

Nana Renee and Phil even mailed her a present, a new jacket for the cold winters here. We all had a good laugh when she opened it earlier. I am sure one of the imprints wouldn't mind taking it for her, or else we could donate it with all of the rest of the clothes we got rid of every month. Alice really needs to cut back on the shopping and let my family wear clothes more than once or twice. It seemed very wasteful. I couldn't do that yet thought, myself. I was growing so fast I had to wear new clothes pretty much every couple of weeks as I grew out of them.

As I was eating my cake I spotted Huilen and Nahuel clinging to the far corner of the room. I really hadn't noticed them all night long. In fact I really hadn't spent much time with them at all since their arrival. I probably should once we are all set up in the new house. Most of my family will be in high school during the day so it will just be Grandma Esme, them, and myself. That would be plenty of time. They seemed a little out of place but I did see Nahuel try a piece of cake. I don't think he liked it, he made a funny face and left it mostly uneaten. Maybe I should go over and at least say 'thank you' to them for coming to the party. That was why they came all the way to Washington.

"Alright everyone, can we all gather around so Nessie can open her birthday presents." My mother called over the crowd. Too late, I will have to talk to them later I guess.

I received many wonderful gifts of clothes and jewelry from my family, some books from Grampy Charlie that I was well beyond, but would never tell him that, and a hand woven rug from Huilen and Nahuel, The wolves seemed to all get together and gave me some cheesy tourist trap items from La Push, as a joke, but I loved them too. They would be a wonderful reminder of my time there.

My favorite gift of all was from Jacob. I could not believe he hand-carved so many wolves himself. The detail was amazing. Of course I had seen the one he made for my mother years ago, but these seemed more personal. He was truly talented. At first I thought it was just a collection of wolves in various poses, but upon closer examination I could see that they were not just any wolves they were Jacob and his Pack, along with a few of the older wolves from Sam's Pack. It was amazing. It must have taken him hours. When did he even have time to make them?

"We have one more present," my father spoke over the crowd, "could everyone please gather in the front yard."

Once we were all outside, my father continued, "Billy, we want to thank you for letting your son join our family in Hoodsport. We know how much you love him and how much of a help he has been to you over the years. Nothing we could ever say or do could ever replace him, but we hope this might make things a bit easier for you. Please accept this gift from us, as a small token of our appreciation."

Uncle Emmett then pulled up in a brand new truck that had been specially outfitted to accommodate Billy's wheelchair. There was a chair lift in the driver's side so Billy could just roll up to the door and the mechanical lift would take him and his chair to where the driver's seat would normally be in the front. It looked like Aunt Rose's handiwork. He would never need anyone to help him in and out of the car again. I could also see that there were accelerator and brake controls on the steering wheel, if he ever needed them in the future. I wonder what else she did? Now it made sense why Aunt Alice insisted Jacob drive Billy hear.

"You did a fine job raising Jacob and we hope he will be as happy with our family as he has been with you and yours," My father finished saying.

I don't think any of the wolves even heard my father, they were all mesmerized by the truck.

As I looked at Jacob though I could see that he was fighting back some tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. I felt so guilty again that I was taking Jacob away from his family.

"Guys could you give me a moment alone with the Cullens?" He did not look happy like I thought he would, he actually looked . . . mad. But why?

Once most of the party guests retreated back into the house Billy started talking again. "Thank you Edward, that is very . . . um, charitable of you, but I can't accept it. I understand that Jake needs to be with Renesmee since he imprinted on her, . . . but you're making me feel like I am trading you my son for a fancy ride." He looked pissed and started rolling away.

Oh, this was awkward. The few remaining wolves slowly dispersed into the woods and most of my family vanished back into the house.

"Dad, I'm not being traded for a truck, how could you say that."

"It's alright, Jacob," my father started, "Billy is right to be upset that he is losing you, You're his only son. It is understandable, him being angry." Then he turned back to Billy, "Please forgive us, we did not mean to distress you in any way."

"You must understand that we were not trying to insult you," Carlisle continued. "we simply wanted to try to do whatever we could to make this easier for you."

"Nessie, why don't you go inside," My father said to me. He must have been too absorbed in the situation and just realized that I was still there.

"Alright, dad." Then I turned and went over to Billy before going inside. I wanted to say a proper good-bye to him in case I did not get another chance before we left.

I gave Billy a hug, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party." _"I am sorry I am ripping your family apart. I understand that if he never imprinted on me, you would still have your son. Please forgive me. Jacob is so wonderful, and I know why you love him so much, because I love him too and would not want to give him up either."_ I shared the last part with my gift and added all the love I felt for both of them.

"Thank you Nessie, you're right. I know, I overreacted. It's my turn to ask for your forgiveness. I can see you were only trying to do something nice." He looked like he was the one holding back tears now.

I just smiled and nodded to him, if I tried to talk anymore I would have started crying.

"Billy I will be right back," Jacob then picked me up and carried me in the house to where the rest of my family was trying to ignore the awkward conversation that just happened outside.

"Nessie, I don't know what you shared with him, but I can't thank you enough. I have to go back and talk with him some more, make sure everything is okay, and say goodbye. Do you think you will be okay for a bit?"

"Of course, I will see you when you're done."

Uncle Emmett put on a movie and turned up the volume so they could have some privacy outside. An hour later Jacob came back inside. He told me that everything was worked out with Billy, thanks to me. I didn't think I did that much, I just told him how much I loved his son. In the end Billy drove his new truck home. He really did appreciate it.

….

Please leave me a review. I would love to hear what you think. Thank you.


	11. The New House

**Year Two, Chapter Eleven**

 **The New House**

Jacob's Point of View

"Okay, kids. Time to wake up. We're here." Edward said as he jostled Nessie and me awake. We had arrived at our new house on a gloomy Wednesday morning.

Alice had woke us up around 5am and we pretty much stumbled our way into the car, still half asleep, the morning after Nessie's birthday. Nessie and I easily fell back asleep once we were settled into the back seat of Edwards car, her family had no problem driving, not needing any sleep themselves. Why did we have to leave this early? I know he told me why, but my brain was still asleep then and I could not remember right now.

All of our things had been moved to the new house over the past week. The old house, in Forks, still had all of the furniture and some clothes for everyone in case we needed to go back at anytime, which made sense since my Pack was there as well as Bella's dad, Charlie.

"Come on Nessie, let's go explore this place." I said as we exited the car. After the three hour car ride, we were feeling more awake now. Nessie seemed happy despite the fact that she had just left the only home she had ever known. This must be hard for her. It was hard for me as well. I had left my home, my family and my Pack to go live with a bunch of vampires. But I did it to be with Nessie. I would do anything for her, and that made this easier for me. And right now she needed me to be strong and not seem like I was upset moving away from everything and everyone I knew and loved.

"Whose ready for a tour of the house?" Esme asked everyone with a giant smile on her face. We all followed her in, including Huilen and Nahuel who came with us, in one of the other cars, as she began pointed out rooms.

"Okay everyone as you can see just through the front door is the main living room. Renesmee and Jacob your bedrooms are down the hallway on the right, there is a full bathroom between the two that you can access through your rooms. I also added a washer and dryer in there for you Jacob. I wanted to make this as comfortable for you as possible and I thought this would help keep your things smelling better, to you, if you could wash them separately. Your room also has its own door to the outside to make it easier for you to phase when needed." Esme was so thoughtful.

"Behind the living room is the kitchen and the dining room. I thought it would be best if your rooms were closest, since you're the only two who will get any practical use from them," she added with a wink towards us.

"On the other side of the house on the first floor is the music room and two guest bedrooms. Nahuel and Huilen will that be alright for you?" They just nodded in approval and left in that direction. "Good. Let's go up the stairs to the second floor. Carlisle and my bedroom is on the right towards the front of the house and Carlisle's office is right behind it. There is a movie room in the middle. On the other side is Edward and Bella's bedroom in the back corner with the front room for your own use."

We followed Esme up the stairs again to the third floor.

"Alice and Jasper your bedroom is on the right towards the back, with the front room for your own use. The library is in the middle. Over on the left we have Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom toward the front of the house and the back room to do with as you please.

"I have also added extra soundproofing throughout the house. And everyone's rooms of course have a large walk in closet and full bath attached." She added almost as an afterthought. "Is there anything that anyone wants changed? Or could I add anything for anyone?"

"I guess this is acceptable," Rose said. "if the dog has to be in the same house as us at least he is as far away as possible, from me," she snarled.

"Right back at you, Blondie," I snapped back at her. She really needed to make this harder?

"I'm not sure I am comfortable being so far away from my daughter." Bella spoke up next. They were only one floor away but I guess she was right they were diagonally on the other side of the house.

"Bella, dear," Edward tried comforting her, "Renesmee will be fine. Jacob will be right there with her, and she is not a baby anymore. She is in a house full of vampires, we can get to her, in under a second, from anywhere on the property, if we needed to."

"Your right," she smiled at him. "It's just that she is still my baby."

"Mom calm down, were still living in the same house, it's not like I'm moving to Nepal or something." Nessie added with a smirk. "I am sure I will be fine."

After that, no one else had an objections so we all went off, in pairs, to explore our new rooms.

When I entered by bedroom I got so happy. I was finally going to sleep in a bed that fit me. Esme had gotten a king size bed for me. And just as Esme said there was a huge closet off of my and Nessie's rooms, full of brand new clothes, and I am assuming new clothes in everyone else's rooms, as well. Alice! Hmm, I'll have to wash everything first. Not that I don't appreciate it but Esme was right about the smell. The Cullens scents don't hurt my nose as much as they did when I first phased, I guess I got use to them and became slightly desensitized. All vampires smell different, just all too sickeningly sweet, so unfamiliar vampires scents still hurt. I'm still not use to Huilen's aroma in the house. As well as I was tolerating the Cullens it still was not the most pleasant of aromas and I didn't see the point of making myself any less comfortable.

"Do you like your room Nessie?" She had a new queen size bed, lavender walls, and as I looked around it seemed like everything about her room had a slightly older look to it than her old room in the cottage.

"Yes, but why did Grandma Esme give you your own room? Aren't you going to still stay with me?" I could see the worry in her eyes. She still got the occasional nightmare.

"Nessie, don't worry. If you want me to stay with you I will. I am sure Esme was just trying to be nice and make me feel welcome offering me my own room."

"I don't' want you to stay with me my Jacob, I want you to share this room with me. I want you to think of this as your room too, I want it to be our room."

"Nessie, this is your room, I'm not taking your room from you."

"My Jacob, it's not my room, or your room, it's our room. Understand?"

"Sure, sure. If that will make you happy Nessie, then it can be our room, for now, but can we leave the other room as it is, just in case you change your mind in the future?"

She looked sad. "You don't want to share a room with me?"

"I always want to be with you, Nessie. You know that, I love you, I imprinted on you, you know nothing could keep me away from you. But YOU may change your mind some day. There may come a day when you want your privacy, or whatever." Probably soon too, she was going to start looking like a teenage within the next year or two with the rate she was growing.

"I doubt that will ever happen Jacob, but if it makes you feel better than fine, we can keep that room as a backup. Okay?

"Sure, sure."

"Good, then I think we should bring some of your things in here too. This is your room, as much as it is mine."

"Nessie, do you think that is a good idea? You don't know how long I will be staying in here."

"That's exactly right, we don't know. It could be a week or it could be forever."

"Okay. I'll grab my stuff in a bit."

With that she relaxed and started exploring her new clothes while I started washing mine, I will have to also wash her sheets, bedspread and pillows at some point. Nessie understood the smell issue, so I won't need to explain when I started ripping everything off of her bed; well, our bed now, I guess.

After I filled the washing machine with the first load of clothes I looked around the bathroom and was pleasantly surprised to see an extra tall shower head above the bathtub. I won't have to stoop to wash my hair, awesome. The tub itself also looked larger and longer than normal. Esme was so thoughtful. I will have to remember to do something special for her later, to say thank you.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Nessie called.

"Ah, there you are Jacob. How are the two of you settling in?"

"We're good Grandpa, Jacob is just getting settled in here."

"Yes, Edward did mention the change."

Of course he _heard,_ but he didn't break the door down or start screaming at me, so I guess he was okay with me staying in Nessie's room, for now, anyway. I have a feeling our current sleeping arrangements might not be something he would want to last much longer. For now, she looked like a kid, no matter how advanced her mind might be, and everything was perfectly innocent.

"Jacob, may I have a private word with you, upstairs?"

Or maybe Eddie just asked Carlisle to come get me so he could dismember me without his daughters knowledge. This was going to be fun.

"Sure, sure. Lead the way doc." I grabbed Nessie into a tight hug before I left. Who knows when or if I might be able to do that again. "See you soon, sweetheart." I hope.

I followed Carlisle up to his office where I was relieved to learn that Edward did not send him. I am really starting to get paranoid. I know I just moved away from home, into a house full of vampires, but it was Bella and her family. They weren't going to hurt me. I needed to relax. Deep breaths. Come one Jake, you're supposed to be an Alpha Wolf, I told myself. Start acting like it.

"Jacob, thank you for agreeing to talk to me."

"No problem doc, what's up?"

"I was wondering how you were doing. I know this must be difficult for you, moving away from your home, family, friends, . . . your Pack. "

"I'm fine, or at least I will be. I've basically been living with Nessie, Bella and Edward for the past year, this won't be that different. I'll deal."

"Yes, I'm sure you will. But we all want you to do more than just . . . deal, Jacob. We would very much like for you to be happy living here with us. Please let any of us know immediately if there is anything you need or if there is anything we can do for you."

"Doc, really I'll be fine." First Nessie now Carlisle. What's next? Is Blondie going to start being nice to me. Ha! Okay maybe that was pushing it.

"Alright Jacob. I was wondering if you could do something for me, then. If you are going to be living with us for the indefinite future I would like to learn a bit more about you so I can treat you, should the need ever arise."

"What do you mean exactly?" I didn't like the sound of this.

"Well, I would like to take some x-rays, an MRI and c-scan of you in your human form as well as your wolf form. If there is ever an accident or attack and you are injured, in your wolf form, and are unable to phase back, I would like to know more about your anatomy, to treat you better. I would also like to draw a larger sample of your blood to run some tests. I believe it is best to be prepared for all eventualities."

"Doc, you know I trust you with my life, but I am not sure if that is safe. If another vampire found your results, and found a weakness in the wolves, then they could find a way to use it against me or the Packs. I am not sure if that is a good idea."

"I understand your concerns. What if I could guarantee you no one would be able to find anything. I am capable of remembering everything I see, so there is no need for me to write anything down and I will destroy all of the images and test results generated once I have reviewed them."

"I guess that would be alright, then."

"I would ask for one more thing, your permission to share what I have learned with Edward. As you know he holds several medical degrees of his own. Hopefully it will never be needed, but if I am ever unavailable or unable to treat you, he would be able to take my place."

"Sure, sure. So when did you want to do this?" Never mind, even as I was saying it, Carlisle began moving a bunch of machines into position. "So, right now then?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to begin immediately." Why did he have to look so happy?

Two hours later Carlisle said he was done. Finally! I was poked, prodded, weighed, measured, scanned, rescanned, and I don't even know what else. He took samples of my blood and other . . . _liquids_. Gross. I don't want to know what he was going to do with them. I just wanted to get out of that room and hopefully never have to go back.

When I returned to Nessie's room. . . correction, _our_ room, Edward was there talking with Nessie.

"My Jacob, what took you so long?"

"He's fine Renesmee, Carlisle was just giving him a checkup." Edward said with a smirk in my direction. Of course he heard everything and knew exactly what Carlisle was doing. Nice and embarrassing. Great.

"I'm sorry I was gone so long Nessie. How are you doing down here? Did you get the room all set up just the way you like it?"

"No, I wanted to wait for you, so we could do it together. I finished washing your clothes for you, though."

"Thanks, you didn't need to do that. I would have gotten to it eventually."

"Why don't the two of you take a break and go eat dinner. I think Bella cooked some steak and vegetables for the two of you."

….

After dinner I began washing the bedding, it took awhile but I got it all done. In between loads Nessie and I moved some of my things from the other room into this one. Making the bedroom more "ours" and less just "hers".

Next week I started high school. It was going to be hard being away from Nessie for that long, but I knew I had to go back and finish school, if only to begin to be worthy of her.

…

Please review, I would love to hear what you think. Thank you.


	12. Legal Matters

**Year Two, Chapter Twelve**

 **Legal Matters**

Jacob's Point of View

"Can everyone please gather in the dining room for a family meeting." I heard Carlisle say from somewhere in the house.

"Come on Nessie, let's see what's going on this time." We left the puzzle we had been working on in the library. "I'll race you back here when the meetings over," adding a wink and a smile.

When we got to the dining room Alice pulled me aside to ask a whispered question. "Jacob I need to know, right now, if would you like your money separate or combined with the rest of the families?"

Money, I don't really have any money. I didn't see a problem adding my tiny savings to theirs. They have already given me so much,; just in the way of clothes there would be no way to every repay them.

"You can combine it if you want, I guess."

"Great!", she seemed thrilled. "That will make things so much easier."

"Um, Okay" I have no idea what she was thinking but I am not about to get into something with Alice by asking a bunch of questions. I've learned that with her it's just easier to go along with whatever she wants. She always gets her way in the end, anyway.

"Alice is everything all set to go over the family's finances?" Carlisle asked her.

"Just give me a minute to print them out," she chirped, as her fingers fluttered over her laptop's keyboard. She seemed to be typing something but her fingers were moving so fast I couldn't see anything. Moments later a bunch of papers were printed and staples packets were placed in front of everyone at the table. Huh? I didn't even know printers worked that fast.

"Wonderful, now that we are all ready, I think it is time to go over the logistics for this latest move. First off, here is a key to the new house for everyone, as well as the garage, as well as new cell phones. I have taken the liberty of preprogramming some numbers in them for all of you, and lastly everyone's new email addresses," he stated as he handed out the keys, phones and a piece of paper with everyone's cell phone numbers and email address on it. The cell phone was one of those new smart phones that just came out, nice. I will have to play with it later. But why do we need keys to the house. In all the times I've been at the Cullen Forks house not once was the door ever locked. And this how, like the last one, was so hidden in the woods I doubt anyone would ever find it.

"Jasper has new identifications for everyone. Jasper." Carlisle indicated for him to speak next.

Jasper went around the table and placed a manila envelope in front of everyone, including me. I didn't think I needed a new identity for this move. Wasn't I just re-enrolling in school with Carlisle and Esme as my guardians. There must be something else I need in there. Might as well find out. Everyone was opening theirs too.

Inside I found a birth certificate, passport and drivers license for a Jacob Wolfe and also a passport and birth certificate for Vanessa Wolfe, with Nessie's picture on it. What?

"Jacob, I see your confusion. You are indeed going to remain Jacob Black for the time being. Those are documents that were made last year before our encounter with the Volturi." Just at the mention of their name Nessie tensed.

She was sitting on my lap as usual and I gave her a reassuring hug, to help calm her down. It seemed to work a bit, but she still was noticeable upset. It just got me so angry that they distressed my angel so much, but I would never lose control in front of her.

"I thought you should have those, as a 'just in case', for the future," Jasper continued.

"Question, why are we changing the families last name? We've never done that before."

"Emmett it's not the 1930's anymore. Technology has improved. With everything not only computerized, but connected through the internet we could hardly continue to have the exact same names, especially while remaining in the same state. Be grateful we are keeping out first names. There is the possibility that on our next move we can go back to being the Cullens. That is if we decide to go straight to college instead of repeating high school again. But for the time being we are the Masens," Jasper explained

The Cullens were now the Masens? That will take some getting used to. Bella explained everyone's new relationships to one another. There were Carlisle and Esme Masen, and their adopted children; High school juniors Edward Masen, Esme's younger brother, and the girls Alice Masen, and Isabella Cullen, Bella wanted to keep the Cullen name for awhile. And the seniors, Emmett Masen, Alice's older brother, and the Whitlock twins Rosalie and Jasper. Part of the story was that Alice and Emmett were supposed to have been adopted as toddlers so they were given the Masen last name. Edward changed his last name to his sisters, when she got married to seem closer to her after their parents died. (That one seemed a little shaky, but whatever,) Bella, Jasper and Rose were adopted when they were older and chose to keep their own last names. At least with Bella remaining a Cullen if I slipped and referred to them as the Cullens to anyone outside of the family, it wouldn't seem completely wrong.

"Is everyone satisfied with their documents, or are any changes needed?" Silence. "All right then, that's all I have for now. Alice would like to begin now, then?"

"Thanks Jazz," she said as she popped up and kissed him on the cheek. She was always doing things like that. I didn't see him reciprocating in public, but he must have been different in private, I don't think Alice would put up with any less.

"Alright, everyone, please open the packets in front of you." Hmmm when did this get here? "Inside you will find a new debit card that is linked to our checking account, I am going to start keeping them set at a constant $5000, replenished daily from the families savings accounts. I know we use to have them set at $2500 but I was constantly going over. This just seems to make it easier. Don't you guys agree?"

"Alice, I think you were the only one who had that _particular_ problem." Edward told her.

"Oh, whatever," she breezed past his words as if he was talking nonsense. "If you need to purchase anything that costs more than that you will need to use one of the credit cards. Everyone should find a Visa, MasterCard and American Express in your packet.

Nessie grabbed the packet in front of me and dumped it out revealing the same cards in my name that everyone else had, well except Nessie. Not many six year old have credit cards. But why did they give me cards too. I've never seen a vampire in this family make a mistake before.

"There has been no mistake, Jacob," Edward interrupted my thoughts, he always listened to them anyway, "We all heard you when you said you wished for your finances to be combined with the rest of the families. So of course the reverse would be true as well. You're part of this family too."

"I didn't mean I wanted your money when I said that."

"We know that Jacob. But you're a Cullen now, well Masen, technically, for the time being. What's ours is yours.

"But I can't take your money," I protested. I think I had gotten tricked, somehow.

"If it makes it easier for you, why don't you think if it this way - Don't you think it would seem a bit strange, to the humans, if you were the only adopted child of Carlisle and Esme without access to the family fortune?"

He had a point, but I don't see myself needing anything that expensive. Wait, I'm not supposed to be one of their adopted kids, Carlisle and Esme were just acting as my guardians.

I was about to try one more protest but was cut off by Alice. I guess I could just hold on to them and never use them.

"Moving on then. I have already replenished the cash reserves in everyone's rooms. You should all find a box on the top shelves of your closets, each, including yours Jacob," she said glaring directly at me, "contains $100,000 for emergencies." Wow. Okay, I don't see myself winning any arguments regarding money in this family. It might just be best to shut up and not even try arguing.

"Good idea Jacob," Edward said to my unspoken thoughts.

"Now if everyone will open your financial reports to the first page, we can begin to go over the latest valuations of everyone's portfolios; including stocks, bonds, retail properties, cars, planes, boats, art, etc… and all other investments. Everyone can turn to page one and we will begin."

Groans started erupting around the table. I guess this would take awhile.

"Okay, fine, to save time I could just go to go over the things that have had major changes in valuation or things that need special attention."

"Good idea Alice, we want to leave while Nessie is still young," Emmett jeered.

She game him what looked like a death glare before continuing. "Carlisle and Esme everything looks pretty good. Isle Esme is doing well, but the boat to your island, that you couldn't locate last Valentine's day seems to have just vanished, even I can't find it. We may need to replace it."

I knew several of them had gone on vacation to Isle Esme before but did she just say they owned the entire island?

"I'm afraid that's my fault. I was a bit careless returning from there with Bella. I might have left the boat unsecure."

"That is understandable, Edward." Carlisle spoke. "We all know you were overcome with worry, learning of Bella's pregnancy, and were not thinking clearly."

"Never-the-less I will replace your boat. Please just pick one out sometime so I can have it ordered."

"Well now that that is settled, let's continue. There are a few paintings that I have listed that are scheduled for cleaning. Other than that everything looks good."

"Edward and Bella, as you can see, this may be a good time to 'inherit' Edwards house in Chicago and family fortune from the 'original' Masen's, again. It's been about 50 years since you did it previously and the timing seems right with this latest move and name change.

"That makes sense. Jasper do you think you can contact Mr. Jenks to arrange. . ." Edward began before Bella interrupted him.

"Edward, I'll talk to Jenks, myself. We don't want him having a heart attack. What would we do if he died?" She said with a scowl towards Jasper. As usual I felt out of the loop.

"Good. Moving on, again. Now Rose and Emmett, everything looks good, there's a couple of stocks I'm moving around but nothing beyond the usual. You might want to take it easy on the gambling though, Emmett.

"Like your one to talk, little shopaholic."

She just stuck her tongue out in response to him.

"Jasper, what do you think about cashing in the bonds and reinvesting them since they are no longer performing as well as before . . . Perfect." She added a second later not bothering to wait for him to actually respond. She must have seen herself selling them in one of her visions.

I guessed that was it so I got up to go back to the puzzle Nessie and I started earlier.

"Just where do you think you are going Jacob? We haven't talked about your stocks yet."

"Alice, I think you made a mistake. I don't have any stocks."

"Of course you do silly. How could you forget so soon? I just asked you at the beginning of the meeting if you wanted your finances included with the rest of the families. As soon as you agreed I took the money from you savings account and put it into the stock market."

How did she get my savings account info? Not that it was much in it, but how did she even get access to it?

"Sorry I didn't give you more specifics," she continued, "but I needed to buy some Keurig coffee stock, and a few others before the prices started shooting up, in order to maximize your returns. If you turn to the last page in the packet you will see your new balance. Well not yet exactly, that's what it will be in three months, and seven days."

When I flipped to the last page I was amazed. "How is that possible? There is no way you could turn the tiny . . ."

"Jacob Black, don't you dare doubt me." Ew, Scary Alice rears her head. Great.

Edward started chuckling to himself.

"Sorry Alice, never mind."

"Don't do it again. Now at the bottom you can also see the current value of your bike and car. In case you were interested." Then she turned to face everyone at the rest of the table. That's it for me. Anybody else have anything?"

No one said anything, but just to be safe I waited an extra minute before attempting to get up again.

"Hey Jake, you want to go for a walk." Really, what does Emmett want?

"Um, sure."

Nessie grabbed my hand. _"It's okay Jacob, we can finish the puzzle later."_

"I'll be right back, sweetheart." I said as I put Nessie down on the chair and followed Emmett outside. We walked for awhile in the woods away from the house.

"Jake, I just wanted to let you know that it won't always be so awkward for you, You'll get use to the money. They really do think if it as everyone's. Carlisle, Edward, Rose and Jasper all came from money, there use to always having it. And Alice has always seen a way to get it, and anything else she wants. It's not something that is important to them. They're really not possessive of it, it's more of a way to make everything else easier. But I grew up more like you, during the Great Depression, no one had anything. I can understand where you are coming from. And I just wanted to let you know that it will get easier over time."

"Sure, sure." I'm not sure he was right about that, but it was nice to hear. "Thanks for the talk, I gotta head back though."

"Yeah, I know, you have a puzzle to finish. Don't disappoint my niece."

"Never."

…

Please review, I would love you hear what you think. Thank you.


	13. High School

**Year Two, Chapter Thirteen**

 **High School**

Jacob's Point of View

"Here we go! Junior year of high school, round two." I said out loud to no one in particular. Okay, so I was just trying to pep myself up. I didn't particularly like the idea of leaving Nessie all day long, while I was at school. But I knew I had to do it.

We had all gathered in the garage and were trying to figure out who would be going in what car. There were seven of us, two cars seemed appropriate, pretty easy math, in my opinion. But currently there was a rather lively discussion going on to try and narrow down the list of the five cars everyone wanted take. Edward thought Alice's car was too flashy and would draw attention. Rose thought Edwards car was boring. Emmett wanted something roomy so he wouldn't be squished. His was the only opinion I agreed with. It's hard fitting into Edwards tiny car. Maybe I could just take my bike and meet everyone there.

That would also settle the problem of our equally unappealing odors. Being trapped in a car with me might be pushing it for some members of the family. No use in intentionally making others uncomfortable. We had all gotten pretty use to each other's aromas by now. I'm not sure why or how but I was glad, since I apparently will be "stuck" living with vamps for the rest of eternity. Not that I minded, I would do anything for Nessie. She was the only one who never had a problem with how everyone else smelled. And I loved how she smelled, which was strange, I guess, considering she was half-vamp. Even Nahuel smelled slightly unpleasant to me. But then again it would be pretty weird being repulsed by your soul mates smell.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when everyone suddenly quieted down.

"All right then its settled," Edward was the only one speaking now. Jacob will go on his motorcycle, the ladies will go in Roses car and the guys will come in mine. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

Everyone nodded and took off into their assigned cars. I guess Edward was listening to my unspoken thoughts, as always. Why was I still surprised?

"Jacob," as I was about to climb onto my bike I heard my angels voice and stopped immediately. It was Monday, September 17th, and we were already starting school a week after the official start of the school year. I did not need to arrive late on my first day. But I could never say "no" to her.

"Hi Nessie, did you need anything?" I had already had breakfast with her and went over how I would be back around 3-3:30, as soon as I got out of school. She gave me the tightest hug she ever had and didn't seem to want to let go. Bella practically had to pry her off of me. I knew she was going to miss me, almost as much as I would miss her. We had never been away from each other for so long before.

"No, I just wanted to . . . um . . . well I just . . . nothing really . . ." tears were starting to well up in her eyes. I hated seeing her cry.

"Nessie, I won't be gone that long. It will be just like when I had to leave to go patrol around La Push. We'll see each other again in 8 hours. And you will be busy with Esme homeschooling you. Time will fly bye."

"I know, it's just that it is the first day. I will be better tomorrow morning. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you. You should go before your late."

"That's alright Nessie, you never have to apologize to me."

"Okay, just go quickly so you can come back quickly." She said with a fake smile.

"Alright, Nessie. See you soon." I did as she asked and jumped on my bike and took off. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, and it literally hurt me to do it. I knew she would be fine, but it still broke my heart to know that I was hurting her too, by leaving. Even if it was the right thing to do, I still hated it. But I also needed to finish high school, at least once.

When I arrived at Hoodsport High Edward had my schedule already, he got his from the office with the rest of the family and picked up mine as well.

The school turned out to be smaller than the Forks High School but bigger than the one on the reservation. Still everyone seem to know each other and since we were starting a week late, got quite a few stares. It was a weird combination of awe, adoration, and fear. We were a group of non-humans, who tended to stand out, whether for being unnaturally beautiful as vampires are or just a gigantically tall wolf. I don't see us making lots of friends. That was fine by me. The only person I wanted to be with was waiting for me back at home. This was not going to be fun. How did the Cullens do this over and over?

At least I had already gone through the first half of my Junior year, before I first phased and had to drop out. I already knew what we were learning and wouldn't already be behind, from having missed the first week.

Bella, Edward, and Alice were pretending to be Juniors with me, and with the school being so small we all had most of our classes together. Actually, I estimated that there probably were only about 200 students in the whole school, that would mean roughly 50 kids made up the Junior class. No wonder we had all of our classes with each other.

Checking over our schedules I saw that I had English with Alice first, then history with Bella and Edward. Next came chemistry with Bella and Alice, then all the guys were put together for Gym so I was with Edward, but that was thankfully just once a week, the rest of the week it was a free / study period. Pre-calculus with Bella, Edward and Alice came next and was the only class where we were all together before we broke for lunch. Then there was Music with Edward, that should be interesting, and finally Spanish with Bella and Edward.

School droled along, but the day was finally ending.

As soon as the final bell rang the three of us dashed out of the classroom as fast as "humanly" possible. It was strange, kids kept staring at me and the rest of the family but no one ever approached any of us. Not a single person even said "hi" to me all day long. The students actually created a bubble around us when we walked down the halls, clearing a path that we could walk through. I thought it must just be because people could tell there was something wrong with the Cullens, (well Masen's, or whatever) but they did it to me too when I was on my own. Maybe this is just temporary, new kid stuff. I will have to ask Edward later.

I made a quick pit stop at my locker to get my stuff, and was about to take off. "It is not going to be temporary, Jacob."

I didn't even realize Edward was near me. I should have known though, his locker was near mine, well everyone's locker was close to everyone else's. There weren't that many to begin with.

"This happens wherever we go. And since the children here have seen you with us, they seem to be lumping you in with us equally. Bella was an anomaly, most people sense the inherent danger in us and know to keep away. But it seemed to draw her in."

"I think it all worked out for the best, though, don't you," Bella said joining us, and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Why would you want to make friends here anyway, Jake," Emmett slung an arm over my shoulder leading me towards the door, "you have a little girl at home that takes up all of your time and attention."

"You want to say that a little louder, Emmett, I don't think the whole school heard you." Actually they might have. He started snickering as I shoved him off of me. While we knew he was referring to Nessie, no one outside of the family did, and it seemed like he thought it would be funny it he gave them the impression I was some sort of "baby daddy". I did not need people around here thinking that. Edward, Bella, and I all growled at him, too low for the humans to hear, but it was too late. I could see everyone around us turn and give me a look in response to his comment. "Great! Thanks Emmett."

"No problem, buddy."

"Whatever, see you all back home." I huffed as I jogged out to my bike and headed back to my angel. Emmett was right, in a way, I didn't _need_ to make friends, I _did_ have Nessie and she is all I need.

Ten minutes later I was back home, well the new house for the next few years at least.

"Nessie, I'm back. . ."

"Jacob, there you are, we have a wonderful surprise for you." She was so happy and pulled my arm towards her, err, our bedroom.

"Look, isn't this so much better?" She gestured to the king size bed that was now replacing the smaller queen that Esme had first put in for Nessie. "Grandma Esme ordered it last week as soon as she heard you would be sleeping in here instead of the other room. Why didn't you ever tell me you were so uncomfortable in my old bed?"

"I wasn't uncomfortable, Nessie, I was with you." Everything was better with her. "And you never saw my old bed at Billy's house. It was even smaller than that. Your bed was a big improvement even with the two of us squishing into it." She seemed to believe me. It was the truth, but it's not like I would turn down a larger bed.

"Jacob, I had a lot of time to think while you were gone and I am sorry if I made this morning harder for you. It won't happen again. But now that you are back I would like to hear about your day. I have a million questions for you. I want to hear everything."

"It wasn't that exciting, Nessie."

"Well, I am still incredibly jealous of you. I wish I could have gone too, instead of being stuck here all day long. Would it be alright if I lived vicariously through you?"

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

"Well how was school? What did the building look like, was it big? I bet it was big. Did you make lots of new friends? How were your classes, they weren't too hard were they? Did you gave any classes with any of the family? What was . . ."

"Whoa, slow down Nessie. One at a time."

"Alright, what did you learn today?"

Just a bunch of stuff that I already learned the last time I started the 11th grade. The only new thing was that now I have to take a music class. I never had to play an instrument at my old school."

"Well if you need any help, I am sure my dad would be willing to help you."

"Maybe. He's doing a great job teaching you and Bella the piano, but I don't have your advanced vampire brain."

"What about your werewolf brain? What is that like?"

"Not sure if it is any different than when I was human. Going back to school now is the first time I'll get to test it, I guess." I do hope it has improved. If I do end up living multiple lifetimes with Nessie I would hate to start to forget things about her, our time together, or my family that I will be outliving. I had already lost my mom when I was younger, and I will eventually lose the rest of my family – Billy, Rachel, and Rebecca. I will outlive all of them, and their kids, and grandkids. . .

"Hey Jacob," Alice started knocking on the door.

Huh? "Come in Alice." What does she want?

"Jacob, can you put these on," she asks me while holding up a pair of shorts.

"Alice, you already stocked the closet here with more clothes than I have ever had in my entire life, combined. I don't think I need any more."

"These are different, they're for when you phase."

"What?"

"Put them on and meet me outback," she said as she turned and left.

" _She could have at least said 'please',"_ Nessie thought to me with a smirk, while touching my arm.

"I'll meet you outside in a minute." I said, then quickly changed into the shorts as soon as she left the room. They didn't seem like clothes that Alice normally picked out. I didn't see a designer label in them, or any label for that matter. Any they were rather plain, simple black cotton that went to my knees. What was Alice up to? And why do I need to go outside for Alice to see another thing she got me? Her vampire vision is perfect. She could see me in these shorts in complete darkness.

"Okay Alice, I'm here. What's up?" Bella, Edward, Emmett and Jasper were all outside, too. What was she planning?

"Wonderful, Jacob, now turn into a wolf and you will see."

"And why exactly did I have to put these shorts on if you are just having me come outside and take them off?"

"I never said to take them off, I just asked you to phase."

"Okay, one set of shredded shorts coming up." I quipped just before phasing.

"Yes, perfect, I knew it would work."

"Hey Jacob," Nessie's eyes were wide with wonder, "the shorts are still on you. Jacob look." She didn't really think I was going to look did she, I couldn't see my backside in wolf form, I would end up looking like some stupid dog trying to chase its own tail. I just shook my head "no".

"Alice how did you get them to expand with him?"

"Simple, Bella. They have hidden panels in them that release when he grows. And the waistband is a supper stretchy elastic. I had to guess on his exact size, but they don't look to tight. How do they feel Jacob."

Honestly they felt fine, not uncomfortable at all, but how did she expect me to answer while I was a wolf?

"He says he feels extremely comfortable, Alice," Edward answered for me in jest.

"You're a genius Alice!" Why did Bella care so much about new clothes for me? The more I thought about it the more ridiculous it seemed. A wolf in shorts? What if a human saw me? They would know something was up. Normal wolves don't go around wearing pants.

"Normal wolves don't grow to be larger than a horse, Jacob." Edward pointed out.

I didn't see what the big deal was. What was wrong with what I was doing before this. When I needed to phase I would go behind a tree or bush, take off my clothes and phase. Easy. Why do I need special wolf clothes? Sure there were special circumstances when I would need to phase quickly, shredding my clothes, but I could always get more somehow.

"Okay, Jacob. You can change back." Shouted Alice. Why was she yelling, I'm right here and my hearing is better as a wolf, not worse.

I phased back, and briefly felt a warm feeling where the shorts were. I was use to an expanse of heat radiating through my body when I changed back and forth but this seemed different somehow, more localized to where Alice's shorts were. Oh Crap. I had to quickly duck behind the nearest bush in the backyard. "Alice, what the hell?"

Emmett just burst out laughing.

"My Jacob, are you alright?" Nessie asked worriedly, even as Edward was in front of her covering her eyes with his hand.

"Yeah, Nessie, I'm fine, just stay over there. Could someone run inside and get me some pants, please."

Two seconds later Jasper returned with some new clothes for me.

"Alice, what happened?" Edward was seething. At least it wasn't directed at me this time.

"I don't know. It looked like the shorts ignited in flames. Jacob how high does your body temperature rise when you phase?"

"I don't know. Why would I?"

Stay right there, I'll be right back." She dashed into the house and returned a second later some sort of digital thermometer. Why would she ever need that? No one in the house can get sick that we would need such a thing.

"What is that Aunt Alice?"

"It's an infrared thermometer, I borrowed it from Carlisle's office. I need to check to see how hot Jacob gets when he phases back and forth if I am going to develop a pair of shorts that actually work without risking setting him on fire. I can just point it at him, from back here, and press the button, while he phases. What are you waiting for Jacob, . . . go, . . . phase."

Seriously, can't she ever say please, first, before barking orders? Oh, whatever.

"Wait, Jacob." Edward screeched. "Alice you need to get a clear shot of him to use that. It won't work if there is bush in the way."

Emmett grabbed Nessie and started carrying her into the house. I would have to thank him later. "Come on Nessie, let's go inside, I don't think either of us want to get another look at Jake's junk again, at least not anytime soon," he smirked down at her. Nope, I'm going to kill him.

"Oh right, good idea. Nessie, honey, I will send him in when I'm done." Alice chirped.

"I think I will go in too." Bella said while running back into the house.

As soon as Nessie was back in the house I took off the clothes Jasper brought me and phased, waited 30 seconds and phased back, quickly getting dressed again. I wasn't embarrassed or anything if Alice saw me naked, or not, but it was just weird.

"Did you get what you needed?"

"Yes, but I am not sure what I am going to do now," she frowned. "Your body temperature went over 500 degrees for a couple of milliseconds. That's why the shorts went up in flames. I am going to have to find a material that can withstand those temperatures and still be thin enough to fit under your clothes."

"Sure, sure. Well if you don't need me anymore I'm going back to Nessie." I said as I headed back into the house. I didn't really care if she could make shorts for me or not. But I guess it gave her something to do. Living forever must get boring after awhile and you start coming up with ways to entertain yourself. I have already seen the rest of them devise some pretty weird things to occupy their time. I wonder if I will get so bored I start inventing unneeded things, too? No, I will have Nessie. She is all I will ever need. As long as she is happy, I won't need anything else. I'm so lucky to have had imprinted on her.

…

Please review, thanks.


	14. Home School

**Year Two, Chapter Fourteen**

 **Home School**

Jacob's Point of View

Nahuel and Huilen left last week. Nessie had spent most of the past month, while I was in school, dividing her time between home school lessons with Esme and hanging out with Huilen and Nahuel. I didn't really like them, I mean they eat people, so what's to like, really? But Nessie thought it was important to be nice to them. They came all the way here for her birthday, and to tell us about the Volturi, . . . and they saved her from them last year, so I guess they were not the worst monsters on the planet. They were there for Nessie so I put up with them for the past month, even if that technically meant I avoided them the entire time they were here. They didn't come here to see me anyway.

As soon as I came home each day, Nessie would excuse herself from them and we would go to our bedroom, where I would do my homework and study and she would hang out with me. Nessie was actually a great help, and even ended up helping me learn how to play the guitar for my music class. I can't say that I was getting any good at it, and was very grateful that Esme soundproofed the walls.

It was currently the first week of October and I had been trying to play a new song on this _stupid_ guitar for the past hour. All I needed to be able to do was just get through a song, _just once_ , for class on Friday. I had not been able to make it all the way through once without making a mistake yet though.

"Jacob, here let me show you. You just need to move your fingers like this." She grabbed the guitar out of my hands and proceeded to play that section of the song, that I had been struggling with all afternoon.

"I didn't know Edward taught you how to play guitar too, I thought it was just the piano."

"He didn't. I've just been watching you do it for the past two weeks. And you have been playing that same section over and over. I don't think I would be able to play anything else though."

"I bet you could, too, Nessie. You are amazing, you know that?"

"I don't think so, I really . . ."

"Sorry sweetheart, could you hold on for one minute?" I grabbed my ringing cell out of my book bag. The caller ID said it was Billy. Was there a problem at home? Was he okay?

"Dad. Hey, what's up?" I tried not to sound too panicked.

" _I just called to congratulate you son."_

"What, Why, what did I do?" I didn't remember anything.

" _Well, today you became an Uncle, and I am now a grandfather. Rachel had her baby about an hour ago. There both doing great. And Paul should be back to normal shortly."_

"What happened to Paul?"

Billy was laughing on the other end of the line. _"He'll be fine. He acts so tough all of the time, but he lost it at the hospital. It was really funny seeing the kid freak out."_

Billy ending up talking to me for over an hour before he said he needed to go. But he promised me he would email me, well actually he would find someone who knew how to email me, some pictures of Rachel and her baby. She and Paul had had a son, which they named Jeremy Paul Black-Lahote. Rachel and Paul still hadn't gotten married yet, but Billy mentioned that they planned to when they had time in the future. He sounded a bit irritated, like he wasn't sure it would actually happen. I could understand that. He wanted his daughter to get married to the man she had had a kid with. It made sense on a parental level.

… **.**

Renesmee's Point of View

It had been a just over a month since Jacob and the rest of the family started school. And it had become easier, little by little for me to exist with Jacob away from me for so long, in a way. It actually still hurt, but I was dealing with the pain it caused me, better. I tried to not let him see it after that first day. I could tell, that him knowing how upset I was only made things harder for the both of us.

Grandma Esme was continuing my homeschooling, just like she said she would, right where the rest of my family had left off back in Forks. I believe she was beginning to run out of things to teach me at a High School level. We had already gone through all of the course books my family had. She wasn't really even teaching me anymore either. Recently I would just read the course books, or we would switch off reading to each other. Afterwards we would have a discussion on the material. I had perfect recall so there was no need to study anything or go over something more than once. Occasionally I would need to ask her a question when I would come across an unknown word (normally it would turn out to be some sort of slang), or on the rare occasion when I would not understand something. This mostly happened when there was a cultural reference that I was unaware of, having been sheltered, and only being a single year old.

Strangely enough Grandma Esme came up with some interesting solutions to these problems. I was thinking of moving on to college course work, but Grandma Esme had another idea for now. But she did promised that in a year or two it might be possible. In the meantime, she wanted me to study humans to help me gain some cultural references "among other things". She didn't go into further detail on that subject and I thought it was best not to push, judging by her tense demeanor when she said it. She didn't think I was ready yet to go out in public, but thought that I might be in a few months.

For now, she suggested I watch television. Not all day long, sitting on the couch like Uncle Emmett sometimes did when there was a sporting event on. But intermittently throughout the day. She asked me to study a variety of TV shows – sitcoms, drama, cartoons, movies, documentaries, reality TV (which she was quick to point out was not really based on reality), games shows, etc. . .

Grandma Esme was always around to ask questions when I came upon something that was perplexing to me. Oddly I found television more confusing than advanced calculus. That at least made sense, math was logical, there was a right and wrong answer. Television characters seemed to be bumbling their way through life, making the same mistakes over and over, never learning anything, even on the shows where the characters were suppose to be highly advanced scientists or geniuses. The entire point of some television shows seemed to be to see how much one person could, not only screw up their own life but the lives of everyone around them, and then laugh at the mess they made. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be learning from this, but it made the time go by quicker, until Jacob returned from school.

The remainder of time that Jacob was at _real_ school I spent reading. I made it my goal to read every book in the house.

….

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were laid out on our bed, while I did my homework, I forgot how much I hated doing it. I think she was starting to get frustrated with me, it was taking me a ridiculously long time tonight. She must have gotten bored because she climbed on my back and started braiding my hair. I didn't keep it very long these days so there was not much for her to do, and it ended up sticking up in the braids, I must have looked very strange. But it made her happy, and kept her occupied while I tried to figure out to translate a story from English into Spanish. It was still not a very good subject for me. I was not completely lost like I was when I took Spanish on the reservation and actually remembered almost everything I had learned before, but the new stuff was still not easy, but then again, it didn't seem as hard as I remembered.

"Alright Jacob, try these on," Alice said, appearing in the doorway, while tossing me a pair of shorts. That was quick. I would have thought it would have taken her more time to come up with a thin material I would not set on fire when I phased. Whatever, I think a homework break would be a good idea, so much so, I was even willing to go with Alice.

"Nessie, do you mind staying here, just in case these shorts are not as fire proof as Alice thinks they are?" She just nodded. "Thanks, I'll be right back, sweetheart."

Once outside I saw that we were the only two out here this time. Good, I really don't need to give everyone a show again. Slipping behind a bush, I quickly changed into the shorts. "Okay Alice, I'm ready. You sure this is going to work this time?"

"Jacob Black, are you doubting me . . . again?"

"Well normally . . . no, but after last time . . ." I couldn't finish that sentence having to duck whatever it was that she just threw at me. "Okay, okay."

Less than a second later I phased into a wolf, the shorts felt like they were still there, Alice gave me a nod and I phased back. I didn't feel the same warmth like last time and when I looked down the shorts were still there."

"Wahoo, never doubt me again," Alice started jumping up and down.

"Great, so do you want them back now?"

"No keep them, I will make up a couple dozen more to start you off with. You can just wear them under your clothes, so you won't have any more accidental exposures. I'm thinking I can make some as cargo shorts for the summer, boxers for under your pants in the winter, maybe even a few as bathing suits . . . "

I didn't think it would be good for my health if I mentioned that the last "accidental exposure" was entirely her fault and was also the only time it happened in front of Nessie. I was not too happy about that. Neither was Edward and Bella for that matter.

Alice was still talking about different styles and colors, but I stopped paying attention. "Sure, sure." I cut her off, "I need to go finish my homework, I am sure whatever you make will be fine, Thanks." I blabbered as I took off running back into the house.

When I arrived back in the bedroom, Nessie was right where I left her, but my Spanish assignment was completely translated.

"Nessie, did you do this?"

"Well it seemed to be giving you trouble so I thought I would help."

She was so sweet. "Thank you, but doing it for me, isn't really helping. I actually need to learn this."

"Alright, is there anything I can do to help, then?"

She was wonderful. We spent the next hour finishing my homework, together. She even ended up assisted me on my math after the Spanish assignment was completed.

Everything was going great, but I was starting to feel . . . hot? Well hotter than usual, anyway.

"Jacob, are you sweating?"

I reached up and touched my forehead. It was damp. Huh? Was I getting sick? I haven't been sick since I started phasing.

"Grandpa Carlisle, can you come here please." Thirty seconds later he appeared in the room.

"What can I help you with Renesmee?"

"Its Jacob, he's sick." Nessie seemed to be panicking more and more as the seconds passed.

"Nessie, calm down, I don't think I'm sick. I feel fine, just hot."

What if something was wrong though? The last time I felt this hot was right before I phased for the first time. Maybe something was happening to me, again. I have been living with vampires for an unprecedented amount of time. When I originally phased it was just from the scent of the new vamps around La Push. What if something else was happening to me? What if the next time I phased I was unable to change back, and was stuck as a wolf forever?

"Jacob, did you hear me?" Carlisle was speaking but I hadn't heard a word.

"I'm sorry Doc, what did you say?"

"I was wondering if there was anything that you have been doing differently? You may just be having a reaction to something. Have you change your diet, or started using a new deodorant or laundry detergent? Or something along those lines?"

"No Doc, nothing like that."

"Jacob, are you still wearing the shorts that Aunt Alice made you?"

"Yeah, why? You don't think she did something to them, do you?" She wouldn't do anything to me, would she? She did get pretty made at me for doubting she could make them fireproof in the first place. But I don't think she would still be mad enough to do anything.

"Alice, could you come here for a moment please," Carlisle said in the same calm voice he always used.

"I'm here, and am offended to even think that you would suggest I would ever do anything to harm Jacob."

"Of course, Alice. No one here thinks that. We just need to rule the shorts out. Could you tell me what materials and chemicals you used creating the shorts."

It turned out she used something called Kovenex, which was a material that ironing board covers, fire fighters suits, fire blankets and a bunch of other things were made with. It was great for stopping things from catching on fire but unfortunately in my case it also trapped my body heat in, making it unable to radiate off of me and reflected it back. That caused me to overheat.

A few minutes after taking the shorts off I felt completely fine and my body temperature returned to normal.

"Don't worry Jacob, I will find something that works, don't give up hope."

"Sure, Alice. Whatever" I really didn't care about the stupid shorts, but it was Alice, so I wasn't going to say anything to her.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

 **"** Grandma Esme, I have a problem."

"What is it sweetheart?"

"Well, you know how I have been spending the days reading in between studying human interactions on the television and our course work?"

"Yes dear. Do you have any questions about what you have read so far?"

"Not exactly, it's what I have not read that is giving me problems. I have found that some of the most interesting books are the medical books in Grandpa Carlisle's office."

"You are reading his medical books? I was unaware of that. I thought you were reading the books in the library. Did you happen to ask him if that was alright before you started reading them?"

"No, I did not think to even ask. Why would it be a problem? Will he be mad at me?"

"I am sure he won't mind, but you should ask in the future. It might be better to wait to read some of those books until you are a bit older."

"Why do you think I need to wait?" What is going on. First she didn't want me studying college level material, until after I completed her "social training", now she doesn't want me reading some of the books in the house.

"Nessie, darling, it's just that some things might be a bit to advanced for you."

"Yes, but isn't that the reason that I am reading everything? So that I can learn more."

"That is true dear, but some of his books contain information that may be too advanced for you. Or you may find some things disturbing or uncomfortable. Other things, in the older medical books are no longer relevant and are now known to be incorrect or have been disproved. It might be best if you went through everything in those books with Carlisle."

"Alright, but can I interest you in a compromise? I will hold off on reading his books until he can go over them with me, if you will teach me Greek and Latin in the meantime." I am learning so much. Unfortunately many of the words are in Greek and Latin in the newer volumes and there are entire older books completely in those languages.

"Well Nessie, that might be a very acceptable compromise, but unfortunately I do not speak Greek or Latin. But how would you like to learn it together?"

"We could do that?"

"Of course, it would be fun. You can learn almost anything online, nowadays. Would you like to start tomorrow?"

"Yes please."

"Wonderful."

The next day Grandma Esme googled "how to learn to speak, read, and write Greek" and a bunch of websites came up. After a bit of searching we found one that looked promising and began.


	15. Christmas and Jake's Birthday

**Year Two, Chapter Fifteen**

 **Christmas and Jake's Birthday**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was Christmas. My _second_ Christmas. Last year, just a few days after my first Christmas was the infamous Volturi encounter. I was not sure this time of year will ever be a happy time for me. It brought up too many unpleasant memories and I had been experiencing more and more intense nightmares leading up to today. Even my Jacob could not keep them away completely.

Rationally, I know the Volturi are gone and are not coming after me anymore.

Why am I feeling like this?

My first Christmas had been spent celebrating over at my Grampy Charlie's house, together with my mother, father, Jacob, Leah, Seth, Sue, and of course Grampy Charlie. Jacob gave me a Quileute promise bracelet last year. It's beautiful and I have only ever taken it off when Jacob needed to adjust it, when it becomes too tight on my wrist. He wove it himself, and told me it meant that he promised to always be there for me. I knew already, that he had imprinted on me, so I also knew he would always be there for me when I needed him, but it was nice to have a tactile object to remind myself with, especially on the rare occasions when he was not around, like when he had to patrol or was at school.

But why we are celebrating this year? I know last year we did because of Grampy Charlie; Christmas seemed like a big deal in the human world, if what I saw on the television was any indication. But from what I can tell my vampire family have never gotten into it, with last year's exception. I understood it was a religious holiday but my family did not seem too religious, Grandpa Carlisle's father had been a pastor, but that was more than 300 years ago. No one attended any religious services, or even were completely sure if they had souls anymore. My father hoped he did, and seemed to believe my existence pointed towards the positive. Still I didn't see the point in celebrating something that no one believed in, observed, or even recognized on any other day of the year.

On the other hand there was Jacob to think about. The Quileute people had adopted the Christmas holiday and traditions over 150 years ago when they were first "taught religion" by white missionaries. He loved Christmas so, for him, I went along with it this year. I didn't realize it would bring to the surface such bad memories that usually were sequestered to my dreams. I would have to talk to him about next year. Maybe we could tone it down a bit, or skip celebrating all together.

No, I don't think I could do that to him. I did not want to take this holiday away from him, too. He was already spending his first Christmas away from his family. He wanted to go back to Billy's and celebrate with Billy, Rachel, and his Pack, but my family thought that we should not even go near Forks or La Push right now. It was the first anniversary since our meeting with the Volturi and this time of year might be more likely to inspire unwanted visitors. My family had doubled up on patrols on this side of the Olympic National Forest, and the wolves did the same around La Push. It was thought best that we should not have our scent anywhere near Forks or La Push, right now. Jacob hadn't said anything, but I knew it upset him. He and Billy talked on the phone regularly and mailed each other Christmas cards. He told me his sister, Rebecca, had been doing that since she first moved away to Hawaii years ago, but it wasn't the same. Jacob was . . . is, so close to Billy. He had taken care of him for years, looking after Billy, all on his own after both of his sisters left. Rachel is back now, along with Paul, so Billy is not alone, but I know this is still hard for Jacob. I'm sure it's hard for Billy too.

Christmas is really just one day a year, I could struggle through it for my Jacob.

My father had tried reasoning with me over and over, throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas. He tried to encourage me to let Jacob know, but I thought this was best for him. I wanted, no needed, to give him this, even if he could not be with his father and sister. He would have a Christmas, no matter how much it troubled me. I could handle it.

"Merry Christmas Nessie. Would you like to open your gifts?" asked my mother. I knew how irrational they thought I was acting. My family were all waiting for me in the living room. Jacob seemed to have gotten up earlier too, since I woke up alone and he was already sitting on one of the couches with everyone else. He didn't look too happy, be he was trying his best; ironically for me. I didn't want to celebrate, and he wanted to be with Billy. We were quite a pair. I felt so bad for him. But we were putting on a brave front for each other.

"You are not acting irrational," my father whispered to me. "It is very compassionate of you to do this for Jacob but I don't think he would want it if he knew how upsetting it is for you."

" _Then don't tell him. He doesn't realize how my subconscious mind is tying Christmas to the Volturi attack."_ I don't even know why. I can distinguish on a rational level, the fact that they are not connected, they just happen to have taken place in a short space of time. _"I don't want to ruin this for him."_ I thought to my father so Jacob would not hear.

Emmett and Jasper had set up a tree by the television last night, and Alice has gone overboard as usual with decorations. There wasn't a surface in the common areas of the house that was left unadorned. Luckily she had only ornamented everything yesterday, so I didn't have to live with the house decorated like this for long; and knowing my family it would all be gone tomorrow.

My family all got me some small gifts – books clothes, and jewelry. They were all very thoughtful. But Jacob's present was amazing. I could appreciate how he was truly an artist. He had carved my entire family out of some sort of light wood to mimic their pale white vampire skin. Each were holding an item that represented them. Grandpa Carlisle held a stethoscope, Grandma Esme had a paint brush. My father was holding a mini piano in his upturned hand, and my mother was carrying a stack of books. Uncle Jasper was wielding a Civil war era blade, and Aunt Alice's was the most amusing. She had a handful of credit cards in one hand and shopping bags in the other. Aunt Rosalie had some different car parts in her arms, while Uncle Emmett was carrying an assortment of sports balls. The figurines were the perfect match to the set of wolves he gave me for my birthday.

In turn I gave him, and every other member of my family, a book. One day, last week I had asked Grandma Esme to accompany me into the book store in town while my family was at school. I got all of my holiday shopping done in one trip. The book I bought Jacob was on vintage cars. I wish I had put more thought into his gift. He never said anything but after seeing how much effort he put into mine I felt horrible. But I just couldn't bring myself to think about anything to do with this time of year, too much. Every time I thought about Christmas, and in association, finding the perfect gift for Jacob, and the rest of my family, all I ended up thinking about was the Volturi and how they came to kill us all, last year.

Night after night for the past few weeks I had woken up screaming from my nightmares, even with Jacob sleeping next to me. Normally he kept them away and it took Jacob more and more time each night to get me to calm down enough so that I was able to fall back asleep. I think that's why he wanted to make Christmas so nice for me. If only he had known it was having the opposite effect. I have a feeling that if he was not so distracted by spending his first Christmas away from Billy, he would have seen, at least through the imprint bond, that this was not what I wanted. But I could not do that to him. He needed Christmas. We would both be fine from the loss of sleep, eventually.

A couple of weeks after New Years the nightmares receded enough that I no longer woke nightly in screams. It was so nice to be able to finally sleep though the night again. Of course the nightmares were occasionally still there, but they were not as bad, not as long as I had my Jacob with me. I remembered them all, thanks to my vampire brain that never forgot anything. I wondered if that was why my subconscious would not let it go, even when my conscious mind knew the immediate danger was gone?

It was something to think about, at least.

…

My mother had told me Jacob's birthday was on January 14th. He was born in 1990 so that meant that this year he was turning eighteen years old and I wanted to make it wonderful for him. I heard eighteen was a big milestone in humans lives, even if he wasn't technically human though, and he wasn't technically aging anymore, either. He did such an amazing job on my first birthday in September. And I know I had pretty much ruined Christmas for him, even if he didn't see it that way. But I had taken him away from his family and giving him a thoughtless gift.

Last year Jacob spent part of his birthday at La Push with his family and Pack celebrating. He never mentioned it to me beforehand, and I had only found out about it later, when I asked my mother where he was. When he returned later that night, she gave him a small present, and said it was from all of us, but it didn't seem like it was enough. My Jacob was immeasurably important and special to me, he deserved so much more. I understand my family were still adjusting to him being with us all of the time back then, but it surprised me that even Aunt Alice didn't jump at the chance to throw him a party last year. This year would be different. It would be a truly Happy Birthday . . . I hoped.

I was able to get everyone on board, except Aunt Rosalie, of course. I asked Aunt Alice to help me with the party. She said she would take care of organizing everything. Aunt Alice ended up buying a massive amount of decorations, that she requisitioned Uncle Jasper and Uncle Emmett to set up in the main living room of the house. She also enlisted my father, Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme to cook the food. And my mother and I were to be in charge of the cake. I made it according to Aunt Alice's instructions, while Jacob was at school and my mother was going to frost it as soon as she returned home. It was three layers and rectangular in shape. Aunt Alice had drawn the design and given us size and color requirements that we just needed to follow.

I wondered how many people Aunt Alice had invited? Who was all the food for that she required three people to be able to handle that much cooking and a giant cake? Surely not just Jacob and myself. Aunt Alice had refused to tell me who else she invited though. She said it was as much of a surprise for me as it was for him. That was fine with me though, as long as Jacob was happy. I know his family could not come here so it must be some of his class mates from school. I would like to meet them. I just hope she did not invite the entire school. But knowing Aunt Alice it was a possibility.

My Grandma took me shopping for some items I needed to make the perfect gift for Jacob earlier in the week. Since Christmas had passed I was finally able to get the Volturi out of my head and I was able to concentrate on the perfect present for Jacob. I bought him a collection of frames and put pictures of all of his Pack members in them. I Photoshop images of them in both human and wolf form, into one picture. And I also framed a large photo of La Push that encompassed some woods, his house and some of the surrounding area. I had taken all of the pictures when Jacob and I were staying on the reservation on and off over the months before our move here. It seemed obvious now that we should have hung up some pictures of his home and friends long ago. The only pictures he had with him here were of his family. And they were old. He kept the only three pictures he brought with him in his nightstand drawer. Every once in awhile I would see him take them out to look at them. But he never talked about them. One was of his father with a woman whom I assumed was his mother, another I think was of his sister Rebecca and her husband, and the last was of him, from when he was younger and his two older sisters. He must have been about 9 or 10 in the picture. He looked so young. It surprised me when I first saw it, how small and skinny he was when he was little, before he became a wolf. He was so cute, but he looked so sad in the photo. It must have been taken around the time of his mother's death. Just looking at the pictures just made him sad sometimes. I hoped my present didn't make him any more depressed. I wanted him to be happy, more than anything else.

Jacob's birthday fell on a Monday this year and thanks to Aunt Alice everything was all set for his surprise party. It was my job to keep Jacob occupied after school while my family set up the house and my mother frosted the cake, which with their speed should not take too long.

When everyone returned from school that day Jacob wanted to do his homework right away. Perfect! All I needed to do was keep him in our room.

"Hey, Jacob, I'm going to grab a snack while you start your homework, want anything?" I didn't want there to be any reason he needed to leave the room.

"Um, sure, whatever you pick will be fine. Thanks sweetheart." He smiled at me but seemed a little grumpy. I could understand that. It was his birthday after all and as far as I knew, no one in the family had mentioned anything, in order to keep the party a surprise. Maybe it should not have been a surprise party. I didn't mean to upset him so, but the party would begin in less than an hour.

He gave me a weak smile again, as he dropped his bag on the bed. I ran to the kitchen where my mother was already at work frosting the cake. I grabbed a bowl of fruit, a bag of chips and some bottles of water. Since it would not take my family long to set everything up, maybe I could get them to speed things up even more.

" _Mom, would it be possible to start the party sooner?"_ I thought to her with my gift.

"Why is that, dear? Are you so excited you can't you wait an hour?" She whispered back to me with a smirk, knowing we needed to be quiet so Jacob wouldn't hear.

" _I can, but I don't think the same is true of Jacob, I think he feels like we forgot his birthday, or possibly have no interest in celebrating it. I am not sure exactly what it is but I can see he is upset about something. Did he say anything to you today?"_

"No, actually he has been rather silent all day long. You go keep him in your bedroom, I'll see what I can do and will call you when everything is ready."

"Thanks, mom." I answered out loud.

Just over a half an hour later she called us into the living room.

When we entered we could see the decorations were set up. Aunt Alice had all of the normal furniture moved out of the room and three tables, covered with food were arranged around the room. There was also a separate table full of presents.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked.

"It's a party."

"I can see that Nessie. But what is it for?"

Was he kidding? "It's for you, Jacob."

"Why is your family throwing me a party?"

"Don't you know what today is? Did you forget? Jacob, today is your birthday. Surprise!"

As soon as I said that my family emerged from all over the house. Aunt Alice brought out the cake, my mother had done a wonderful job with the frosting, it looked just like Aunt Alice's drawing.

"Happy Birthday," everyone shouted.

Behind my family, Jacob's Pack came out, followed by Billy.

"Dad?" A huge smile broke out over his face as Jacob scooped me up into his arms and ran over to Billy. "How did you get here? I thought it was too risky right now."

"It was a bit of work, and we had to be extremely careful. The Cullens arranged everything."

"It's just for the party though, Jacob." Grandpa Carlisle added. "Your father and Pack members will need to return home in a few hours."

"Wait, how is this even possible? I didn't even catch a hint of your scents on the way in, how long have you been here?" Jacob questioned.

Wait, how was this possible? I have been home all day and also did not smell them. What was going on? I am sure it was all part of Aunt Alice's plan to make it a surprise for me as well, but this was extremely impressive.

"Yeah, we arrived about an hour ago, the Cullens kept us in the van all the way here from La Push," Embry gruffed. I guess he didn't like being cooped up in the vehicle. But that did explain why I had not smelled them.

My father probably rented a vehicle that was extra roomy but I could see how it still might be cramped for a bunch of overgrown wolves.

"We had to go through a car wash before leaving the Res, then when we got here, we still couldn't leave the van until we were inside of the garage and all of the doors were closed." Quil added.

"And I am afraid that while you are here you will need to remain indoors the entire time so your scents stay contained," my father told them.

Quil held his nose in jest looking over to my family. "Hey we can deal with your scents if you can deal with ours, especially if it is the only way we get to see Jake."

After Jacob had a chance to talk to his father and Pack a bit I thought it might be a good time to see how he was doing. Thankfully he didn't seem so irritable anymore. "So, am I forgiven?"

Jacob gave me a quizzical look. "What are you talking about, Nessie. I have nothing to forgive you for."

"We kept the party a surprise from you, didn't you think we forgot about your birthday?"

"No that's not why I was upset, exactly. I know your family doesn't celebrate birthdays, aside from yours, Nessie. I wasn't expecting anything from them. They didn't need to do this for me, even though it is great to see my dad and Pack. But I see my Pack all the time, sort of, when I'm a wolf, and I talk to Billy at least once a week on the phone. Today just got me thinking that someday, they all will be gone and without your family near La Push there won't be any new wolves. Soon I will be the only wolf. I'll be alone"

Oh, how could I be so thoughtless? We had talked about this before, but it was like my issues around Christmas, significant days just brought things up that seem to be fine otherwise. At least they seemed so on the outside, but they were never really gone, just hidden below the surface. I don't think my present will go over well. Maybe I could hid it before he opened it and get him something else later.

"Time for presents," Aunt Alice chimed. Aarg. Why was she always doing that?

"Come on Nessie. Let's see what I got. Will you help me open everything. It looks like everyone went overboard."

"Jacob, about that, . . . maybe you should wait . . . and open everything later, like tomorrow. It's a long drive back to La Push. You father is probably tired."

"Nonsense, Nessie. I want to see my son open his gifts. That's why I'm here." Billy had overheard us talking and commented while rolling over to the table were the gifts were.

"Here son, open mine first."

"Thanks, Dad." Jacob tore off the wrapping paper to reveal what looked like a hand carved box that Billy most likely made himself.

"It's a memory box, so you won't forget back home." I know he was trying to be sweet and kid around a bit with his son, but it just made Jacobs face fall. I could see him become visibly upset and he was trying desperately hard to hold back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "There are already a few things in there, but don't open it now. Wait until you are alone," he added, while shooting a look over to me.

I wondered why? Maybe it contained tribe secrets or something.

"Um, Jake here open my next," Seth practically threw the next present at him trying to get everyone out of the awkwardness.

Jacob opened the rest of his presents without any more negative emotional ensnarements. But he still had not opened mine. " _Jacob, please don't open that, let me get you something else,"_ I thought to him with my hand on his cheek and tears in my eyes."

Jacob pulled me onto his lap and wrapped me into a giant hug before reassuring me. "Nessie, if you got me something I will love it. Why don't you want me to open it. You must have thought I would like it or you would not have gotten it for me."

" _That was before I knew . . ."_ I could tell I was projecting sadness and worry along with my thoughts but there was nothing I could do to hide it.

"Why don't you let me decide, okay?"

I just nodded, and hoped he wouldn't get more upset after seeing the pictures. But when he open the box relief washed over me when I saw the smile that broke out over his face.

"Nessie, thank you, this is perfect." And he gave me another huge hug, but this one wasn't meant to be comforting, it was given in gratitude of the gift.

Pretty soon it was time for Billy and the Pack to leave. All of the food was gone, including the cake. Wolves sure can eat a lot.

"Well should we go find a place to put all of my new photos before bed?"

"Sounds like a plan." We ended up clearing off an entire wall in the bedroom that up until now was just covered in some random "art" that Grandma Esme had picked out because it matched the bedspread, Neither of us had any emotional attachment to it, so it seemed like the perfect location. And this way Jacob could wake up each morning and go to sleep each night with a reminder of home.


	16. Books and Suits

**Year Two, Chapter Sixteen**

 **Books and Suits**

Renesmee's Point of View

Grandma Esme and I had finished learning Greek last week. My pronunciation needed some work but we decided to move on to Latin anyway. Grandpa Carlisle spoke Greek, of course, and we were able to go to him when we had questions and I could continue studying it on my own later.

Since Latin is no longer a spoken language Grandma Esme and I were rather limited online. There were a bunch of videos available where a variety of people gave their best renditions of what they thought Latin might have sounded like, but they were all different, with different accents and dialects, and it just ended up confusing me. In the end Grandma Esme and I decided it would be best to stick to just learn how to read and write it, for now. This was somewhat of a challenge for me since I had previously began learning other languages by listening to people speak them. Perhaps one day we would come across a friendly vampire that was old enough to have actually spoken Latin and they could give us a demonstration of how it actually sounded.

We were also continuing my "social training" as Grandma Esme put it. She thought I was ready to practice interacting with new people, other than just with my family and the Packs. She believed I needed practice interacting with normal humans. I hoped this meant I could actually leave the house soon, not just for the occasional errand, here or there.

We had begun months ago, at home, watching a variety of television shows. It was interesting. We would watch one together and then discuss what happened, the major themes, character reactions to given situations, tension points, social dynamics between the characters, the list went on and on.

She explained that although things were often overly dramatized on television for ratings and peek viewer interest I could still begin to learn what humans cared about, prioritized, and thought about in general.

Grandma Esme explained that as vampires we wanted to avoid drawing attention to ourselves, so unlike on the shows I watched, where the characters seemed to encourage each other to make spectacles of themselves and get into fights in public, weather verbal or physical, _our_ goals were to always try and avoid those types situations, at all times, while still appearing to conform to social norms.

Diffusing possible _abnormal_ situations and side stepping problems was to be my goal. Along with small talk, determining appropriate topics for conversation, interacting with others, recognizing the feelings of others, demonstrating empathy, decoding body language and facial expressions, understanding community norms, and determining appropriate behavior for different social situations, along with a variety of other things.

When she believed I was ready we tried something she said would be simple, just to begin with. I currently looked like a seven year old, so one afternoon, while Jacob was busy, patrolling around the Olympic National Forest, Grandma Esme drove us to a play ground around thirty-five miles away, to see how I would do near other children.

Everything was fine. I had been more than passable as a three year old when playing with Claire in La Push. Playing with other children was easy, not exactly enjoyable, but easy enough.

After three more trials where she saw that I was able to successfully navigate and incorporate myself into the world of children Grandma Esme agreed to further "assessments" in a variety of other situations.

We were still moving along extremely slowly, in my opinion, but I understood her caution. There could be no mistakes, whether it be something large, where I fed on a human, or small, and used my disproportionately strong half-vampire strength and accidentally hurt one of them. Even unintentionally revealing too much information about the family was unacceptable.

The next phase in Grandma Esme's instruction had me accompanying her while going grocery shopping. It was interesting. I was interacting more with adults, finally!

It was not at all how I expected.

One day I tried talking to Jacob about my experiences.

"Jacob, you should see them, it's ridiculous the things they choose to get upset about. Grandma Esme told me the depictions of humans I witnessed on the television were over exaggerated, but I don't see that to be the case. The children on the playground acted more mature than some of these adults."

"Of course they are Nessie. They are human; humans are not perfect. Most people are just trying to do their best. They don't have multiple lifetimes to redo things, learning more and more as they go, until they get everything seemingly right. They don't have advanced vampire brains that can see everything, from multiple points of view at once, and remember everything, while simultaneously considering all possibilities of every potential outcome and conclusion. Humans are flawed and imperfect. But it's what makes them human. It's not bad, or wrong, it's just different from what you are use to, sweetheart."

"Do you think I am being too hard on them?"

"I don't know. From what you have told me Esme seems to think so. What would you say if I came with the two of you the next time you went out? That way I could see for myself."

"I could just show you Jacob."

I know, Nessie, but I was kinda looking for an excuse to go with you out in public."

"Oh, alright. Perhaps this Saturday then."

"Good. Just try to remember most of your family would give anything to become human again. There's nothing wrong with not being perfect."

…..

Jacob's Point of View

"Jacob, wake up." Alice said as she ripped off the sheets from Nessie and me.

"What the Hell . . . Alice? What time is it even?" I glanced at the clock and saw that it wasn't even five in the morning. I was about to start screaming at Alice but saw that Nessie was still asleep. "NO, no, no to whatever you want!" I said to her, in a whisper. "Go away, and don't come back for at least two hours."

"This is important, Jake. You need to get up now! Make sure Nessie stays in bed, I'll meet you in the backyard." She looked serious.

Wait did she say something was Important? Was there some danger? Was Nessie in danger? That woke me up completely. I jumped out of bed and ran outside.

I couldn't smell any strange vamps or any other threats in the area. What was the danger? "Alice, what's wrong?" I was getting anxious. If Nessie was in danger I needed to stop whatever it was, NOW!

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong Jake. I have another pair of shorts for you to try on."

"Are you kidding me? Shorts? Again? Alice I was sleeping. And now I am going back to bed. Don't ever wake me up again for something like that."

I was halfway back up the back stairs when Alice appeared in front of me and poked me in my chest. "Jacob Black, you put these shorts on right now! I have been working on them for the past nineteen weeks, four days, seven hours, and thirty-two minutes. I finally came up with a solution and I need to make sure it works. That means I need you to put these shorts on RIGHT NOW. Is that too much to ask? No, I don't think so. Now take off your clothes, put on the shorts and phase, before you make me upset and I do something to you that will make Renesmee VERY upset with me. Do you understand?"

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm myself down. I did not like being threatened. But Nessie would not like us fighting. Not that we would really hurt each other but it would still upset her, and I never wanted to do anything to upset my angel. So I guess that meant I would have to suck it up and try on Alice's shorts. "Okay, fine, give me the shorts and let's get this over with." I snapped at her.

I changed into the shorts, phased into a wolf, and phased back. No problem so far. But last time the same thing happened. It wasn't until hours later when I started overheating. "Happy? Anything else, or can I get back to sleep?"

"No that's it for now, you can go back to sleep, or whatever, and hopefully everything will be fine."

"What do you mean by 'hopefully'?

"Oh, get over it. You'll be fine. The chances of something going wrong again are minuscule. I've thought of everything, this time. And, hey, what's the worst that can happen? You start sweating again and take them off. Right?"

"Fine," I growled at her, "just never wake me up again unless there is an _actual_ _emergency_."

….

"Guys, Charlie and Sue asked us to meet them in forty-three minutes. We need to leave right now if we are going to make it there on time." Bella called out to us.

"All right, were coming, were coming." Nessie smiled. She looked so nice all dressed up in her blue flowered dress. It was late February and still a bit chilly outside, so even though the cold did not bother her, she needed to cover up the dress, she was wearing, with a sweater, for appearances sake. It was a pretty blue flower print to match my tie color.

Alice had put me in a dark grey suit and blue tie, even after I complained about how uncomfortable it was. I also had on a boxers version of the special shorts she made me. Her latest version of them turned out to be fine. Almost good even, not wake me up at 4:30 in the morning good, but at least there will be no more close calls, accidentally exposing myself to Nessie. But the shorts, combined with the suit was too much. I was not use to wearing so many layers of clothes anymore. My body temperature ran so hot as a wolf, I had striped my wardrobe down to the bare essentials.

"Too constricting" was all I had said when Nessie asked me what was wrong. Of course she saw the unhappy look on my face but I didn't want to start a fight with Alice over it, I could deal with it for today.

Alice had insisted we match. She at least knew what was going on, even if she was not happy about it. But she would not tell us. Of course he saw whatever was going to happen today in a vision but never mentioned a thing. Bella had gotten a phone call from Charlie twelve days ago and just said he had great news that he wanted to share, but wanted to do it in person. Whatever it was apparently meant that we needed to dress up. I still don't see why that made Aunt Alice upset though. I thought she would have been happier playing dress up with everyone. Well not the rest of the Cullens, whatever was going on Bella, Edward, Nessie and I were the only ones invited. Maybe being left out was what had made Alice so upset.

There was nothing I could do about it though. Whatever this event was, it was not mine and I was not in charge of the guest list, or whatever.

I picked Nessie up and started to carry her out of our bedroom. She really didn't need to be carried but I just wanted to get this, whatever it was, over with, so I could get out of this suit faster. On the way I saw how we looked in the mirror. She currently look like a nine year old and got bigger every day. Even though her growth continued to slow down she was still growing fast and came up to my waist now when we stood next to each other. If she kept this up she probably would be taller than Bella. That wouldn't be too hard. Bella was only 5"4'.

After a forty-two minute car ride we arrived at a courthouse in Tacoma, WA. What were we doing here? It was a beautiful sunny day, but luckily there was underground parking that connected to the main building. As soon as Nessie, her parents, and I stepped off of the elevator a familiar smell hit me. My Pack was here, too?

It was fairly crowded in the building and I could not see them yet. I was glad Alice had insisted Nessie go on an extra hunting trip yesterday, when I returned home from school. We weren't scheduled to go again until tomorrow.

"Jacob, there you are, we've been waiting for you." Seth shouted over to us from across the room. I could see over all of the people in the lobby that my Pack was dressed up as well. I don't think I have ever seen Leah in a dress before, except at Sam and Emily's wedding. But she was miserable then, she actually looked happy today and was . . . smiling. Hmmm, what was going on?

"What took you so long? You would think you would want to be on time for this" What was Quil's problem?

"Well we're here, now. would someone like to tell us what we are doing here?"

"No one told you?" Seth looked shocked, I guess we were the only ones kept out of the loop.

"No," Bella stepped in to the group of wolves, with Edward right behind her. "Where is Charlie. He said just to meet him and Sue here and he would tell us when we got here."

"Edward, do you want to clue us in?" I turned and asked him. "I am sure you have heard it by now in someone's mind."

"I think the happy couple would like to let everyone know themselves. Seth only found out by accident and accidently slipped the news to the rest of them. It was suppose to be a surprise for all of us."

"Hey, I was doing a really good job, keeping it to myself for the first few days. It's not my fault you're all in my head all the time. Luckily Jake wasn't a wolf, at the same time, the past few weeks, as any of us, so it's still a surprise to the Cullens."

"There they are. I see them." We all turned towards Sue's voice as she ran over to us, dragging Charlie behind her.

"Hey, dad," Bella started in after giving them both a hug, "what's going on?"

Charlie took a deep breath and began. "Okay, well as some of you already know, or have been able to figure out, last month I asked Sue to marry me, and she said 'yes'. And well, we decided that since we have both been married before, and our children are all grown; that we didn't what to have another big wedding ceremony. We were going to just elope at a local justice of the peace, but once Seth learned of our plans he insisted on tagging along. So here we are. The Judge, up on 2, is a old buddy of mine, and you guys are the only people we would really want to share this with, so what do you say we get this show on the road?"

Charlie was never a big talker but Yikes! That was um, _brief_ , even for him. I hoped Sue knew what she was getting into.

"Nice, honey!" Sue sighed. "Very romantic." She grabbed his hand and they headed for the elevator. I guess she was use to it.

"Come on guys, we're going to miss the elevator."

"Leah, calm down, we can get the next one. I don't think we can all fit in one anyway." I called to her, but she had already ducked into it, beside Quil, just as the doors were closing. Then I turned to Seth as a thought occurred to me. "Hey, do you think she realizes she is about to become step-sister to a vampire?"

"Probably hasn't hit her yet. I'm excited though, I didn't ever think I was going to be an Uncle. Don't tell Leah I said that though."

That stopped me in my tracks. How weird would be to, possibly, have Seth as an Uncle-in-law, someday . . . maybe.

"Hey, Seth, Not that I don't love Quil, like a brother but do you know why he came to your mother's and Grampy Charlie wedding? Is Quil closer to either of them than I was aware?" Nessie asked as we waited for the next elevator.

"Um, no Nessie. Embry was suppose to be here too. It was going to be the whole Pack" Seth was looking worried, now.

"Really?" I asked, "So what happened then?" Was something wrong?

"I don't know Jake. Embry seems like he has been going through some stuff lately, I guess. He hasn't mentioned anything to us though, but we can all see it. Leah was going to talk to you about it later."

"Yeah, I have been noticing the same thing, but never saw anything in his thoughts when he was phased." I wondered if everything was okay at home, with his mom? "I guess I should have another chat with him later."


	17. Nessie's 2nd Birthday

Year Three, Period

Chapter 17, Nessie's 2nd Birthday

Chapter 18, Nahuel's Past

Chapter 19, Rosalie's Reconsideration

Chapter 20, Applications and Books

Chapter 21, Embry and Imprinting

Chapter 22, Jake and Embry's talk

Chapter 23, Summer Developments

Chapter 24, Repercussions

…

 **Year Three, Chapter Seventeen**

 **Nessie's 2nd Birthday**

Jacob's Point of View

September 2, 2008 was the start of my senior year of High School, _finally!_ Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper graduated, well graduated again, last year. I bet Nessie enjoyed getting to hang out with them this year, during the day while I was gone. Esme was great – nice, kind, sweet, but I am sure it could get a little boring being just the two of them cooped up in the house all day long.

I wish I could join them. Maybe I should ask Alice and Jasper how they handled being apart all day long? I know it made sense that they be in different grades at school, so that all of the Cullen kids were not pretending to be the same age. And Alice did appear the youngest, while Jasper could pass for a few years older, but it must still be hard on them. Emmett and Rose, and Edward and Bella got to be in the same grade so they got to be together. At least Jasper wasn't stuck at school. I wonder how Alice handled having to attend high school so much more than everyone else in the family? I heard she sometimes would start as a Freshman while everyone else was Sophomores and Juniors. She probably viewed it as a giant fashion show, anyway.

Things were different with the Doc's work schedule this year as well. Last year Carlisle had been working the day shift at the hospital, since he was the new guy. I would have thought they would want to give the newbie the worst shifts, which for anyone else would have been the night shift, but apparently daytime was the busiest around there. I wasn't really paying too much attention but I heard it had something to do with a lot of work accidents and days being the hospitals busiest time. (You would think someone would looked into improving working conditions or something.) The Doc mentioned that he would have a little more flexibility this year and get some night shifts. Esme would probably like that I guess. I couldn't see how it would really matter that much, since neither of them slept. But then again it meant more company for Nessie during the day, and I know that would make her happy.

It was just Bella, Edward, Alice and me still in school this year. We had all of our classes together, again. Well, each class had at least one other of us, from our group, anyway.

School seemed the same – boring. None of the kids talked to me or the others, still. I didn't really mind, but Bella still had not gotten use to it. She had assumed people would eventually warm up to us and we would all start hanging out together, like back in Forks, but it never happened here. It was probably for the best. Why get attached. She had Edward, I had Nessie. Who needed friends? Okay, so maybe some friends would have been nice. But I just didn't see it happening, so didn't worry.

On a bright note, I seemed to be doing better in school. Maybe it was because I didn't have any friends to distract me, or that I was no longer preoccupied with girls, or that I had been going over everything I had learned each day in school, last year and this, with Nessie, each night when I got home, or . . . who knows. All I know was that I finished my Junior year with all A's and B's.

Two days later was Nessie's second birthday. Her family and I planned a party for her after school that Thursday. I was planning on surprising her with a giant present I made. Okay, so it was not actually gigantic, but the amount of work I put into it was huge.

When Bella, Edward, Alice and I returned from school that day, the rest of the family had already decorated the house for Nessie's party. Esme had agreed to keep her busy in the library while everything was set up. I just needed to get her present that I hid it in the garage, hopefully Blondie didn't mess with it. No, she wouldn't dare touch it. She knew it was for her Niece. While she had no problem screwing with my things, she wouldn't do anything that was meant for Nessie.

When I took it out of its hiding place I saw that it was fine. Whew! Once I wrapped it up, and carefully carried it into the house, I set the box on a table by the sofa in the living room so she would just have to lift the cover up, gently. It would ruin the effect I was hoping for if any pieces got disturbed underneath.

After Nessie opened the presents from her family she turned to me looking expectant. For a second I wondered if I should play with her and have some fun, and act like I didn't get her anything? No, I wouldn't want to upset her. I put in so much work to make her happy I didn't want to ruin it by teasing her even a tiny bit. I just ended up tilted my head towards the box sitting next to her. I know she saw it right away when she first entered the room and was just playing with me. Nessie currently looked like she was eleven years old, now, and sometimes I think she enjoyed acting like it. But it was cute, just like her.

As she followed the directions, I had written on the card to just lift the box lid, the box sides fell away and she found a chess board with pawns positioned neatly on it.

"That is an amazing piece of craftsmanship." Jasper was already drooling over it.

"This is beautiful Jacob. Where ever did you find a chess board decorated with wolves?"

"I didn't buy it in a store, Nessie. I made it." It was all wood and I had carved in relief, wolves howling at the moon, on all four of the side panels of the chess board, to accommodate some hidden storage drawers.

"You made this yourself? That's amazing. This must have taken you forever. When did you find the time?"

"I did a little bit here and there over the past year."

"You worked on this all year? I can tell, you did a wonderful job. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." She grinned at me.

"I'm glad you like it. The wolf theme isn't too much is it?"

"No, that's my favorite part. Thank you so much, my Jacob," she said pulling me into a hug. _"But where are the rest of the chess pieces? I don't want to upset him by asking. This must have taken him so long he didn't have time to finish. It's okay though. I can use the pieces from one of the other sets."_ She still had her arms around me in our hug and sent me her thoughts unknowingly with her gift.

I started chuckling to myself but I guess it was loud enough for her to notice.

"Oh no, Jacob, did you just hear me?" She looked embarrassed. It was so nice of her to want to not make me feel bad, but I also didn't want to upset her either.

"Yes, honey, but that's okay. Don't worry. And it _is_ finished. Do you remember the wolves I carved for you for your first birthday?"

"Yes."

"And the figurines I carved of your family members that I gave you at Christmas?"

"Of course I do. They're both in our bedroom on my nightstand, you see them all the time."

"Well they are actually the chess pieces for this set."

"Really? Oh, of course. Eight wolves and eight members of my family. Jacob that's amazing. You've been planning this for well over a year then?"

Hmmm, even her family seemed impressed. Nice!

"Anything for my sweetheart. Here let me show you." I quickly dashed away and got the 16 chess pieces from the nightstand. "I wanted to keep the couples together and use them as pieces that fit at least one of the chess piece characters."

I placed the pieces on the chess board as I explained my reasoning for each piece. "Edward and Bella are the King and Queen, which was the easiest of course since they are your parents, Carlisle and Esme became Bishops since the Docs father was a minister; for awhile I considered making them the King and Queen since they are the acting heads of the family. But this works too, I think."

"I agree, this works much better." Nessie assured me.

"I made Alice and Jasper the Knights because of Jasper's military past in the Civil war." He looked pleased when I said that. "That just left Rose and Emmett as the Rooks. You know I don't play chess and don't know what rooks are exactly, but I thought it must be the pieces that looks like castle turrets, right?"

She just nodded so I could continue.

"That's good. I think it worked out perfectly since Rose seems to think of herself as a princess and Emmett is built like a tower." Blondie started growling but Emmett was laughing along with most of the rest of the family.

"Jacob, be nice!" Nessie said as she playfully punched my arm. "But this means that when I play, the wolves and my family would have to oppose each other. I don't think I could do that. I would have to choose a side and I could never do that."

"I thought you might say that, check the drawers underneath."

"What drawers . . .?" she started to ask when I pulled one open. In the drawer she found an entire other set of light wood wolves and dark stained wooden family members.

"I thought you could use the wolves as the pawns. This way the wolves and your family would work together and it would just be light verses dark, like a regular chess set. Would you be alright with that?" Please say yes, please say yes. If she does I'll have to ask her to teach me how to play someday.

"Jacob, that is perfect. I love it!"

….

Renesmee's Point of View

I was running out the front door as soon as I saw the taxi Nahuel was in, pull up. I almost knocked him over while giving him a hug, hello. "Nahuel, you're finally here. I thought you were coming back for my birthday, last week?" He seemed a bit uncomfortable in the taxi, but he never learned to drive, and my father insisted he not run here, so others of our kind would not follow him to the house. "Where is your Aunt Huilen?"

"Renesmee, why don't we let Nahuel get settled. He has had a long journey. I am sure he will answer all of your questions later." Grandpa Carlisle came up behind me and wrapped him in a small embrace, as well. "Hello Nahuel, please come into the house."

"Thank you, Carlisle. So good to see you both again."

Once Nahuel had gotten in the house, he unpacked his belongings in the same guest room he had stayed in during his last visit. He had brought a couple of bags with him this time, much more than his previous visits. I wondered how long he was planning on staying? Eventually he reemerged and seemed ready to talk to us.

"Thank you so much," Nahuel called to us as he exited his room. "I have been traveling for awhile now and it will be nice to sleep in a bed again."

Grandpa Carlisle, Aunt Rose, Uncle Emmett and I were all that were currently home, and we had all met him in the living room.

"Did something happen?" Uncle Emmett actually seemed worried. I was too. What would drive Nahuel from his Aunt and his home?

"Yes. But nothing bad, I assure you. It is just that my Aunt Huilen has found a possible mate. His name is Roberto, he was one of the witnesses that the Volturi brought with them but left rather quickly. He did not side with them in the end but thought Huilen . . . _interesting_ enough to track her down."

My whole body froze when Nahuel mentioned the Volturi. I needed to take some deep breaths and calm down. Jacob was at school, so I tried concentrating on the bracelet he gave me my first Christmas. Just thinking of him when I was upset like this usually helped.

"I thought it was best if I gave them some alone time together. Huilen stayed in South America, she did not feel it was right to leave at such a critical point in her . . . _relationship_. And she thought it was best not to come here with him, since he was rather unwilling to accommodate to the Cullen way of life."

"That seems very wise of them, if he was not disposed to either follow along with our vegetarian diet or hunt outside of the area during his stay." Grandpa Carlisle was always thinking of others.

"Yes, Nahuel, it is fine." I agreed, I didn't want him to see me upset by the mere mention of the Volturi. "Huilen has been alone for so long. If she had found someone, she could see possibly spending her existence with, she deserved the chance to find out. Though, I did hope that I would see her again someday."

"I am sure you will, Renesmee."

"And perhaps we will one day make the journey to South America and we can visit Huilen and this _Roberto,_ ourselves." Aunt Rose added.

"That would be very nice., it would be a pleasure having your family visit us sometime in the future."

Nahuel then turned to my Grandpa.

"Carlisle I was wondering if you would mind if I were to stay here for an extended period of time this visit? I would like to give my Aunt as much time, as she requires, to explore this relationship of hers, without my interference or hindrance. If it weren't for me she would have had a normal life, possibly gotten married and had children of her own. I took that all away from her. I feel that this is finally something I can do to begin to make it up to her." Nahuel looked remorseful as he spoke.

He seemed truly sorry for changing his Aunt into a vampire. I had never thought that someone, especially Nahuel, would see being a vampire as anything but a positive thing. My mother always explained to me that she finally became what she was always meant to be when she was changed. She saw being a vampire as being her true self, the real her, at her most content where she finally felt comfortable in her own body. I know this was not how everyone saw it, but I did not realize how awful others may feel. Yes, it was true, a female vampire cannot have children, but that did not exclude other things. Enhanced strength, memory, reflexes, near invulnerability, immortality, the list goes on and on. Of course there were tradeoffs. My family could not be in the sun around humans and had no interest in eating human food. But I've tasted it. Yuck! Humans were just incapable of understanding how delicious blood was.

"But I am sorry that Huilen and I missed your birthday, Renesmee." Nahuel had continued talking while I was preoccupied with my own thoughts. "She made this present for you and asked me to wish you the best on this celebratory day of your birth." He handed me some earrings that he took out of his back pocket. Hmmm, my ears are not pierced. I wonder if it would even be possible? I guess it must be if Huilen gave them to me. "And this is from me," Nahuel added, placing a matching beaded necklace around my neck.

"Thank you, but you did not have to get me anything."

"Nonsense, you deserve them. Seven years is not nearly enough time to celebrate a birth as special as yours, and I should know." He smirked at me.


	18. Nahuel's Past

**Year Three, Chapter Eighteen**

 **Nahuel's Past**

Jacob's Point of View

Nahuel had been here for a little over a week. The entire family were all gathered in the living room after Nessie, Nahuel and I ate dinner. Nessie was curled up in my lap, fighting to stay awake, and loosing.

It had been a long day for her. We had hunted together in the morning then Alice whisked her away on a shopping trip as soon as we returned from Canada. I wondered if she will not need as much sleep, once she stops growing so quickly? The Doc told me it was common for young children to sleep, and eat more than normal, when they were having growth spurts. Nessie's life so far had been one long constant growth spurt. I was still a little worried, and brought it up to the Doc awhile ago. Carlisle ended up talking to Nahuel for me about it, just to see if he might have any answers. Luckily, he also remembered sleeping a lot when he was around Nessie's age. That made me feel a little better . . . well less worried, anyway. I was starting to think having him here was a good thing. But that did not last long.

Nahuel had been boring us, well me at least, with stories about his life in South America, for the past two hours. I wasn't really paying attention anymore and might have fallen asleep, before long. That was, until I heard him mention Joham.

"No I never wanted to end up in anyway like Joham. I made sure of that. I would never be able to handle the guilt." Nahuel said.

"How exactly did you manage that? Did you find a way to save the women somehow?" Jasper questioned him. I think I missed something important and immediately stated paying more attention.

I could hear Edward growl under his breath. He must have heard something in Nahuel's thoughts he didn't like. I wonder what his problem was?

"No, you misunderstand. My remorse did not lie with the dead woman, but with the children who could have been born. Knowing they would have to deal with the guilt of ripping through their mothers to enter this world, like I did."

I was about to get Nessie and leave the room, I did NOT want her hearing this, but when I looked down I saw she was already fast asleep.

"I have always chosen attractive young woman from one of the poorer parts of some nearby city, whenever the mood struck me, or I was hungry. It was not like I was going to be celibate for over a century," Nahuel mused with a chuckle. Why did so many eyes in the room dart over to Edward?

"I would bring them to some run down motel. It didn't matter to me. When we were done _enjoying_ each other I would feed on them, ensuring there would be no progeny resulting from our "activities". Of course I would, more often than not, get so caught up in the moment that I would end up drinking from them before we had finished, anyway. But with all of the crime native to the area one more dead girl was nothing to the local police."

"That's disgusting!" I exclaimed. Thank goodness Nessie wasn't awake to hear him.

Giving me a snide look, he said, "I am half-vampire after all, and have no problem living as one, that includes feeding off of humans." Did he really seem offended by me?

"That is, of course, because I knew of no other way, until I met your family. I simple combined two _necessary_ activities. I wasn't worried about being careful every time anyway since they would all meet the same end when I was through with them. So what if some ended up dying during our lovemaking process? It did not really matter in the end."

Lovemaking? Ha! He was joking, right? The monster seemed awfully proud of himself. Being so _efficient_.

"I am not ashamed of my past. If I have disturbed anyone here though, I am sorry. I hope we can remain friendly, I would like to think of you all as my extended family. I believe your Denali cousins followed the same lifestyle before becoming vegetarians, themselves. Did they not?"

The looks on everyone's faces in the room ranged from shock to disgust to mild understanding. All except Carlisle. He was always full of compassion and understanding, sometimes, like now, possibly too much.

"Of course Nahuel, it was in your past. We all have done things in our past that we regret. What is important is that we learn from our _mistakes_ and try to be better in the future." Like I said - too compassionate for his own good.

"I can see your heart was in the right place," he continued, "not wanting to inflict, on any of those young woman what happened to your own mother, even if your methods were not as I would have hoped."

"I have tried to control myself, since the Volturi encounter. I have _tried_ following your example of a vegetarian diet Carlisle, but I must admit it has not been easy. And I have slipped more than once, in the . . . heat of the moment. It seems my . . . _appetite_ is rather large. Perhaps, when I have more of an concrete reason to do so, I can make a more permanent change." He smiled over to Nessie, still sleeping on my lap. "I am hoping, if all goes well, in the near future, I will have a greater reason to control my thirst, at that time." He again looked over at Nessie when he said this.

OH! HELL! NO! I wanted to phase and rip Nahuel to shreds right there, but I couldn't, not with Nessie asleep in my arms. I needed to calm down . . . NOW! I started taking in deep breaths. Her hair was by my nose and as I focused on her scent I began to relax, at least enough to where I stopped shaking.

Emmett looked over and saw my reaction and decided to butt in, presumably to help. "Nahuel, man, if you want to have any chance with a _certain someone,_ EVER, you need to start trying harder, _immediately_ , dude. Or else no one is going to let you anywhere near. . . whoever."

Was he really trying to make it seem like he wasn't referring to Nessie? Sheesh Emmett, I am pretty sure a blind cat would have known that.

"Anyway man, why couldn't you have chosen to be with other vampires instead of more innocent woman? What's with that?"

"Well Emmett, not all of them were so innocent, many were prostitutes." Nahuel smirked back at him.

So that was suppose to make eating someone better.

"Ew, gross man."

"Also as you can imagine not many vampires travel through South America due to the constant sun. My Aunt Huilen was wary of the few Vampires who did come through the area. Occasionally she would be satisfied by the occasional tryst but like I said I seem to have a much larger appetite."

He really needed to stop talking now; and he especially needed to stop smiling over at Nessie when he made suggestive comments like that, even if she was unable to hear them while she was sleeping. Bella at least growled this time at him and I instinctively hugged Nessie tighter.

As Nahuel finished his story I could see, out of the corner of my eye, Rosalie's head started to whip back and forth as her hair turned into a blur, just like that little girl from The Exorcist movie. Her head was moving so fast, switching between looking between Nahuel and myself when suddenly she stopped and her gaze fixed on me; at least I thought it was me, when a smile erupted over her face. I must have been wrong; she must have been looking at Nessie. Blondie would never smile at me, unless she had something nefarious planned.

I could see Edward's eyes nearly pop out of his head while giving her a look like he couldn't believe whatever she was thinking. Yup, she was planning something big. But I had bigger problems to think about right now.

When Nahuel was done "reminiscing" Edward came over to me and quietly whispered, "Why don't you take Nessie to her room and put her to bed. You both could use some sleep. We will see you in the morning. I think there are a few _things_ I would like to discuss with Nahuel."

I had no problem with that, I had no desire to spend one more minute in the same room as that freak.

Suddenly I was so glad, again, that Esme had chosen to make all of the walls in the house sound proof. I didn't want to hear any of _that_ conversation.

I was so glad to go to bed and try to put the evenings _events_ behind me. Tonight had upset me for multiple reasons. Nahuel implied he wanted to be with Nessie _romantically_ . . . someday. And no one had ripped him to shreds? Okay maybe that was a bit much but there wasn't even one scream or objection. Did no one have any problem with him and what he did, what he was still doing? He was a Monster. Didn't they see that?

I thought I was finally being included into the Cullen family. Didn't they want Nessie to end up with me, as I always hoped? Was I just fooling myself? Of course I was. Of course they would want Nessie to be with someone like herself, if it was a possibility. Someone who was more like them.

The next day Edward asked to talk to me in the living room after lunch. The entire family, except Bella and Nessie, and luckily Nahuel, were all sitting there when I entered the room. I knew Bella had taken Nessie shopping for more new clothes to replace the ones Alice got her yesterday. Apparently they were not _appropriate_. What could Alice have gotten an eleven year old girl that was inappropriate? I don't think I want to know. And I didn't really care where _HE_ was, as long as it was away from me and Nessie. But were they all waiting to talk to me? This was not going to be good.

"Jacob, try not to be so hard on Nahuel. You live in a house full of Vampires. You know what we are, what our normal food source would be if we weren't vegetarians." Was Edward really trying to reason with me?

"Yes, but you're different. You only hunt animals." I growled back at him.

"Currently, yes. But not all of us have perfect records like Carlisle, Bella and Rosalie."

"Yeah, man." Emmett added in. There were a couple times even I slipped up, in the past. We can't all be perfect like my Rose." Looking over at her, beaming with pride.

Wait, I thought she killed like 5 men, I can't remember exactly what she did, but I know she mentioned how they all deserved it. Like there is ever a good reason to kill a human being.

"Jacob, Rose had her reasons. But that is none of your business." Edward had read my mind again, of course he did, that's what he does.

"Edward, its fine, he may as well know. Everyone else in the family already knows. Go ahead, tell him, I just don't want to be around for it." Rose huffed as she stormed out of the room.

What was that about?

"Jacob, why don't you sit down for this." Edward said as his and everyone else's faces turned to pained or sorrowed expressions.

What did I miss now?

When Edward finished telling me Rosalie's story I felt sick. Okay, she was a horrible, prissy, stuck up snob, sometimes, okay, most of the time. But now I knew she had a pretty good reason. I would be as pissed off with the world too if something like that happened to me. I think I need to start being nicer to her.

"She doesn't want your pity, Jacob. " Edward must have been in my head again. "But you need to understand that we all have had violent ends to our natural lives, some worse than others, in her case. That was how we came to be as we are now. We are all dealing with our own demons, even Nahuel. His just manifested due to how it was that he came into this world."

This little conversation made me feel differently about Blondie, but did little to sway my feelings on Nahuel.

… **.**

Renesmee's Point of View

"Checkmate"

"What! Oh, I thought I had you that time." I scowled at Uncle Jasper. He had beat me. Again! We had been playing on the beautiful chess set, that Jacob had made for me, all morning and I still have yet to win a game against him, ever.

"Don't be so upset darling. It takes years to master chess. It's not just about memorizing books on game strategy, and famous chess moves. You need to think five, ten, twenty moves ahead. You need to get into the mind of your opponent, see where they will go, and why. And that is just the beginning."

"But I thought it was just about finding a move that won't result in you taking my chess pieces, while simultaneously moving mine into position to take your king."

"That is part of it, but you cannot see every possible outcome of every move, every time. And depending on your opponent, like you have just witnessed," he smirked at me, "sometimes there are no moves you can make where you don't lose any pieces."

"So what do I do then?"

"You can start by not trying to save everyone. You know in chess, as in life, sometimes sacrifices must be made. Have you ever heard the saying that occasionally you have to lose the battle to win the war? Not trying to lose any chess pieces only prolongs the game, you eventually will still loose."

"So I need to think more about what each moves potential is?"

"Exactly."

"Uncle Jasper, how are you so casual about sacrificing your pieces?"

"Nessie, are using the chess pieces, that Jacob made you, of the wolves and ourselves what is giving you so much trouble? If so perhaps it would be better to use a standard set."

"Obviously I don't like losing them, but that is not it. I would feel protective of the chess pieces no matter if they represented my family and friends or not."

"Then the goal you need to accomplish is to see if you can determine, within each game, if some pieces will be more valuable than others, to you. In chess the pawns are usually the most expendable. It was same when I was in Maria's army, the newborns were always the first to go. But in the end, all pieces are expendable, with the exception of the king. If you lose the king you lose the game. Likewise there would have been no southern vampire wars without Maria.

"But I thought the queen was the most powerful? Wouldn't you want to protect that piece just as much as the king?"

"It is a powerful weapon, both offensively and defensively, in a way. The queen can more around the most, but it still needs to protect the king, and you may need to sacrifice it, occasionally, when deemed necessary. Sometimes to win, you are better off forfeiting one of your strongest pieces, than desperately trying to save it and risk losing everyone else including the king, and consequently the game. You need to think of what will give you a strategic advantage in the end."

As we continued playing, Uncle Jasper and I talked about some of his military battles, different philosophies regarding fighting over negotiation, and his views on war. We played and talked for a couple more hours, where I captured more of his pieces, but still had not won a game . . . yet. But I will someday. Luckily, I had eternity.

Nahuel eventually joined us after lunch. I wasn't sure where he had been all morning. He seemed to go off sometimes, for hours at a time and reemerge later, from wherever. I knew he wasn't leaving the property since he didn't know how to drive and the family insisted we travel everywhere by car. But I never went looking and had not asked. I was assuming he might have been home sick or wanted to be alone to think.

"You like playing chess, Renesmee?" Nahuel asked me.

"Yes, I am trying to get better at it, Uncle Jasper is teaching me. Do you play?"

"I know the basics of how to play, but I cannot say that I am particularly very good at it. Would you care to join me in a game? Perhaps we can help each other?"

"Well, in that case, I think I will leave the two of you to it, then." Uncle Jasper said as he excused himself.

Nahuel was right, he did indeed know the basics of the game, but he was even worse than I was. He knew how each piece moved and the goal of the game, to capture the king, but little else. I thought he might have been letting me win in the beginning so I tried throwing a couple of games on purpose, but even ended up winning those. He never thought ahead more than two or three moves. He never saw the big picture. How was this possible? He was a half-vampire, after all. He mentioned while we were playing that he learned how to play some eighty years ago. I would have thought with all of that time to practice he would have defeated me easily. Maybe he was still letting me win and he was just really good at disguising it?


	19. Rosalie's Reconsideration

**Year Three, Chapter Nineteen**

 **Rosalie's Reconsideration**

Jacob's Point of View

In the weeks after Nahuel's disturbing recap of his past escapades, I found Blondie's behavior increasingly disturbing. It was nothing bad, really, just extremely unusual. She was actually being nice to me. It was weird.

I wondered what she was plotting? Should I be worried about my safety? I know I would heal from whatever she did, but I still wasn't looking forward to the pain. But then again, it would give me a reason to get her back, equally as good. That could be fun.

I figured she must have intended some payback for my learning about her past. It was her own personal nightmare that she probably never really wanted me to hear. Why would she; it was deeply personal and horrific. But then again she did practically shriek at Edward to tell me her story. This was so confusing. Why be mad at me? I didn't force him to say anything. She volunteered it.

Day after day I was bracing myself for something horrible from her. And day after day nothing happened.

I must have been more jumpy or paranoid that I realize because a week later Edward took me aside to talk to me. His normally composed face currently had a very strange expression on it. Was he amused by something; the something he was about to tell me? Maybe he thought whatever Rose had planned for me was hilarious.

"Jacob you don't have to worry about Rosalie. As you may be aware, we vampires seldom change, but when we do it is a permanent change. It is very hard for us to do, so it is a rarity."

"Sure, sure." I didn't really get what he meant.

"You may not be aware of this but before I met Bella I was never interested in finding a mate of my own. Esme actually worried that Carlisle had changed me too young. When we would visit our cousins in Denali, Tanya was constantly throwing herself at me, to no effect."

Yuck, I DON'T need to hear this. Why was he telling me about that? And what does this have to do with Blondie?

"Patience, Jacob, I am getting to that. Back then I was perfectly fine being on my own, in a house full of matted vampires. That is, until I met and got to know Bella. Rosalie has had a similar change of heart in reference to you."

I can only imagine what the shock on my face must have looked like. Rosalie I was in love with me? GROSS! No way, not possible. Wait, what about Emmett?"

Edwards smirked. "No, no, nothing like that. Don't worry. She had just re-evaluated her priorities. You may remember, before she stormed out last week, when she asked me to relay her history to you, that she referred to you as 'family'?"

Now that I thought of it, I think she had said something like 'the rest of the _family_ already knew about my past', was she really including me as part of the family?

"It seems she is more willing to put up with a bad stink," he said pointedly eyeing me, "than chancing Nahuel sucking the life out of Renesmee. She thinks of Nessie as her own daughter, in a way."

Wow, at least someone in this family was on my side. Why can't more of them see how dangerous Nahuel is? How is it my only ally turned out to be Blondie.

"No one is against you, Jacob. We all know you would be good for her and how much you love her. But Nahuel has come here to get to know her, and see what may develop between the two of them. And he deserves a chance, as well. He knows that he needs to get better control if he ever hopes to be with her. He should be commended for being so honest with us. "

"Please, he's only being honest because he knows you would eventually read everything in his mind anyway. This way all of the bad stuff he's done looks good that he is 'trying to overcome it'. I know Nessie deserves the chance to make her own choice, but he's too dangerous. He could kill her."

"You thought the same thing about me, with Bella."

"Yeah, and she died, remember."

"That was different and you know it. Renesmee is already a half-vampire. She is a lot stronger than a _human_ Bella was."

"Edward, don't act like you don't know what I'm worried about. I am not talking about him breaking her, I know how strong she is, I'm talking about him feeding from her.

"I am aware of that as well, Jacob."

"And it's not the same. He is not you. Just because you were strong enough to not bite Bella, doesn't mean he is capable of the same thing. He has admitted it to us already that he can't control himself while he's. . . you know." I couldn't even say it. I really couldn't think of little Nessie like that, with him. Hell, I couldn't even think of Nessie like that with me. She was just a little girl, still.

"That is a good point, Jacob. She is still a little girl, for now. But if you truly loved her, . . ."

"You know I love her," I snarled back to him.

" . . . you need to let her make her own decisions," he continued, "when the time comes, and be happy with whatever they are. You BOTH have time. I suggest you use it wisely."

What was that suppose to mean?

I never got my answer though. Edward was gone in a flash, back to wherever Bella currently was, I assumed.

…

"Are you ready Nessie, Rose is waiting for us in the garage?"

"I'm coming, Jacob, I just found more body paint that I am still trying to get off. I will be right there."

Last night was actually fun, much more than I expected. Nessie wanted to go trick-or-treating for Halloween this year, while she still looked young enough for it to seem appropriate. We had to travel for a while, so we would not leave a scent trail near the house, but it was worth it. We both ended up dressing in these space alien costumes that Alice made us. I thought it was a little silly for me to do at my age, but Nessie insisted we wear matching outfits and it made her so happy when I did, I would do anything for her to see her smile like that.

"Do you need any help?" I had thought the costume was enough, but Alice was being Alice so we were both subjected to head to toe greening. The green paint covered almost every inch of skin on both of us.

"No, it's in an area that's . . . well it is not exactly . . . public."

Public? What did she mean by that? Oh! "Um, do you want me to ask Bella or Rose to come and help?"

It was amazing, the change in Rosalie, I was happy with it. It was nice not constantly bickering with her, it was just weird. I think I kinda had gotten use to the fighting, and now sort of missed it. Not that I wanted to go back to the way things were. This definitely was much better, just strange, after so long.

"No, almost got it . . . there, all set." Thirty seconds later she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. She was wearing some older clothes, not that anything on her ever got a chance to really get old, she outgrew everything too fast. But this outfit defiantly was not one of her newer ones. "Race you to the garage."

Rose and I were in the middle of rebuilding the engine on my Rabbit. It was only the beginning of November but I don't think my car would make it through another winter in the condition it was in. The Cullens had offered to buy me a new one, but I just couldn't take more from them than I already had. Blondie offered to help work on my car with me, and I thought that it seemed like it was a nice compromise.

It turned out that once we stopped fighting with each other we actually had a lot in common. Probably more than anyone else in the house, well besides Nessie.

"There you two are, I thought I was going to have to do this all by myself."

"Sorry we're late Aunt Rose. It's my fault. I . . . needed to find something in didn't mind getting covered in grease." Nessie jeered over to me.

"What makes you think you are going to be getting your hands dirty, young lady?"

"Aunt Rose, Jacob has been teaching me everything he knows about cars. I can help. Please."

"She's right Rose. She could probably name every part on this car, and its function."

"That doesn't prove anything, just because she knows everything you know, doesn't mean she, or you, even come close to knowing even half of what I know about cars. Why don't you BOTH just sit back and learn a thing . . . or twenty," she smirked. I know she was just teasing, but I could see Nessie getting frustrated. She really wanted to prove to Rose that she was capable of helping.

"I think we can handle it Blondie." We weren't fighting anymore, but that doesn't mean I was dropping my nickname for her anytime soon.

"Whatever, _dog_. It's your car, so if you don't care about breaking this hunk of junk it won't matter." She actually chuckled, playfully back at me. "Here Nessie, how about you prove you know what you are doing by disassembling this carburetor for me."

Blondie actually tried telling me what needed to be done next on my car, but that was not going to happen. No matter how well we were getting along now.

"Rose, this is still my car. I think I know what needs to be done to it. Thanks."

"Fine, you want to try and drive around with a busted radiator go right ahead."

"There is nothing wrong with the radiator."

"No not yet, but look at it, it has 60-70 miles left on it, tops."

Damn it! She was right. I growled lightly under my breath, I did not like looking bad in front of Rose or Nessie. "Just hand me that wrench."

"Move over, we can fix it together, mongrel." She lightly shoved me over so she could work next to me on it.

A little over two hours later we were just about done with the radiator and a couple of other little things. We had been talking about Forks the entire time and had gotten onto the subject of Bella.

"Wait so you are telling me that the entire time I was trying to keep Bella from being turned into a Vampire you were actually on my side." Edward had told me he didn't want Bella to become like him, but I never believed him. And now I find out Rose had actually been the only one to vote against Bella joining the Cullens when she returned from Italy. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore; everything worked out for the best. But it still would have been nice knowing I had at least one ally back then."

Nessie was concentrating so hard on the carbonator I didn't think she was even paying attention to our conversation. She had been going slow, not wanting to mess anything up in front of Rose and had successfully taken it apart, cleaned it, and was working on reassembling it. Rose had checked on her progress throughout the morning and I could tell she was impressed.

"Why didn't you want my mother to be a part of the family Jacob?" Of course she was listening. Dame. This could get awkward or worse.

Rose turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes. "Jake, you didn't tell her? She needs to know the WHOLE story and it would be better coming from you. The longer you wait the worse it will be." She was right.

"Renesmee, why don't you come over here so we can talk."

Nessie followed me over to the workbench in the garage so we could sit down. After a few deep relaxing breaths I began telling her about my past with Edward and Bella. She already knew the main events with James and Victoria, but everyone had conveniently left out telling her the part where Bella and I had developed our _unique_ relationship. while Edward was gone. Nessie knew Edwards part of the story, from when he left, but she was never told the other side.

"Nessie back when Edward left, Bella was . . . heartbroken. She had a very hard time without him. We had been friends before and once Edward was gone, we started hanging out again. That was really all it was for your mom, but I kinda . . . developed a _crush_ on her."

"Jake, it was more than a little crush and you know it, There is no point sugar coating it for her. She would find out eventually." Thanks Rose.

"Yeah, Rose is right. It was more than a crush, at the time I thought I was in love with her. This all happened when Victoria was trying to kill Bella and I first phased. Eventually your father was back in the picture. You already heard how Bella went to . . . _Italy_ and saved him, right?"

"Yes." That's all she was going to say? I would have thought she would have been more talkative. It was probably just the mention of 'Italy' and all that it implied. I knew not to say "Voltura", but I should have just skipped that part altogether. Normally she would be interrupting me, asking me questions, adding to the story what she already knew, but . . . not nothing. This was different. Not good or bad, just different. I knew, through our imprint bond that I would feel it if what I said was hurting her, emotionally. I will have to be extra careful with my words.

"Well, when he came back, I was angry and jealous. It felt like Bella just cast me aside and dumped me for him. In reality she was always with him, even if he was not right next to her. She had always thought of me just as a friend, but I could not see that at the time. I even tried kissing her, to try and force her to see how much we belonged together."

"Yeah, he was real smooth, Bella ended up punching him. Broke her hand doing it too."

Seriously? Shut up. "Rose, I don't think you are helping."

"Fine, screw this up all by yourself."

"I need to be completely honest with you Renesmee. There was one other kiss between us. I kinda tricked Bella into kissing me right before the newborn battle. I threatened to get myself killed, when I learned she agreed to marry Edward. I thought my world was over and didn't care anymore. It was a last ditch effort."

Nessie didn't say anything so I continued, after taking another deep breath to relax a bit.

"Back then I saw becoming a vampire as the same thing as dying. I had heard the old Quileute stories of the Cold Ones my entire life. I hated vampires. It didn't matter to me that your family was different, I refused to see it. So, to me, Bella and Edward being together meant that he was going to kill her, eventually. I didn't care whether it was an accident or on purpose. He would eventually bite her, either feeding off of her or changing her, but the way I saw it was that if she was with me, she would live."

Nessie still sat there silently, patiently waiting for me to finish. She didn't look angry or start crying or yelling or laughing. I knew she was thinking. She was processing everything with her advanced half-vampire brain. I guess I should continue.

"It wasn't until after you were born that I understood why I . . . _mistakenly_ thought I was in love with her. The imprint magic that drew me to you, was there, before you were even conceived. It was just weaker back then, but it was why I was so protective of Bella, I had to keep her safe . . . alive . You were a part of her and I was responding to the imprint way back then. Do you understand what I am saying Nessie? The imprint bond is so incredibly strong with us, stronger than with any of the other wolves."

After a minute of silence Nessie finally spoke. "So let me see if I understand you correctly. Due to the imprint, you were friends with my mother when she needed you, comforted her when my father left her, protected her from Victoria, saving her life more than once, ended up developing feelings for her only to get rejected and _punched_ , all to ensure you would end up with me, whom you did not even know would ever exist, at the time?"

It sounded so much better when she said it. "So you're not mad?" I was dumbfounded.

"Why would I be mad Jacob. Everything that happened needed to happen so we could be together. Well maybe not you kissing her, but I can . . . understand. And it's not like it is going to happen again, is it?" she chuckled.


	20. Applications and Books

**Year Three, Chapter Twenty**

 **Applications and Books**

Renesmee's Point of View

I hadn't actually lied to Jacob. I would never do that. I just don't think it really hit me at the time. It had not sunk in, or I didn't fully realize the implications, at the time. My Jacob was in love with my mother! And no one told me until now!

Okay so I was only two, they had not hid the truth for very long. And I am sure part of the reason why was because they knew it would upset me. I could see how worried Jacob was when he told me yesterday. They all were probably equally worried what my reaction would be. I was not even sure what I was feeling, if I were to be completely honest with myself. I think I needed to talk to my family and get some better answers. I already had Jacobs point of view on the past events. My mother was next, and possibly my father. I also planned to talk to my Aunt Rose if I still needed too. She was like a second mother to me at times, and I knew she would tell me the truth.

When I walk into the library I found my mother rereading some book I was sure she had already read at least a dozen times. "Hi mom, have you seen dad?" Strange, they were normally together.

"He had to go into town to help Carlisle with something. Did you need him? I could call him and ask him to come home early?"

"No, that's alright. I wanted to talk to both of you but I can talk to you individually just as easily."

"Alright dear. What did you want to talk about?"

I took a deep breath, before I blurted it out. "You and Jacob being in love once, and kissing." I could feel the worry creep up as I spoke.

She looked stunned, well as stunned as her frozen vampire facade would allow.

"How did you learn about that?" Was she trying to avoid talking directly about it with me?

"Jacob told me, with a little prompting from Aunt Rosalie."

"Of course it was Rose, she is always trying to ruin things for Jake."

"She didn't ruin anything. And Jacob and her have been getting along much better recently, for some reason." I didn't know why, but I was glad.

"Yes, I am aware of her change of mind, but it doesn't look like it was as big of a shift as Edward thought." She said mostly to herself before getting silent. After a fairly long pause she began talking again. "If she didn't hurt things between you and Jake what did you need to talk to me and Edward about? Jake knows the whole story; you could have asked him any questions you had."

Wow, she really did not want to talk about this, at least not with me. Unfortunately I needed answers, and she was who I needed them from most.

"I am aware that he knows his version of the events that took place, but not your thinking, or reasoning on matters. "

Just to speed things up I used my gift to show her exactly what Jacob and I talked about.

"I want to know why? Why would you do that to him. He was wonderful to you."

"It is a long story honey." She was still trying to avoid talking about this with me. But I was not going to let her.

"Am I right in assuming you didn't tell me any of that because you were afraid of hurting me? Or was there another reason?"

"Jake was, and still is, my best friend. I didn't mean to hurt him. Human emotions are messy, Renesmee. I was confused, unsure. I didn't want to hurt him, but at the same time I needed him. He kept me sane while your father was gone. And I was selfish. I needed him and used him. It was wrong but I couldn't help myself."

"But when dad . . . returned you kept using Jake?"

"Not exactly. I tried telling him how I felt, that I was not in love with him. But I still had _feelings_ for him. They didn't just disappear when Edward came back. And Jake was very . . . persistent. No one wanted to let anyone go. I loved your father but I think your imprint kept pulling me towards Jake, and he to me. In the end my love for you father won out, it was stronger, naturally, since Jake didn't actually imprint on me. It was not a true imprint pull we felt, but the feeling had been there no matter how weak." She explained.

"So, you loved dad, but also may or may not have loved Jacob, just not as much. And Jacob thought he was in love with you, but it was just my imprinting?

"Essentially. Look honey, it was a very confusing time for all of us back then. No one tried to hurt anyone else, and we never wanted to hurt you with this information. Don't be mad at Jake. He truly loves you. If you are going to be mad at anyone it should be me."

"I'm not mad, at either of you. Just confused." That was the truth, I think.

….

Jacob's Point of View

Christmas went by this year without _much_ drama. Nessie and I were _mostly_ back to being best friends and were _almost_ past all of the awkwardness that we had been dealing with the past several weeks.

I knew her initial, overly calm and understanding response to the news of her mother and me was too good to be true.

We still hung out with each other every day after school. She helped me with my homework when I got home, we ate dinner together, and she continued to try and teach me how to play chess at night. And on the weekends I took her hunting. Everything seemed the same as usual. But now, there was a tension there. I tried talking to her about it once, but she said she just needed time to work things through. If time was what she wanted, time was what I would give her.

And I was still with her every night, to keep away her nightmares. At least she was not suffering from an increase in the terrifying dreams about the Volturi she had last year.

Now that it was the holidays, I missed my family more than ever but I was starting to getting accustomed to being without them more as time went on. I knew it would only get worse and more permanent as the years went on.

Then there was Nahuel. He was, much to my pleasure . . . finally LEAVING. I could not be happier. He had been here for four months. And in my opinion that was four months too long. To top it off I almost phased and bite his head off right before he left. He had been going around to everyone, saying some personal goodbyes, but when he got to Nessie he brought her into a close hug, and I heard him whisper into her ear how he looked forward to seeing _more_ of her on his next visit. I wasn't too happy about the hug, he was getting to close to her for a friendly hug for my liking, but what he did next made me want to END him. He actually winked at her. I am not sure what she thought of it, hopefully nothing, but I didn't like his suggestive implications. She looked like a 12 year old and Nahuel's actions were completely inappropriate. I will have to keep a closer eye on him when he came back next year.

"Jacob, may I have a word with you?" Edward called from the doorway of the garage. I was just finishing giving the Rabbit a tune up, and apparently getting wrapped up in my own thoughts, when Edward's voice shook me out of them.

"Um yeah, what's going on?"

"I was wondering how things were going between you and Renesmee? Are things still . . . awkward?"

"You would know, you're the mind reader." Was he really playing this stupid game with me? Things were stressed enough, I didn't need him adding to it.

"Contrary to what you may think, I try not to listen 24 hours a day. I can tune people down, if not out, a bit." "Thanks for your concern, we will be fine, she's not actually mad at me or Bella, just 'confused' about things."

"I am sure everything will work out, in time. Anyway, for now I wanted to give you this." Edward handed me a stack of papers. When I looked them over I saw it was a college application packet to Dartmouth. Actually, it was a completed college application, with my name and information already filled in. "You only need to write the essay and sign your name."

"Huh? So I take it this means we are moving again? What, no dining room table, family meeting to discuss it this time?" I moved past my own confusion to anger now.

"You know we cannot stay here forever. Last time, it was thought best, to ease Bella and your transitions away from your families, gradually. You must have noticed how we all entered school this time as juniors and seniors. That only gave us two years as high school students. We cannot overstay our welcome in this area. It is only a matter of time before one of us is recognized by someone from Forks, or Seattle, even. We did not moved that far away. This was only a stopover, until our next move, Jacob.

"But Dartmouth? That's like 3000 miles away, all the way over on the east coast, right?"

"You are correct. Dartmouth College is located in Hanover, New Hampshire."

"Does Bella know about this?"

"Yes, and to answer your next question, we discussed our next move, the other night with everyone, while you and Renesmee were asleep."

"And why wasn't I a part of this discussion? I'm not a vampire so I don't get a vote? Is that it? Last time were you just humoring me?"

"It is nothing like that Jacob. There was no discussion this time. I promised Bella, back when she was human, that we would go to Dartmouth together for college. The rest of the family was not a part of the decision making process either. We informed them where we were moving, and though we don't always live together, they consented to the move, as well. Naturally we will be taking our daughter with us. Hence, the college application for you, . . . unless you wanted to go back to La Push."

Was he joking? "Just give it to me."

I didn't really like the idea of moving again, and so far away from La Push, my Pack and my family, but there was really nothing I could do. There had been no increased vampire activity around La Push, or Forks, like we had initially feared. That had been one of the main reasons given initially for staying in the area. Edward was right, it was time to leave. Bella and I would miss our families, of course, but we could keep in touch through phone calls, emails and the occasional visit.

I would be graduating this spring, along with Bella, Edward and Alice. Jasper, Emmett and Rose were already pretty much confined to the house since the official story was that they were suppose to have gone away to college this past September, and could not risk being seen in public.

I spent the majority of my Christmas break filling out more and more college applications. The rest of the family had filled theirs out in a matter of minutes. Well, they were only applying to Dartmouth and had the whole super vampire speed going for them, as well.

The chances of me, with my grades, getting into an Ivy League school like Dartmouth were slim to none in my opinion. Weren't the only people who got in to places like that either straight A, perfect students or the children of uber-wealthy heirs and heiresses?

Luckily New Hampshire was close to Massachusetts and there were a ridiculous number of colleges there to choose from. I think, after a brief web search, that there seemed to be more colleges in that one state than most other states, combined. I was sure I could find someplace that would accept me.

I didn't mind a long commute except it would take me away from Nessie for longer.

After talking a bit about my options with Edward I learned that I could potentially work out a schedule where I would only have to go in two to three days a week. Apparently in college, classes weren't every day, and some could even be taken online, at least part of the time, now.

How was I going to pay for college though? I couldn't ask Billy for help, he had been on disability for years. And I haven't had a job since before I first phased, patrolling didn't actually leave a lot of time for that. I wonder how the stocks Alice got me were doing? I hadn't checked them since she first showed them to me, back when we first moved to Hoodsport. I was about to go find her and ask but before I could even take one step, Edward was in front of me and informed me that he would be paying my entire tuition, wherever I ended up going. I guess I should have figured that.

I pretty much gave up on the money issue with the Cullens awhile ago. It took me some time but I finally realized what Emmett meant when he had his chat with me last September. He was right, they didn't see money like normal people did. It wasn't something they cared about. So I didn't put up a fight regarding Edward paying my college tuition. I had thought about filling out the financial aid forms, along with my applications, thinking that there was no point in wasting more of the Cullens money, but then thought I could be taking money away from someone who needed it more than me. Someone who didn't have access to Cullen money; someone who would not be able to attend college without getting a scholarship, and those were limited, based on need, grades, and funds availability. I could potentially be taking away someone's future.

The protector in my just could not do it. It was strange, I think the longer I was a wolf, the more I wanted to protect people, not just from vampires, but from everything. Maybe, it had nothing to do with being a wolf, maybe this was how I always was, and was just too young to realize it? I had never intentionally tried to hurt anyone when I was younger, but it was not like I was a saint either.

…

Renesmee's Point of View

Closing the cover and returning the book to the shelf gave me immense satisfaction. I did it! Wait what time is it? The clock hanging on the wall of the library said it was just after 1pm. It was Tuesday, March third. My parents, Aunt Alice and Jacob were still at school. Uncle Emmett, Aunt Rose and Uncle Jasper had gone hunting and Grandpa Carlisle was working at the hospital. Grandma Esme was the only one home at this time of day. I needed to tell someone my news so I ran down stairs to find her.

"Grandma Esme, I'm done!"

"Done with what, Renesmee?" she asked confused.

"I just finished reading all of the books in the house. Ask me anything," I smile proudly.

Grandma Esme looked at me with a questioning look. "You mean to tell me you've read every single book in the entire house, including all of the medical books in Carlisle's office and everything we have collected over the decades, well centuries really, in the library?"

"Yes, I have. And don't worry, Grandpa Carlisle said it was alright and went through some with me. What should I do now?"

"Do you understand them all?" she asked me, a bit bewildered? "You went through everything so quickly. Perhaps you should reread them and come to me, or Carlisle, or any other member of the family, with any questions."

"I guess I could re-read them, if you want me too. But I believe I understand everything. Perhaps my time might be better spent, leaving the house, where we can engage in more 'social training'. If it would make you feel better I am happy to let you test me first on what I have read. Jacob said he takes tests in school, all of the time. I even help him study."

I was so glad things had returned to normal between Jacob and me. It took me awhile, too long actually, but I eventually was able to come to terms with my mother's and my Jacob's past. He was right, our imprinting was so strong it crossed generations so that not only had my mother felt connected to him, before I was born, or even conceived but he was also drawn to protect her. I don't know why I didn't fully accept it back when I first learned about them in November. I knew. in my heart, it was true and I could feel it deep in my soul as well. Sometimes my brain just gets in the way. I didn't mean to hurt Jacob all of those months, but I just needed some time, and he was so strong and amazingly patient, I knew he could handle it. Time was what I needed, and he, of course, gave me what I needed, always.

There had been no fights, arguments, stand offs, or debates. I was never angry. I just needed to let my brain process the information in its own way and time. He was there for me, patiently waiting. To an outside observer, I was sure no one would have ever been able to tell there was anything even wrong. We still hung out every day, and did everything together as usual. There was just this thing that hung in the air, that had never been there before. Tension, very slight and small, but still there. But now it was gone, and we were back to "us".

"Alright honey, I believe, that you believe, you understand everything you've read." Hmmm. That was not exactly a vote of confidence on her part. "But just in case, let's talk about some of the books together. Why don't we divide our time. Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's we can review the books, and Tuesday's and Thursday's we can practice engaging with more humans."

At least I will get to do something outside of this house occasionally. "That sounds wonderful, Grandma, thank you so much," I said wrapping her in a giant hug. I couldn't wait until Jacob got home so I could tell him.


	21. Embry and Imprinting

**Year Three, Chapter Twenty-One**

 **Embry & Imprinting**

Renesmee's Point of View

I loved hunting! I loved everything about it. The speed and freedom of running through the Canadian woods. The way my heart rate speed up. How my muscles stretched and loosened up. Normal, everyday life just did not give my body much of a workout. And it was only when hunting that I really seemed to come alive. I could run for hours and was getting faster and faster all the time. I was almost as fast as some of my family, but even within my family, speed varied greatly between everyone. My father was the fastest and even _he_ was not as fast as Jacob, when he was in his wolf form. Maybe one day, if I lived long enough, I would become as fast as him. That was my goal, even if it was a nearly unattainable goal. It was what I pushed for every time we hunted together, which was every week. I needed to have goals, desires, dreams . . . something to make life, or existence, worth living.

Then there was the blood. Animal blood was simply delectable. Well, actually herbivores blood was just okay, but still better than human food; but carnivores blood was amazing, almost as good as human. Not that I would ever hunt or even harm a human, but still I remember the taste from when I was a newborn baby and my family gave me donated blood. I can't imagine anything better.

Then there was my Jacob. He was my go to hunting partner. When I appeared to be a toddler and my family was trying to transition me off of the donated blood and onto animal blood, he was the only one that could get me to hunt. He turned it into a competition to see who could bring down an animal first. My meals were always just a fraction of the size of his, but when I was younger I did not require so much blood so it didn't matter that I was not able to take down a large animal on my own. Soon though Jacob and I developed a sort of rhythm. He would corner an animal and I would swoop in for the kill. We just kept going after bigger and bigger prey as I aged.

I was almost at the point where I could take an animal down all on my own. I have been growing steadily, and now appeared to be around 13. I was around the same size as my Aunt Alice and was almost as strong as a full vampire. I knew I could do it on my own, but I didn't want to lose this camaraderie with Jacob. It was one of our favorite things to do together, or at least my favorite thing to do with him.

"Nessie, are you paying attention?"

"Always Jacob, I'm just waiting for you." I was really, I had an amazing brain, almost as good as my families, better if you asked some of them, especially when it came to languages. I didn't really think much about it at the time but when Grandma Esme and I were learning Greek and Latin I had picked it up faster than her. I thought at the time that she was just pretending to go slower, as a pseudo study aide, but learned recently that it had in actuality taken her longer. Comparatively anyway. Whether learning an entirely new language in two weeks or one month is still amazing compared to humans.

"I'm not going to help you this time Nessie. It's all you. I've got my eye on that one over there. You get to get this one all on your own. I'll meet you back here in when done. Okay?"

"Oh, alright." Wait, was that it, was this how my hunting happiness died?

Jacob had already taken off and phased into a wolf. He looked so beautiful as a wolf, even if he was wearing those silly shorts that Aunt Alice made him. He never complained about them, at least around me, so I wasn't going to say anything. But a giant wolf in shorts kind of looked ridiculous. My mother kept saying it was a modesty thing. I could see how that would make sense if I had not already seen everything, by accident, when Aunt Alice was first testing the shorts.

Everyone knew I had a perfect memory. It's not like I was going to forget what I saw. I remember everything in prefect clarity and detail, just like a full vampire. But I think it was one of those things that my family said to make _themselves_ feel better and then tell me it was for _my_ own good. That's fine, I could humor them in this, as well as in all of the other things we were pretending I was too young to know about, but already did. I could wait and when they were finally ready, they would relent.

Most things that they were uneasy with seemed to be tied to my physical appearance, for them. There seemed to be this unwritten rule with my family where they ignored the fact that I was mentally an adult, and sometimes only let me behave as I looked physically. This was true even as I was beating Uncle Jasper at Chess, (I finally did last week, I think he is still in shock) performing side by side with my father on the piano, mastering a dozen different languages, and the list went on and on.

Why did my physical development lag behind my mental so? Perhaps Jacob letting me hunt alone this time was a sign that things were changing.

I sprang swiftly across the gorge to where the mountain lion was located, landing in a tree, close by him, but not close enough to alert him to my presence. I made a few more jumps to get closer and closer to my prey. When I was close enough I sprang and easily incapacitated the animal. Seconds later, sinking my teeth into his neck I had completely drained him. Scrumptious!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jacob, with a huge smile on his face. "I knew you could do it, looks like you don't need my help anymore."

"Were you watching me the entire time?"

"Yeah, I wanted to give you a chance to try to take down something on your own, but couldn't risk being too far away, just in case. I couldn't live with myself if anything ever happened to you."

He came over to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Congratulations!"

" _Jacob, what could happen to me? I'm nearly as fast as a full vampire, and almost as strong, much stronger than any animal, and my skin is impervious to their claws and teeth. What exactly did you think could happen to me?"_ I thought to him.

"I know that Nessie, but I can't help but worry." He shrugged, releasing me from the hug.

"That's understandable Jacob, you're a wolf, and I'm your imprint. It's your job to protect me. But did you ever stop to think that maybe something got screwed up somewhere, in whatever mystical Quileute magic that connected us, with the imprint bond?"

Jacob looked at me like I just ripped his heart out. He misunderstood what had I said. I should clarify myself.

"All I mean is that I really don't need you to protect me. I'm not some weak little human, like the other imprints. Are you sure there isn't something more to imprinting than just being my protector. The Quileute spirits must have brought us together for more than that right?" I'm not stupid, I could clearly see how all of the imprinted couples at La Push were together romantically, (with the exception of Claire and myself, but we were children, well Claire was a child, I am . . . whatever this in-between thing, that I am, is.) But why was he not telling me about the romantic side of imprinting?

"Hold on Nessie," Jacob said as he retrieved his chiming cell phone from his pocket. "I needs to phase, something's wrong." Jacob said quickly when he saw the text from Quil. Damn, I was so close to finally talking about this.

Jacob immediately turned into a wolf, and with the direct connection to his pack, found out what was wrong faster than talking over the phone. A minute later he phased back and was standing next to me telling me we had to go.

"What's wrong, was there a vampire attack, is someone hurt?" That seemed the most obvious reason but my mind was running through a hundred possibilities. Was Billy sick or injured? Did something else happen in La Push?

"No nothing like that. Embry got arrested. I need to go bail him out." He seemed really pissed. I could understand why. Embry must have done something reckless to expose himself. Just like my family all of the wolves had to be so careful, all of the time. It was too easy to get angry, lose control, and accidently hurt someone. But Jacob would have mentioned if some innocent person had been injured or even killed. Right?

"Jacob, what happened?"

"I'll tell you everything in the car, we need to drive to Portland, OR, it will take awhile." We had been hunting in Canada as usual, so it took us some time to run back to the car, but once we were there it was a long drive south, from Vancouver, Canada through Washington, and then into Oregon.

I had called my parents while running back to the car, to let them know what was going on. They did not like me going all the way to Oregon, but Jacob didn't want to waste any more time having to drop me off, back home first. That would have almost doubled his drive time. I know he did not want to risk leaving a possibly angry and explosive wolf, locked in a tiny jail cell for longer than necessary. That could be very bad. After a bit of convincing over the phone, my parents understood, or at least relented and agreed to let me go. Which was good, because I didn't see Jacob listening to their reasoning, at this time.

The trip normally would have taken over five hours, but Jacob drove double the speed limit, luckily avoiding any cop cars. Alice was able to warn us ahead of time of any potential trouble like speeding tickets. She couldn't see us, but learned to see around us, and she could see my parents reaction to us getting a ticket, or worse.

"So Jacob, now would you like to tell me what is going on?" We had been driving for over thirty-five minutes and he had not said a word, yet.

"Embry imprinted." He said through a locked jaw. Why would that make him upset? Wasn't imprinting a positive thing? And what did that have to do with him getting arrested?

"Um, Jacob, I am going to need more information than that." He took a deep breath. Whatever had happened had greatly upset him and he was desperately trying to calm down. I needed to give him some time so I waited patiently until he was ready. Eleven minutes later he began again, this time a lot calmer.

"Like I said, Embry imprinted . . . more than a year ago."

"Really? I had no idea, he never brought her around."

"That's because she _rejected_ him." Jacob looked like he was angry and sad at the same time.

I felt so bad for Embry, he must be in so much pain. But maybe I could use this to get some answers of my own though. "How is that possible, who would want to turn down a _protector_."

"Nessie, you were right before, imprinting is more than just protecting your imprint from harm." Duh!

"Why don't you start at the beginning, Jacob. What happened with Embry last year?"

"Embry had gone to a club in Seattle with some of his new college _friends_. He saw a cute girl from across the room and on a dare from one of them, went up to her, from behind, and apparently gave her some disgusting and highly offensive pick-up line. It was not something he would have ever done on his own, one of the stupid guys he was with thought it up. I don't know what he was thinking, it obviously would never have worked and would only anger whoever was on the receiving end, and she was rightly offended and pissed at him. Unfortunately, she turned around and was screaming and telling him off when their eyes met and Embry ended up imprinting on her. It turned out she's from the Makah Tribe."

"The one north of La Push?"

"Yes, it's where Emily and Claire are from, too. Anyway after his horrible pick-up line she wanted nothing to do with him and pretty much now hates him. He had immediately started apologizing, groveling really. But nothing he said helped."

Jacob took another deep breath. Talking about this seemed to be making him more and more upset, instead of calming him down like I had hoped. But I still think he needed to talk through why this was upsetting him so much.

"I knew something was wrong with him, he had been acting odd, this past year, he was normally so carefree and happy before. But lately he had become more and more aggressive, lashing out, being extremely irritable, picking verbal fights. I tried a few times to talk to him, to try and find out what was wrong, but he never said anything, and he never thought of it even once when he was phased. I don't know how he managed that. He was keeping up with patrols and not physically attacking anyone so I let it go. It must have been extremely difficult for him though. Maybe I should have used my Alpha voice and made him tell me what was wrong. Then he never would have gotten into this mess."

"Jacob, you know you would never do that. You have always told me how you hated when Sam would use it on you and the rest of the wolves and you never would take someone's freewill away from them and you never have. Embry made his own choice and now he just has to deal with it. Well, him, and us."

"I know your right but I don't know why he didn't let us help him. We could have done something."

"Why was it so hard for him? Couldn't he have kept an eye on her from afar? Made sure she didn't get hit by a bus or something, from a distance." Come on Jacob, tell me the truth.

"I guess you are old enough now to know the truth." I've always been old enough to know the truth. I already did, I just wanted to hear it from him. I needed to hear it from him.

He took a deep breath before he started talking again. "Renesmee, imprinting is more than just protecting your imprint, and keeping them safe. It is a much deeper connection. Our imprints are our soul mates. We are connected to you like gravity. You draw us in. You are the one we would do anything and everything for, you're who we live for. It's an incredibly deep and intense _love_. It can be a platonic love like Quil and Claire currently share, or a more . . . romantic one like Paul and Rachel have. But we all have to be with our imprints in some way. It hurts us physically to be away from you. We would do anything for you, be anything for you, but we have to be with you in some way."

He glanced over at me nervously. Nothing he said was news to me. I had known it all, figuring it out from what I had seen on my own while at La Push and what I felt between Jacob and myself.

I smiled at him to calm him down then tried getting back on topic. "So what went wrong?"

He looked confused at the easy of my reaction but continued. "Embry has been spending the past year trying over and over to be with her, in any way she would let him, but she won't even talk to him. A couple of days ago she went with a group of friends to Oregon, for some reason, and he followed her. Just to make sure she was safe. When she saw him there, so far from home, she must have thought he was just some obsessed crazy person. She started screaming, and Embry panicked. He didn't want to scare her more so he left, but once he was away from her he was so upset he phased. Eventually, when he calmed down enough, he phased back, but he wasn't thinking clearly because he didn't have any clothes and someone saw him. They ended up calling the police and he was arrested for indecency."

"Oh, no! But how did Quil finally find this all out?"

"When Embry phased after he scared the girl, he was so upset he didn't seem to notice Quil was also phased and Quil could see everything he was thinking about and remembered over the past year and a half."

"Jacob, we need to do something to help Embry, beyond just bailing him out of jail."

"I know Nessie. I already talked to the guys while I was phased, they are going to go talk to his imprint when she returns to the Makah Reservation."

"I'm not sure if that is a very good idea. She has essentially been _stalked_ for over a year now by a very tall, very imposing, very muscular man. I don't think sending all of his big, equally well built, and intimidating buddies to talk to her will go over very well."

"Sure, sure. I can see how that might not be the best thing. But what else can I do. She needs to see that she has nothing to worry about with Embry and will probably be very happy with him around, even if they do just become friends."

"Why don't you ask some of the imprints from Sam's Pack to go talk to her. I am sure she would be much more comfortable speaking with a group of women. I could go too, and maybe Claire could come with me."

"That is a wonderful idea, Nessie. But I don't think Claire should go. She is just a child."

"But that is why she should go. So this woman, that Embry has imprinted on, can see that he won't hurt her, that there is no danger."

"I can see why you would think that Nessie, but I need to think of Claire too. Like you, she was not told everything about imprinting. She will be, when she is older, when the time is right. But don't you think it would be confusing for her if she found out now when she is still so young that one day, Quil, who has always been her best friend would be . . . that is, he could be . . . if she wanted . . . that they would be . . . um, together . . ."

I got the feeling that we were no longer talking just about Claire and Quil anymore.

"Jacob, I am sure that Claire can see how much Quil loves her and I know how much she already loves him. I am fully confident that when she is old enough she will effortlessly transition from platonic to romantic love just like the rest of the imprints, if she wanted to. Give her some credit, she understands more than you think."

"I will need to talk to Quil about this. It affects him as well. He deserves a say."

"If it makes you feel better I can keep Claire away for the romance portion of the imprinting talk. We can just be there for the basics and then excuse ourselves. I am sure I will be able to think of some reason for us to not be there the entire time."

"That would be perfect Nessie. Thank you."

"No problem my Jacob." After a minute of neither one of us talking in the car I changed topics, slightly. "Jacob, can I ask you something?"

"You can always ask me anything, Nessie. What is it?"

I was not sure I could ask out loud so I placed my hand on his. _"Am I the only imprint not from either the La Push or Makah Tribe?"_

"Yes, I guess so. Why?"

" _Don't you think that is strange? All of the wolves imprinted on someone from your tribe or that of your closest relatives. I'm not one of you, I'm not even human, well not completely. How did you end up imprinting on me? It seems beyond unlikely."_

Jacob got very quiet again. What did I say now that upset him?

"Well Sam, and some of the elders have a theory. Not about you, particularly, but on why a wolf imprints on one person over another."

He stopped talking again. _"Are you going to share this theory with me?"_

"Um, well . . . remember its only a theory, but Sam thinks that we imprint on the person who we will . . . create . . . um, well . . . who we have the greatest ability to, um . . . reproduce with . . . and create the strongest wolves with." He looked over at me apprehensively.

"I see. That would make sense. The people from the two tribes might have the most compatible genes that would be more likely to produce the desired outcome for the next generation of wolves. But that still doesn't explain me, of course being half-vampire, I guess a part wolf / part vampire child would be extremely strong."

"You're taking this very well Nessie. I thought you would be upset hearing all of it. You have a choice though, we don't have to be together that way, if you don't want to. We could just stay best friends. And you don't have to decide until you are older anyway. I never meant to tell you this so soon. . . Edward will probably want to kill me when we get home."

"I doubt it, Jacob." Then I added with my gift, " _Most of this I already knew, I just needed to hear you say it. I'm sorry if I upset you. I just felt that it was, for some reason,_ important _that I hear the truth from you and not what I had already figured out on my own. Sam's theory was news to me though."_ Then just to lighten the now slightly tense mood in the car I added, "Maybe all of the un-imprinted wolves should take a field trip up to the Makah Reservation. It seems to be a great match maker."

We both chuckled and spent the remainder of the car ride talking about random things to pass the time until we reached our destination.


	22. Jake and Embry's Talk

**Year Three, Chapter Twenty-Two**

 **Jake and Embry's talk**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie seemed to be doing well after the revelations I revealed to her regarding imprinting. She said she already knew most if it, but some things, like the wolf progeny stuff, was news to her.

Nessie said she was fine with everything I told her. But she had also been fine right after hearing about my past with Bella too. In the beginning, at least. It wasn't until later, the next day actually, after she slept that night, when her subconscious took over and she had a chance to let everything sink in, that the trouble started.

After months we had finally gotten past all of the awkwardness, I was not looking forward to going through it all again. But she needed to know the truth. I could not lie to her. I guess I would just have to see what happened. Most likely I would have my answer soon after she woke up tomorrow. For right now I had other things to worry about.

After almost three hours in the car we arrived at the courthouse lockup where Embry was being held. After another hour of paperwork and $7500, Embry was released, with the understanding he would need to reappear in three months, for his trial.

I once swore I would never use the Cullens money. My, how times have changed. I was not even thinking about bail money when we set out, to drive down to Oregon. Luckily Nessie did when she called home. Edward had somehow found out exactly how much we needed and had the money waiting for us at a nearby bank. At least their money wasn't permanently gone, they would get all of it back when Embry showed up for his court hearing, sometime in September.

"Thanks Jake." Embry mumbled as he got into the backseat of the car. We had been taking Edward's Volvo to hunt, since my Rabbit barley made the trip to Hoodsport, and would never survive weekly hunting trips to Canada. The backseat wasn't exactly built for someone of Embry's size in mind, but he would just have to deal.

"You need to thank the Cullens. It's their money that got you out. Would you like to talk now?" I napped at him. I felt bad for Embry, but I was also pissed. Being rejected by your imprint was probably the worst thing that could happen to a wolf. I have no idea what I would do if Nessie decides someday that she no longer wants me. But Embry could have come to me. I tried over and over to get him to open up and talk. I could see something was wrong, but he was so stubborn and now look at the mess he got himself into.

"I'm sorry. I thought I could handle this on my own." He sighed. "Everyone else is so happy with their imprints. I didn't want to be the one failure. I just couldn't admit to everyone how badly I screwed up. She hates me. Jake, my soul mate hates me! You should have just left me in there. Maybe I would have gotten lucky, lost control, and phased in front of everyone. Then the guards would have had to have shot me, and this torment would be over."

"Oh, Embry. Don't think like that." Nessie sighed back to him. She was always so understanding and compassionate. "And don't worry. We already have a plan that I know will fix everything. It will be okay, we will get you with your imprint. What's her name anyway?"

"Colleen." Embry smiled for the first time, just from saying her name. "She's wonderful. She must be the kindest, sweetest person in the world, to everyone, well except for me, but that is my fault. You should see her. She is not just kind, she is beautiful, too. She has super sleek straight dark brown hair that goes just past her shoulders, that contrast so perfectly with her amazing hazel eyes. You should see them, I could look at them for hours. And her voice, it's like she sings when she speaks, of course I have mostly only heard her yelling at me, but when I have watched her from a distance and she is speaking with her friends it's this lovely sing-song sound that makes me melt. And her body . . . "

"EMBRY! Not that we don't love hearing about your . . . Colleen, but could you keep some things to yourself." Really, did he forget Nessie was in the car. I did not need him talking like that in front of her.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. So you mentioned you had a plan to get us together?"

He started to look optimistic as Nessie and I explained how the imprints would try and talk to her. I hoped Nessie's plan worked. But there was no guarantee. Maybe if Embry had come to us in the beginning, but who knows what she had been through over the past year with him.

"I think before the imprints go and talk to Colleen we should phase so you can show me everything that transpired between the two of you, in case there are any potential landmines that they should watch out for."

"If you think that is best. I will do anything to make this right. I just don't know how I screwed this up so badly. She just never let me explain, if she only let me tell her . . . "

"You can't keep thinking like that. Feeling sorry for yourself is not helping. If my plan works, it's only going to open the door for you to be able to talk to her. You are going to have to relax and stop making excuses. You can't be so self loathing. No offence but that is not very attractive to women. Trust me, I am one, and know what I am talking about." Nessie smirked.

"Don't worry Nessie, as soon as he is talking to her face to face and not creeping around spying on her in some bushes I am sure he will be much better."

….

Renesmee's Point of View

One week after bailing Embry out of jail, Jacob dropped me off at Claire's mothers house on the Makah Reservation. I was going to accompany her, along with the other imprints to the café Colleen agreed to meet us at. Emily was actually friends with Colleen's Aunt Betty. Betty was the one who had set up this meeting for us. She did not know about the wolves or imprinting, but she knew she could trust Emily and that was enough for her.

"Claire, how are you?"

"Nessie," she yelled as she leapt into my arms. "I missed you."

"Me, too. Are you ready to go?"

"Yup."

"Just one thing, Renesmee. Please make sure to bring Claire back in one hour. She has a play date to go to." Her mom called to me from the kitchen of their house.

"No, problem. We won't be going far, just down the street to the café for breakfast." That was the official story for her mother anyway. A special breakfast just to catch up. She knew we had hung out last year at La Push, with Jacob and Quil, but had never met me, so my current progressed age and appearance were not alarming to her. Claire had simply accepted my rapid growth long ago, children were unquestioningly innocent like that.

This was perfect, having to return Claire in only an hour meant we could talk to Colleen and then excuse ourselves without any hassle. Claire would not be privy to hearing anything she was not ready for yet. Quil would be happy. He was going to have to explain things to her someday, but he probably had at least another decade to figure out what he was going to say.

It was early in the morning, when we arrived and the café was virtually empty, save for the few employees and ourselves.

Colleen seemed a little nervous meeting everyone. But I think meeting with Claire and myself really helped her settle down. A five year old little girl and 13 year old teenager were the exact opposite of threatening. She was still anxious meeting all of us, but it was a public space after all, so she hopefully wouldn't feel too overwhelmed.

After we all sat down and ordered some food, Colleen was the first to speak. "So, my Aunt Betty said you wanted to talk to me about something important, but she didn't mention what it was."

"Yes, thank you for meeting with us. My name is Emily and this is my husband Sam" She said while showing Colleen a picture of him on her cell phone. And this is Rachel and Paul," she continued as Rachel showed her a picture of him. She did the same for Kim, Claire and me as we each held up pictures, for her, of Jared, Quil, and Jacob respectively.

"Ok, so you all have pictures of guys on your phone, so?" Well, Claire didn't have a phone, but brought a picture of Quil with her, instead.

"Yes, I was just getting to that. We would like you to look at one more picture, but first there are some things we need to talk to you about. Claire would you like to go first?"

"Yes I would," She seemed very happy that she got to go first. "My Quil is the most wonderful person in the whole wide world. He is my best friend. We love each other soooooo much. We play Barbie's, and dress up, and fairy princesses, watch cartoons, and play tag, and so much more. He is awesome."

"Thank you Claire, that was very good." Emily smiled at her just as our food arrived.

"Well, that's great that this little girl has some pervert guy hanging out with her all the time. Why don't you just call the police? What do you think I am going to do about it?" Colleen whispered to Emily too low for Claire to hear, but I still could with my enhanced half-vampire hearing. She had looked rather uncomfortable hearing Claire speak.

"You misunderstand. Quil has an innocent platonic love for Claire. He would never do anything to her that would cause her harm in any way. He is her protector. He cares for her, looks after her, helps raise her. He is her best friend." Then she added in a whisper, "Someday they may be more, but not until she has grown up."

"That is gross. You people are weird. I think I should leave." Colleen started to get up.

"No, please let us explain. There is this thing that happens to some of the guys from the La Push Reservation. It is called imprinting. It is sort of, this kind of ancient tribal magic. I know it sounds strange but I assure you it is real and is how a lucky few members of the tribe find there soul mates." Kim explained.

"Quil imprinted on me when I was two years old. He has been my best friend ever since. We do everything together." Claire added.

"Nessie, here," Kim added gesturing over to me, "was imprinted on by Jacob when she was just a baby."

"It's true. At first he was like a nanny, feeding me my bottle and stuff, then as I got older he became my playmate, and now he is my best friend and buddy." I left out how that all happened just over the past two years. This was probably weird enough for her already without adding my accelerated growth rate into it. "There is nothing _inappropriate_ about our current relationship, I assure you."

"But you expect that to change in the future?" Colleen asked me.

"Um, Claire, why don't we go take a potty break?" Rachel said grabbing her hand and practically dragging her from the table. Thank goodness. Claire was not suppose to hear this part of Imprinting, yet.

"When I grow up, that would be my decision. We could just remain friends, similar to how we are now or become something more; similar to what Emily, Kim and Rachel have. Emily and Sam are married, Kim and Jared are in a committed relationship, and Rachel and Paul just had their first child together last year. But no matter what I decide, Jacob is wonderful. He would never force me into anything I didn't want, but I could never see myself being without him. He would always be in my life somehow. He has only had, and forever will have, only my best interests at heart."

"It's part of the imprinting." Kim added in. "None of them could or ever would want to hurt us, in anyway. They would be hurting themselves even more, by doing so."

"Hey, guys. We are back." Rachel announced loudly so everyone would here, bringing Claire back to the table. "But I think Claire and Nessie have to get going now. Claire told me she has a very exciting play date to go to."

"Oh, you are right. Claire it's getting late, we need to get you home." I said as I rose from the table and gave the remaining imprints some goodbye hugs. I hope things start improving in the conversation once we leave. I would hate to let Embry down. "It was nice meeting you Colleen. I hope to see you again in the future."

Once I walked Claire home I called Jacob. He was just a few blocks away visiting with Emily's family. When he came to pick me up I showed him a replay of everything that had happened using my gift.

"The rest of them are still there talking to Colleen. Emily, Kim, and Rachel will do fine. I have complete confidence in them."

"Let's hope so. It didn't seem to get off to the best start." Jacob said. He looked sad. Was he really that worried about Embry?

"Jacob, they will convince her, I am sure of it. Embry will be with his imprint."

"I know Nessie, you did a great job. I don't know how much Claire helped though. It seemed like Colleen was worried you guys wanted to abduct her into some weird cult." He laughed a bit, but I could tell something was bothering him.

"Don't worry, the girls know what they are doing it will work." He was not even looking at me. What was going on? This was more than being worried about Embry. "Jacob, what else is wrong?"

"Um . . . did you mean what you told her? That you might not . . . choose me? No, don't answer that." He started backtracking and talking very fast, "I shouldn't have asked you. It's your choice and whatever you decide will be the right one. Just being in your life, in some way is all I would ever need."

"Oh, my Jacob, I love you. You know that. And you will always be my Jacob. I only said that so that Colleen would know that she had a choice. That we were not forcing Embry on her. That would be the one sure way to get her running away from him. Taking a person's choices away pretty much guarantees they will pick almost any other option, if they can."

"You will always have a choice with me Nessie."

"I know. Do you wish you had a choice, Jacob?"

"No, and I don't need one. Why would I want to be without my soul mate. People go their entire lives just trying to find what I already have. There is no one, on this planet, more perfect for me than you. Just being near you makes me happy."

"I feel the same way," I smiled back at him.

It was a bit strange though. I always accepted Jacobs love for me. But he did not have a choice. And didn't I just say how normal people tend to fight when they are not given a choice? And look what happened between Embry and Colleen. She hated him. Yes, it was partially his fault, but even when she yelled at him, all he seemed to think about was how lovely her voice sounded. It seemed more than a little bewildering.

But, then again, I have seen the other side of imprinting; when everything worked as it should. I saw the results of the imprinting magic with Paul and Rachel, Sam and Emily, and Jared and Kim. I saw how happy it made them. And they were truly happy. There was no need to doubt Jacob's love for me, I saw it every day, in everything he did. I know how he was happier being with me than he had been before I was born. I was his soul mate. And like he said, who would not want to be with their soul mate?

...

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear what you think.


	23. Summer Developments

**Year Three, Chapter Twenty-Three**

 **Summer Developments**

Jacob's Point of View

I'm not sure what it was, but this summer Nessie's aroma was even more amazing than it normally was. It was the same bouquet of honeysuckle and vanilla she always had, but it was somehow . . . intensified.

Maybe it was just one of those changes that came with her aging. That would be amazing, if the older she got over the next couple of years, the better and stronger her natural, beautiful fragrance became. And not in a bad way, like a vampire, either. I couldn't get enough of her scent right now, as it was, damn she smelled good.

I wonder if she was smelling this good to everyone or if it was just me? She smelled so good and it seemed incredibly strong to me. I mean I knew I could smell it, but was that because I was wolf? And did that mean that all wolves could smell her (if they were here), or just me because of the imprint? Could her family smell the increase in her scent? What about Nahuel, would he notice it when he returned? _That_ thought made me mad. Things were going to go from bad to worse between the two of us. I didn't want him close enough to smell her.

That got me thinking about other boys, teenage boys. I wonder if human boys would be able to smell her. How would I be able to keep all of those discussing, horny teenage boys away from her? She was just a kid, no matter how incredibly smart she was, but was starting to look older and older. Okay she barely looked like a teenager, but still this would not be good.

Wait. What is wrong with me? Why am I even thinking this? She doesn't even see boys. She is basically stuck at home all day. There are no boys around her. I need to calm down. There is nothing to worry about. Her smell changed, that was it.

But a week later I found out just how much things were about to change.

Nessie looked to be about 14 years old, so I guess it should not have been so much of a surprise to me, but it was. Her family and I were not entirely sure it would even happen. No one had asked Nahuel if he knew what went on regarding his sisters.

She had been out shopping, with Alice, all morning, which I knew she enjoyed. I missed her, but I knew she needed the occasional girl time without me. And she wanted to start picking out her own clothes and not just wear whatever Alice bought her.

When Nessie and Alice came home she dropped her bags at the door, and walked right past me. That was strange. Normally she came over to me first thing, for a hug, when we have been away from each other for any significant amount of time. But today she went over to Bella, with a strange expression on her face. It was a weird mix of happiness and . . . worry? Did something happen? I knew it, some stupid teenage boys must have smelled her amazing new scent and did or said something _inappropriate_. If they even made her uncomfortable I wound need to _find_ them. I should never have let her out of my sight.

Then her smell hit me. It wasn't the same one that I had been overwhelmed by the previous week, or even this morning. Oh god, is she changing again? Did her expressed growth speed up even more? I thought it had been slowing down. I was barely able to keep up with her rapid growth spurts as it was.

"How was shopping honey?" Bella asked from across the kitchen. She had made me some lunch and was just washing the dishes. I had told her she didn't need to, but she insisted.

"Nessie has some big news Bella." Alice was jumping up and down and looked ridiculously happy. I guess there wasn't any guys I needed to pummel at least. Maybe it was just a fashion emergency, or something.

"It was great, mom. First we went to the shoe store and I found the cutest pair of ballerina flats and these brown fringe boots."

"That's nice dear. Anything else?"

"Of course mom. I needed to replace my entire wardrobe. I grew again and nothing fits me. Anyway I'll show you everything I'm my room later if you're really interested, but after we left the shoe store we went looking for clothes, but we had to make a detour first." Then her voice dropped to a whisper, not that it stopped me from hearing what she said nest. "We had to go to the convenience store so I could buy some tampons. I got my period mom, isn't that . . . great!"

I half choked on the sandwich I was eating, hearing that.

"Are you okay Jacob?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, sorry Nessie. Um, how are you feeling? I remember my sisters' going though that a bit, um, and I guess it can be . . . um, . . . uncomfortable?" Man I didn't want to be having this conversation but I wanted to make sure Nessie wasn't in any pain. I couldn't stand it if she was hurting. "Do you need some aspirin or chocolate, or, um, . . . a heating pad?"

"Jake, why don't you go for a run and get some air for a while? I think I can handle this." Bella was a life saver. But I needed to know Nessie was okay first.

"Mom's right." she seemed a bit embarrassed as she spoke, "I'm fine, And this is more of a woman thing, if you don't mind? I would like to talk to my mom . . . _alone_?"

She stressed the last word. I guess I could go. She clearly did not want to talk about this in front of me. I knew she was in good hands with Bella, she was her mother after all. It just hurt every time I was away from her.

"Alright sweetheart. I'll see you in a bit." I said to her as I went over to her, placed a kiss on the top of her head and left out the back door.

I needed to think about things and clear my head. In under a second I had phased into a wolf and was off running through the forest.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

Today was a turning point in my life. I finally began menstruating! Okay so "finally" wasn't exactly the right word, I was not even three yet.

I was glad that Jacob was okay with leaving me for a bit, while I talked to my mother. I know he hated being away from me, but this was not something I could do with him. No matter how amazing he was it was just not something I wanted to talk with him about. But it was not like it was going to stay a secret. He could probably smell it as soon as I entered the house. I saw the look on his face when I walked past him.

I understand most girls do not enjoy getting their period, but it was different for me. I know I am not normal. My body and mind grow so fast, but my mind has always been so much farther ahead of my body's it was nice that my body was catching up. Finally my body was growing into that of a woman's. My mind had developed to where it was somewhat comparable with an adult, over a year prior, just after my first birthday. It was hard to decipher exactly with my having not only an eidetic memory, but also advanced reasoning and understanding from, well, even before my birth.

It seems that so many new possibilities are open up to me now. I feel like I had wasted so much time waiting for my body to catch up with my mind. I cannot wait to take this next step in my life.

"Renesmee honey, is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"Just a couple of things, mom. Aunt Alice went over the basics, which I had already read in Grandpa's medical books. And I was able to figure out the tampons from the instructions on the box."

"Yeah, sorry about that kid, no tampons in my day, not that I actually remember my day anyway." Aunt Alice laughed. I was glad she could actually joke about the fact that she had no memories of her human life. I don't think I could be so glib about it. But she always seemed to make the best of everything.

"I was wondering if everyone in the family is going to be okay with me here?"

"What do you mean, why wouldn't we be okay?"

"Bella, I think she is worried about the blood. But you have nothing to worry about Nessie. It's not the same, and it is defiantly not appealing to us at all. Could you imagine Jasper trying to step one foot inside of a high school where at any one time, up to one quarter of the female population had their periods."

I had never thought of that. It made sense though. "That's a relief."

"So honey, I know you told Jake you were fine, but are you in any pain or discomfort?"

"No, mom, I wasn't lying just to make Jacob feel better. I feel fine. I remember reading how menstruation is normally accompanied my cramps and other things, but I have not experienced anything out of the ordinary. But I will keep you informed if there are any changes."

"Alright darling. Do you have any other questions for me?"

"Not currently. Would you like to see all of the new clothes we bought? Alice insisted we get some pretty bras too. I love them; the lacy ones are so pretty."

"Alice, you bought my daughter bras?" Mom did not seem happy. I guess that was supposed to be a mother - daughter thing.

"Oh, calm down Bella, I also got her some training bras for now. She should start getting use to them, even if she doesn't need real ones yet. The others can stay in her drawer until she does. I bought a bunch of different sizes, just to be ready, when the time comes. And if she got her period today, she will need them soon enough."

…

Jacob's Point of View

The guys in Nessie's family seemed to all suddenly need to go and hunt the same night she got her first period. They asked me if I wanted to go with them, claiming it was just a guys night out. I found the timing a bit suspicious but thought about going anyway. Nessie ended up asking me to stay with her, and since I can't say no to her, I stayed.

They had been gone for a couple of days now. Bella and the rest of the ladies stayed home. They said they didn't have a problem with Nessie having her period. I had been worried about that, the whole blood issue. I'm always concerned about her safety, not that I thought her family would ever hurt her, but it still worried me. But Bella had assured me that it was different and not a problem.

So, I was left wondering why Edward and the rest of the guys felt the need to leave. Actually I don't think Edward was dealing very well with the latest physical change in his daughter and might have just needed some time to regroup. Edward could have moped just as easily around here, but he probably left so Nessie wouldn't see how upset he was. He didn't want her to grow up any faster than I did.

Then again maybe it was something else, entirely. I guess I would find out eventually . . . maybe.

Meanwhile, Nessie's scent had returned to normal. I wonder if, with her accelerated growth she also had faster or shorter periods? I thought my sisters had them for like 4-5 days, not 1-2. Not that I paid that much attention, it just seemed that way to me.

I was not sure where Edward and the others went but it seems that they were out of cell phone range, or were just not answering them. Bella, Blondie and the others decided they missed their guys and left just after I had breakfast this morning to go find them and bring them back. That meant Nessie and I had the house to ourselves. We were going to have a special movie night tonight.

It was not very often that the house was completely empty. But whenever it was, we would stay up late, act silly, put on the most ridiculous _supernatural_ movies we could find, and make fun of them. It was not really something that the rest of the family enjoyed. They were always too serious, except of course Emmett. Occasionally, if he was also home, he would join us, but he preferred spending his nights with Rose. I couldn't really blame him. Even if I have not had any of those desires since I imprinted I still remember the feeling.

Movie night seemed to be one of the only times Nessie let her guard down and allowed herself to be carefree and comical. She seemed to act more like her physical age on our special movie nights. I am not sure if she really liked it or if she was doing it just for me, but I loved it, and I loved her even more for sharing it with me. I truly think she liked it as much as me, though.

Everything was all set for tonight. I had a stack of DVD's picked out, ironically from the families own movie collection, well Emmett's collection. We order a few different kinds of pizzas, knowing I would probably eat most of them. Nessie had hunted earlier in the day, since she preferred animal blood to human food. That's fine, more for me.

Around 9pm, we where somewhere into the middle of the second movie. The movie room was windowless, giving it a real theater feel, and it made it easier to see the screen better. Since we never turned the lights on in this room (come to think of it I wasn't sure this room actually had lights), the only illumination in the room was coming from the TV screen, but I could still see a devilish look in her eyes. I knew that look, she was planning something. But what?

"Jacob, what's that?" she questioned rather un-innocently, while her fingers started roaming over my shirt.

"What honey?" Did I spill some pizza on myself? Just as I looked down, she started tickling me. I knew it. The little devil.

Her hands were everywhere, tickling me unmercifully. Then they slipped under my shirt, she lifted it up and blew a huge raspberry on my stomach. That was it, I couldn't help it. I was laughing hysterically and couldn't do anything to stop her. She was planting raspberry after raspberry first on my stomach and then up to my ribs and she was still going. I never realized I was so ticklish. And could not stop laughing.

Then I felt something different. What was she doing now. That wasn't more raspberries.

"Um, Nessie? What are you doing?" Was she kissing my chest?

"Huh? Is something wrong my Jacob?" She only stopped briefly to ask her question then continued, again.

Oh God! Wrong does not even being to explain it. She just looked too young still. I know she was mentally a lot older than the 14 physical years she portrayed, but it still seemed inappropriate.

"Nessie, could you stop for a minute. I think we need to talk about this."

"Talk about what?" Kiss. "You're my Jacob." Kiss. "You imprinted on me." Kiss. "We belong together." Kiss. "End of story." Then she finally stopped and sat up. "Did I miss something?"

"Nessie what you just said is true, but there is more to it than that. We can't BE together like that."

"Why not? I love you and you love me. Don't you? Is it because I'm not a member of one of the tribes? Your imprint with me is different then, isn't it? You don't feel that way about me?" Her face fell as soon as she asked and she looked hurt. I hurt my imprints feelings. I could not bear to see her sad and upset. I needed to fix this and quickly. Just not in the way she wanted. I hoped she would understand.

"No honey that's not it. Nessie, you know I love you." She smiled. Okay, good start. "But you're too young . . . physically."

"But I thought…" she began.

What, what did she think?

" . . . since I finally started menstruating…" she continued.

Oh no!

" . . . that was the sign you have been waiting for. You said you were waiting for me, so we could be together."

A sign that I have been waiting for? I haven't been waiting for anything. If anything I would love nothing better than if her growth would slow down even more than it had, so she could enjoy her childhood longer.

I thought back. Where was she getting this? What was she talking about? Of course the talk about Bella and my past, in the garage with Rose.

"Nessie, we are together. And when the time is right we can be together . . . _in that way_ . . . if you still want to. Just not yet."

Wait, how long had she been thinking like this? I didn't feel that way yet about her. I always assumed that if she ever started having feelings for me, albeit I always thought I had a few more years to wait, but I thought I would start having the same feelings for her. Wasn't that how imprinting worked? Maybe Nessie was right, our imprinting was different. What if we were not suppose to end up together? No, I don't want to think like that, anyway it was her decision and I could be happy with whatever she picked.

"Nessie, honey, I don't think either of us are really ready yet." I continued. "You still have a lot of growing to do, physically. Getting your period was just the beginning of a whole bunch of changes you are about to go through. I know you have read Carlisle's medical books, and I am sure Bella has talked to you about this so I know you know what I'm talking about.

She looked shocked by what I said. "Jacob, is that what is wrong. I didn't think you were so superficial."

What, she lost me.

"Just because my breasts have not developed…"

"NO, Nessie," I practically shouted, "that's not it." I cut her off right there. And took a deep breath. Calm down, getting worked up is not going to help. "Well it's not that, exactly." Oh, this was awkward.

I needed to take more deep breaths.

"Renesmee, although your mind has been equal with an adults for awhile now, yes, you still look like a young girl. It's very hard for me to get my mind around that. I don't want to upset you. And you know I love you. I don't want to hurt you though. It's just . . . when I look at you I get very confused sometimes. I don't have a crazy, advanced vampire mind. Yes you mostly act 30, but look 14, and have only been alive for less than 3 years. It's incredibly confusing for my slow human brain." I tried smiling to help diffuse some of the tension.

"So that is what is really bothering you, Jacob? That I still look like a little girl? Because I don't act like one, I don't feel like one, and I certainly don't think like one."

"I know, on some level that you are mentally more adult than child, but I can't ignore what my eyes see when I look at you, I am SO sorry Nessie. Can't you wait, even a few of years? Please, just a few, you can catch up physically and I can catch up mentally." I was pleading now, great. "That's not so long, when you think about it, when we have forever together, right?"

"You're right, Jacob. Of course I can wait." She signed with a weak smile on her face. I could tell she was going along with me, but was still disappointed. I hated making my imprint upset, but this was one time I just couldn't give her what she wanted. Not yet anyway.

We decided to finish watching the movie and then called it a night. The entire time Nessie kept reassuring me that she understood but how was this not going to be awkward? We still slept in the same bed every night. Could we go back to that comfortable ignorant bliss?

I got my answer fairly quickly. When the movie finished Nessie grabbed my hand, leading me to bed. She climbed in, practically dragging me along with her and nestled herself by my side like she always did. Within minutes I heard her breathing change and knew she was asleep.

I'm not sure if I actually slept myself. My mind kept replaying the night's events. Would things really be okay between us? I hoped so.


	24. Repercussions

**Year Three, Chapter Twenty-Four**

 **Repercussions**

Jacob's Point of View

As the sun rose the morning after the . . . um . . . _movie incident,_ I knew Nessie was still asleep. Almost the entire night was spent replaying our time together, over the past few weeks, in my head. Had I missed some sign that she was feeling differently? I couldn't think of anything. What had I missed? After awhile I would switch back to thinking about everything that happened last night; her ticketing me, touching me, kissing me. No. No. No.

Then I heard what I had been dreading. The front door opened, the family rushed in, and the door . . . _slammed_ closed. Oh, god! They're back. I should have been more careful. Edward might have heard my thoughts. But who was I kidding? It was inevitable that he would find out. A second later Edward and Bella were at our bedroom door. I guess he did. CRAP!

Edward just looked at me, (not a good look) and gestured, with his head, to follow him.

As I disentangle myself from Nessie I try to pep myself up. I did nothing wrong. Everything was perfectly innocent, well on my part, anyway. A growl came from Edward as I thought that. Okay, I needed to brace myself. Edward was probably not going to try and actually kill me, but I should prepare myself for anything. What did he hear me thinking about exactly? It wasn't that bad was it?

I ended up following Bella and Edward into Carlisle office. That made sense. His office was far away from all of the main rooms of the house and everyone's bedrooms. With the extra soundproofing no one would hear us talk, scream, fight . . . Or whatever they planned to do to me.

"Relax Jacob, I am not going to kill you, . . . yet." Edward began. "I would not want to break anything in here."

Was that a slight smirk I saw on his face? I know he must have been upset seeing what went on last night, but was he a least trying to have a sense of humor about it? That could be a good sign.

"Okay, both of you. What is going on?" Bella interrupted.

"It seems our little Renesmee believes she is all grown up." Edward seethed, glaring at me.

Okay so I guess his good mood was over. Maybe I was wrong and he was not hinting at a smile before. Probably not.

"What? She is a child! . . . What . . . did . . . you . . . do?" Bella fumed. She started inching closer to me. Her hands were pressed tightly into fists. Oh no, not good. I had no desire to get into a fight with her.

"Nothing happened, Bella. You know me, you trust me, right? You know I would never do anything . . ." I start stammering and backing away slightly. It felt like I was right back at the house in Forks, right after Nessie was born, and Bella first learned I imprinted on her daughter. She had that same terrifying, deadly look in her eyes.

"It's alright, Bella. He didn't do anything."

"You're ONE HUNDRED percent sure?" She questioned Edward. I could understand that I guess, I had been less that . . . _gentlemanly_ with her, in the past.

Edward just nodded back to her, but I could hear a slight growl coming from him. That was probably my fault, thinking of my past with Bella never made him too . . . happy.

"So what did happen then?" She still seemed angry, but not at me, exactly.

Edward gave her a replay of the nights events that he saw in my mind when he first came home.

"What am I going to do? I am not ready for this, I can't do this, I thought I had more time. . ." I started rambling as I sunk in one of Carlisle's chairs and literally start banging my head on his desk. This is not good. I'm going to turn into some sort of pedophile.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Jacob. You did nothing wrong." Edward was actually trying to make me feel better now?

"Sure, sure. So any bright ideas on what I I am going to do?"

"Renesmee is very intelligent. You explained to her why you could not have THAT type of relationship with her right now. Perhaps that was all that was needed." Edward answered.

"Jake don't beat yourself up over this. It will work out. I know you two will be together, as a couple, when the time is right." Bella added in.

"Could you tell me what was she has been dreaming about this morning?" I asked Edward. I didn't really like invading her privacy like this, but this is one time I thought it would be helpful to know, so I could be better prepared to deal with things in the future.

His face fell. "Since we have returned she's been replaying differing versions of the night. One version is the same one that I read in your thoughts, and I _assume_ is what really happened, where you tell her that she is too young and another . . . where you . . . don't." He cringed when he said that.

He didn't elaborate on it but his face told me enough. I guess it would be weird as a parent actually watching their child fantasize about . . . errr . . . things.

"Great," was all I could reply.

"There is something else Jacob."

Do I want to hear this?

"I think you will. She was also dreaming about what you said last night. About how you needed to grow mentally and she needed to grow physically. It seems that that was the one thing you could have said to get her to stop her _plans_ , for now. She understood where you were coming from, because she is constantly having to wait to grow physically, herself, to be able to accomplish certain things. And if you needed time to grow mentally it was the least she could do to give it to you."

"That is a relief." I sighed.

"Jacob, I agree with some of that, but I also think she needs to grow more physically AND mentally. While she believes she is mature enough to handle . . . _things_ , I do not. I am worried about what is going to happen between the two of you, because of the imprint. There is no way to tell how soon your feelings towards her are going to change, now that hers have."

"Jake, maybe it's time you move into your own room, for a little while. Like, for the next few years, or so?" Was Bella kidding me?

"Bella's right. This might be for the best until things . . . settle down between the two of you."

"What about her nightmares?"

"I have been watching and I don't believe they are that bad anymore. If something happens, Bella or I can try calming her down. If that doesn't work, you will still be nearby . . . as a last resort."

"No, don't split us up. Don't take me away from her. You can't." I didn't mean to, but a slight growl escaped. That was not going to help. I needed to calm down and talk rationally.

I took some deep breaths before starting again. "I can't live without her, you know that." Why were they doing this to me. I did the right thing, I said NO, even though it hurt me to disappoint her and make her sad in any way. Why were they trying to punish us?

"We're not trying to punish you Jacob. You will still see her during the day. It's just at night, but you will be close by. Your rooms are right next to each other."

"I know, it's just not the same." I turned to look at Bella now. "You know what I am talking about. How would you have liked it if someone told you that you couldn't sleep next to Edward when you were still human."

"This is different Jake, I was older."

"And we have been together since she was a toddler."

"Yes but you know things have changed, she is growing up. She changed the dynamic between the two of you last night.

"Oh come on, first she's too young, now she's too old, which one is it?"

"That's just the thing Jake; she's in those impressionable and confusing middle years." Bella began.

"We are her parents, it's our job to protect her." Edward continued.

"I WOULD NEVER . . . " I started to scream. How dare he insinuate something like that.

"From _herself_ , Jake. We need to protect her from herself." Bella sighed, attempting to calm me down.

"Jacob, you're like a son to me. This is as much for your benefit as it is hers. I don't want you to be forced into anymore awkward situations either. You should not have to deal with that. Bella and I really should have put a stop to the two of you sleeping in the same bed together over a year ago." Edward went on. "I had been listening to both of your thoughts, sporadically, waiting for any sign that this might happen, but heard nothing to indicate something like this, from either of you."

What? He had been listening for this? Already? She is only two, or fourteen. Well, sort of thirty, mentally, like she said, I guess.

"I am sorry, she caught me completely off guard."

I couldn't hear anymore. I just turned and left. I would leave it to them to break it to Nessie. Edward would hear me thinking this and know to talk to her, himself. I just couldn't. If he wanted it to be like this he would have to do it himself. I couldn't hurt her like that. She would be upset. I know it. Probably not as much as me, though. That was my one consolation. But I would be there for her. I could still tuck her into her bed every night, kiss her forehead and then go to _my_ room. Ha, I have never actually slept there.

I don't know, maybe Bella and Edward were right.

But it was only temporary. I hoped. Yes, it would only be temporary. I just started chanting over and over in my head.

…

As expected Nessie did not take the news of our sleeping apart too well when Bella and Edward told her.

She cried for over an hour and later that night when I tucked her in and tried to get up to leave she would not let go of my arm. Eventually Bella had to come in. She ended up crawling into bed beside her and stayed with her until she fell asleep. At least she did not wake up screaming from one of her nightmares.

I spent the entire night in _my_ room just staring at the door that separated mine from Nessie's room . . . my former room, where my heart still was. I couldn't sleep. Would I ever be able to again? Probably, eventually, but not very well, not until I was back where I belonged.

The weeks dragged on, we were both like walking zombies, in the beginning. But things started to get better. We stated spending more and more time together in the daytime. I had been spending some of my time with Rose working on cars in the garage, but I either took Nessie with me there now every time or didn't go at all.

After a few weeks, Nessie seemed to adjust to sleeping without me with her. And as she started to feel better, so did I. I guess that was due to the imprint. Whatever, as long as that meant she was happy, or at least less depressed. I was happy to see that her nightmares hadn't returned, at least. I guess all she needed was time.

She also, thankfully, made no further attempts to _advance_ our relationship. I was a bit worried she was only humoring me and temporarily dropping the issue, for a short time. Maybe she was planning on waiting until neither Edward or I were expecting anything and dropped our guard, (not that I was on guard around Nessie), and then charge, but she seemed to have genuinely dropped the _subject_ , for now at least. She said she would wait until I was ready, and it seemed she meant it.

….

"Come on Jake, we're going to be late," Nessie shouted to me. She had practically leapt out of the car and ran to the entrance of the carnival.

We had decided to go see if the traveling carnival, that had set up on the outskirts of a . . . well a, very non-nearby town, was any good. I could see why Nessie was so excited. She had never been to anything like this before. Well, there had never been anything, around us, like this before. They, this one, or one just like it, would pass through some of the bigger towns in Washington every few years, but this was the first one that had come through since Nessie had been born.

"All right, wait up, I'm coming." I called back to her as I locked the Rabbit and jogged over to her.

"Jacob let's go in the hall of mirrors first."

"Nessie just a second, I think we need to buy tickets first for the attractions." As we were getting into the tickets line I heard a little kids voice. Well, there were little kids everywhere, but this was different and could mean trouble.

"Nessie? Nessie?" There was a little girl running over to us, with a woman, who I assumed was her mother.

Nessie grabbed my hand and showed me with her gift the same little girl playing with Nessie at the park. The little girl looked around three years old, just a bit younger than she looked today. She might be almost five, now. The memory Nessie was showing me must have been from less than two years ago. But I saw through Nessie's gift that she herself looked to be around seven back then. It was the middle of August now and Nessie looked somewhere around 15 years old.

"What do you want to do?" I was starting to get uneasy. This could potentially be a huge problem. It wasn't just the little girl I was worried about, it was the mother. Nessie had showed me her in the memory as well. It was from back when Esme thought Nessie needed lessons on how to act more human, so she took her to some park during the day while everyone else was at school, and had her play with other little kids. I don't know why she thought it was necessary. Nessie was half-human and a natural. She didn't need lessons to act human. But I never said anything back then. It meant Nessie could get out of the house for a bit, and she enjoyed that. I knew she didn't like being cooped up at the house all of the time. But now it was coming back to bite us, I knew it was too good to be true, having her go out of the house, in public, while she was growing so fast. It was just asking for trouble.

" _Calm down, Jacob. I've got this."_ She smiled at me. She must have seen how nervous I felt.

"Nessie, is that you? How did you get so big?"

"Um, hi, I'm sorry but I think you have me confused with my little sister, Vanessa. She's seven years old." She was going to pretend to be her own older sister. It might work.

"I'm sorry my daughter is bothering you." She was about to drag her daughter away when she got a good look at Nessie. "Wow, you do look just like your sister."

"Well we are related, so I would hope we looked somewhat similar. What is your name, sweetie?" I knew she was trying to take attention off of herself and redirect it to the little girl, but that seemed a bit dangerous. We should just get out of here as quickly as possible, before any more people start recognizing her. What would we do if someone else saw her from another point, like 6 months ago, when Nessie looked like a 12 year old. This could get a lot worse. And I don't think they would believe one family had three incredibly beautiful sisters who all eerily resembled each other.

"I'm Emma. Why hasn't Nessie come to play at the park anymore?" She looked really sad that her friend was gone.

"Oh, you're Emma, Nessie talked about you all of the time. I remember she told me that you were the bravest girl on the swings. She said that you would swing so high and jump off from the very top, and were never scared. Is that true?"

Emma didn't seem to notice that Nessie never answered her question, she was so happy that Nessie called her brave.

We needed to leave, but Nessie was getting more and more involved in her conversation with Emma. We need to get out of here, but I can't exactly try to get her attention by calling her "Nessie"? What can I call her, sweetheart, sweetie, honey, angel? They were all so innocent to us but could be misconstrued to a total stranger, and what with our physical age difference this could only get worse, for me anyway. She looked maybe 15, I looked 25, even if I was only 19, in reality, it was still legally a no-no area. I went with the most platonic option I could think of. "Um . . . Ren, it's time to go, it's getting late."

"Oh, my gosh, Jacob, your right." She played along, quickly glancing at the non-existent watch on my wrist. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so late. It was nice meeting you Emma, I will tell Nessie you said hi." She added while we briskly walked away.

Whew, that was close. I was pissed. How could Esme have been so careless with Nessie this past year, no matter how far away they traveled, she still exposed Nessie to so many people over and over again.

So, I knew I was being too hard on Esme, she only wanted what was best for Nessie, but something like this was bound to happen, revealing her rapid growth to humans. It was a constant battle I had myself, between keeping her safe and making her happy. They weren't always compatible.

I know Nessie wanted a normal life and to get out of the house from time to time. This was my fault too. I should have objected when I first found out about it, but it made Nessie so happy. Unfortunately if this happened once it probably would happen again. It was a good thing we were moving soon.


	25. New Hampshire

Year Four, Nahuel

Chapter 25, New Hampshire

Chapter 26, Embry's Court Date

Chapter 27, The Missed Birthday

Chapter 28, Rude Awakenings

Chapter 29, Unexpected Announcements

Chapter 30, Mating Questions

Chapter 31, Lots to Learn

Chapter 32, The Volturi Return

…

 **Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Five**

 **New Hampshire**

Jacob's Point of View

The Cullens were going to college in a couple of weeks. And we were going to be moving again.

I remember the day the letter from Dartmouth came for me last April. I had just come home from school and Nessie bounced up to me waving an envelope around in her hand. It was thin. I heard that was a bad sign. Rejection letters were thin, right? "We are sorry to inform you . . . bla . . .bla . . . bla . . ." how long did that need to be, really?

….

" _Jacob, open it. What are you waiting for?" Nessie looked so excited. I didn't want to disappoint her. I knew I was not as smart as the rest of her family, they all received their acceptance letters weeks ago. It must be nice having a super vamp brain. Well, at least I could give her some fun._

" _Here Nessie why don't you open it for me." I handed her the envelope that she quickly tore open._

" _I bet you got in, I just know it."_

" _You don't know that, sweetheart. Maybe its best you don't get your hopes up. And besides I have a stack of acceptance letters from schools nearby that I DID get into." Okay so they were mostly community colleges, but that still counted, right?_

" _Congratulations Mr. Black . . ." Nessie started reading but I stopped listening after Congratulations._

 _I actually got in? How was that possible? I assumed Edward must have done something,_ _he seemed pretty confident that I would get into Dartmouth all along._ _I still didn't believe for a second that I actually gotten in on my own._

" _. . . you will receive a packet containing the relevant paperwork, that will be accompanying this letter, within the next week or two. Sincerely, Dartmouth College Admissions." Nessie finished reading._

" _Congratulations Jacob." The entire family was around me giving pats on the back and some hugs from Bella and Rose. When did everyone get here?_

" _Edward did you have anything to do with this? There is no point in you throwing your money at the school and buying my way into it, just so we all could be together at the same place. If I'm not smart enough to get in on my own how do you expect me to stay there? I'll just end up flunking out."_

" _Jacob, I assure you I had nothing to do with your acceptance letter. You did this all on your own. But I have a feeling it may have something to do with the essay you wrote."_

" _My essay?" I was confused. He never read it, wait, of course he would have, he would have heard it in my head as I was working on it. But how was that impressive? "I just wrote about life on the res, our legends, and well, protecting the tribe and stuff. I had to edit around the wolf stuff. But why was that seen as anything special."_

" _Jake, I am guessing you were not aware that Dartmouth was originally_ _founded as a school to educate_ _Native Americans, it's even part of its official charter_ _." Rose informed me. "It currently graduates more Native Americans then most other Ivy League schools combined."_

 _I know she was trying to be nice but that did not make me feel better. It was just another reason why I did not really belong there. "So that's why I got in? I'm nothing more than just a statistic or quota, or whatever. Great."_

" _Jacob, you may not have been aware of the school's history and mission but others certainly were and just being of Native American ancestry does not guarantee someone their acceptance. You still had to get in with good grades and SAT scores." Jasper added._

" _Yeah, and the more Native Americans who apply there, the larger the percentage that gets rejected." Emmett was never as helpful as he tried to be._

 _Bella turned to me now. "Jake, who cares why or how you got in. You got in. The only thing that matters now is what you do while you are there. And we can all help you, if you need it."_

" _I guess you're right." I relented. "But I have a feeling I am going to need a lot of help."_

… _._

My father had been so proud of me when I told him. I waited until I saw him at my High School graduation. He drove, in his new truck, alone. I was a bid worried. It was a long journey, but we were still wary of caring any wolf scents to Hoodsport, and he made it okay. I wanted to let him know in person that I got into college, and an Ivy league school at that. And my graduation had been the first opportunity I had to see him.

But now it was time to go. Why was it taking me so long to pack? Oh right, I had actual things that needed to be packed carefully in boxes, like lamps, and clothes that I needed to fold and put in suitcases this time. Not just the few meager pieces I had not managed to destroy while phasing. We were not leaving for another couple of days, but I wanted to get as much out of the way as possible. I didn't want to be rushing and forget something.

Most of my clothes were already packed, except for what I would need in the next few days. All of my tools in the garage, along with Rosalie's, were already on their way to the new house. I had packed the framed photos Nessie got me for my 18th birthday along with almost everything else. The room was looking pretty empty, but I had one more thing that I needed to pack. I was saving it for last, and wanted to put it on top of the last box I packed; the Memory Box that my father made for me. It had contained several things when he gave it to me but since then I added the three pictures of my family I brought with me when I first moved in with the Cullens, among other things.

I would not be taking my Rabbit with me this time. Even after all the work Rose and I put into it, we were fighting a lost cause. We had been replacing one part after another, but it was a losing battle. And the replacement parts we were using were not in the best condition either. Sometimes we just ended up replacing one part with a slightly less broken version. I guess I could have put in a new engine that was meant for a different truck, but that kinda defeated the purpose, in my mind at least.

I also didn't want to take the chance of driving it to New Hampshire and having it die on the side of the road. I ended up having it towed to La Push. Someone there could use it, maybe sell it for parts or something when it finally died completely.

At least I still had the motorcycle that I rebuilt with Bella. I could take some comfort in that.

Edward had offered, _again_ to buy me a new car, truck or whatever I wanted, but I didn't feel right about that. He was already paying for my college tuition. He finally dropped the subject when I had at least agreed to continue using his Volvo. I had been driving it to Canada, every week for the past two years, to take Nessie hunting, and he was buying himself a new car anyway. However he took it one step further and transferred the Volvo's title into my name. Cheater!

I know I didn't want to leave, really. But we had to. We could not stay here anymore. This time when we left, it would be for good. There would be no more trips to La Push, no more surprise visits from my Pack, nothing. I would be cut off and alone.

Maybe I could still communicate with my Pack when I phased. We had tested the wolf telepathy range out to 300 miles, but never beyond that. Perhaps it could go farther. We never tried. Maybe it could go 3000 miles; all the way across the country to New Hampshire. Probably not. Why was I even getting my hopes up. I was just going to be disappointed.

Nessie, Nessie, Nessie. I just had to focus on her. I would be happy because I would be with her. I could adjust to being without everyone else.

…..

Renesmee's Point of View

Over the last two weeks my Aunts and Uncles had each driven one of the families cars back and forth to our new home, along with a trailer hooked to the back of each. We were not keeping the house in Hoodsport so they had taken most of the furniture, art, clothing etc… to Haverhill. It only took two days to make the journey from Washington to New Hampshire if one didn't have to stop for sleep, which of course they did not. I believe they would be making one last trip tomorrow.

My parents and grandparents had only driven out once. They left Washington a couple of days ago and arrived this morning while Jacob and I had been able to fly out yesterday. It was good that my parents had taken into consideration how uncomfortable it would be for us, Jacob especially, to be cooped up in the back seat of a car for almost 48 hours, and decided against it.

My mother had had to contact Mr. Jenks to get me new ID's so I could fly. I could not believe it when I opened up the envelope she gave me. I thought I was just getting a new passport and birth certificate but there was also I drivers license for an 18 year old Vanessa Wolfe. My mother explained that it would just make things easier if I was a legal adult on the paperwork. It was not like I knew how to drive, and I am not sure how many people would believe I was 18. I could barely pass for 15 right now, but I trusted her and didn't have any problems at the airport.

"I think it is a nice change that we won't all be living together this time. What do you think Jacob? Won't it be good to have more privacy?"

We were setting up our house which was conveniently located right next to the White Mountain National Forest and just off the highway to Hanover where everyone, except me, would be attending Dartmouth College. Since this house was across the country from our previous one nothing had been set up ahead of time. Everything was just dropped off so we still needed to move all of the furniture and everything else in and set it up.

"Nessie, I don't think there is any privacy in a house with your mind reading father."

"Yes, but he doesn't go around sharing everything he hears. Why, do you have a lot of thoughts you don't want anyone to know about? I chuckled.

"No, but it would just be nice not having to watch _all_ of my thoughts, _all_ of the time."

"I know, but if you don't think of something inappropriate then there is nothing that he can get upset at you for."

"Nessie, who is to say what is inappropriate? Why does Edward get to decide? I can't be responsible for every random thing I think, I am bound to have a stray thought now and then. And he has no right to judge me for them."

"He does not do that."

"Sure, sure." He rolled his eyes. "There will come a time, when he hears something he does not like from me . . . or you, and then you will see how little privacy we actually have."

I have a feeling he was thinking back to the incident this summer that led to our sleeping apart, but he didn't mention it. If I were to begin something again with Jacob, my father would be listening and . . . what? Stop us? Stop me from being with my soul mate? He must realize it is only a matter of time until Jacob and I are together.

We would be in New Hampshire for at least the next four years. I would be fully grown by the time we have to leave, he could not stop us then, surely.

"Well, maybe on our next move we can move into our own place."

Jacob dropped the lamp he was about to set on his nightstand, smashing it beyond repair. Oops.

"I should . . . um, go find a dustpan to clean this up." Jacob mumbled as he hurried out of the bedroom. Our rooms were once again next to each other with a large bathroom and even larger shared closet in between.

My parents bedroom was on the second floor of the house while ours were on the first. Even with the extra soundproofing that Esme had had installed once again, I think my parents were cognizant of not wanting Jacob or myself hearing them at night, and there room was as far away from ours as possible.

The house was nice, though much smaller than our previous place. Of course we didn't need a large house this time. The family was spread out in three different houses, all older Victorians that were common in this area. Our house had, in addition to our bedrooms, a kitchen and living room on the first floor, and my parents bedroom, a music/reading room and movie room upstairs. I have not had a chance to go over to Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme's house or my Aunts and Uncles house, but I am sure they were set up similarly. Each probably containing rooms specific to their favorite interests and decorated in their own styles as well.

"Jacob, there you are, what took you so long?" He had been gone for more than twenty minutes.

"Sorry Nessie, I . . . _had_ to have a quick chat with Bella and Edward." He said as he walked back into his room, empty handed.

"Is everything alright?"

"Sure, sure. They just wanted to talk to me about a few things and make sure everything was going okay settling into our new bedrooms." Of course they must have heard the lamp break.

"So, I guess you couldn't find a dustpan?" He looked confused before glancing at the broken remnants of the lamp on the floor. I had thrown the larger pieces in the trash but there were numerous smaller fragments scattered all over that part of the floor.

"Oh, I kinda forgot." Hmmm, maybe his talk with my parents wasn't as innocent as he implied.

"It's okay, why don't you continue unpacking while I go find one. It was probably my fault you dropped the lamp anyway."

"No, it wasn't. I don't want you to get upset but I had a _slight_ freak-out over what you said about us living together, four years from now. Not that I thought it was in any way a bad thing. It was just unexpected. And it's not that I wouldn't love to be _with_ you . . . when you're older and um . . . Anyway when I ran into Edward, he explained to me that your thoughts on the subject were purely innocent, and you were only thinking of my mental privacy."

"Jacob, it's alright. I told you I was not going to try anything to progress our relationship until we were both ready and I meant it. But I guess this does prove what you said about a person's thoughts not being their own around my father."


	26. Embry's Court Date

**Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Six**

 **Embry's Court Date**

Jacob's Point of View

This was not the third birthday Nessie deserved. She and I had been stuck sleeping on a plane all last night, before we picked up the rental car to drive the rest of the way to the Oregon courthouse for Embry's indecent exposure court hearing. It was not what I had envisioned, and I was pretty sure it was not what she wanted for her birthday. This time there was nothing I could do though. We planned on celebrating with her family when we returned to New Hampshire. It was the best I could do. For now I had to be there for Embry. This court, trial, hearing, _thing_ was expected to consume us for almost three days, what with the time it took flying across the country, then the hearing would take most of the day, as best as Alice could tell, and finally flying home. And Nessie refused to be away from me for that long.

Nessie's family had offered to get Embry some high priced lawyer but the reservation was technically its own sovereign nation, with its own laws, courts, judges and lawyers. It was customary to handle tribal matters and incidents regarding members internally. A bunch of the tribes lawyers, along with the council of elders, Sam, Leah and myself would be going down to petition the Oregon court that we should handle Embry's case back at La Push, or at the very least, that he serve out his sentence, whatever that may be, on the reservation.

"Happy Birthday Nessie." I said as we pulled up to the courthouse in the rental car.

"Jacob, you already wished me a happy birthday. Remember?"

"I know, I just thought I should say it again. And I am sorry. I promise I will make it up to you."

"Jacob, you have nothing to be sorry for. It isn't your fault we're here and this is much more important than a party. We can celebrate some other time."

We had been in the car for just over an hour. It had actually been a pleasant drive, despite the reason for the trip.

"So, do you know if Embry is bringing Colleen with him?" Nessie asked me. Her plan of getting the imprints to speak to Colleen and get her to at least talk to Embry had worked, sort of.

"No, she is staying on the Makah Res with her _boyfriend_." Colleen had agreed to come back to La Push after the breakfast she had with Nessie and the rest of the imprints and she met Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil and myself. After hanging out with all of the imprinted couples for the rest of the morning, we had asked her if she was ready to meet Embry again. She had been told about the imprinting during breakfast and had relaxed considerably. It still was a long road to get to where they were today however. But even just them being friends was so much better than nothing for Embry. "She probably would have come if Embry had asked her though, but he didn't want her to see him like that."

"That makes sense. They were having a hard enough time as it was, they don't need more things to complicate their relationship."

"What relationship?" I huffed. I know I always told Nessie that each imprint had a choice, that friendship would be enough if the imprint wanted it that way, but it had never happened before and I still held out hope for Embry and Colleen.

"Okay, so they only have a platonic relationship, right now. But you always told me that that would be enough, for you at least," Nessie said mirroring my own thoughts, "if that was what _I_ wanted. Were you lying?"

"Renesmee, I have never lied to you. You know I love you, and when you are _older_ I will still want to love you as much as you will let me. But if you only want to be friends, then that will have to be enough for me, because I can't lose you."

"Alright, so why then, do you seem upset when Embry and Colleen are trying so hard to make their _friendship_ work? Embry spent over a year in agony, now for the past three months he finally seemed happy. He may not be dating her, but they are together. And who knows what will happen in the future."

"I'm not upset, exactly. I just want what is best for him. For him to be as happy as possible. I see how happy Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim and Paul and Rachel are."

"But aren't we happy? And Quil and Claire? Don't you think they are happy?"

"Of course Quil and Claire are happy. And you are, right?"

"You know you make me perfectly happy, Jacob." After a minute of neither of us talking she changed the subject back a bit. "So, how is it working out between Embry, Colleen and her boyfriend?"

"I think it is going fairly well, mostly. Embry didn't like the idea of her dating to begin with, but he could hardly stop her. It is her choice and he wants her to be happy. But he did insist that he check out the guy first, though. They planned some casually meeting, over lunch one afternoon, so he could inspect the guy, without it being too obvious."

"What does this guy think of Embry? I would assume he might be jealous of some man hanging out with his girlfriend more than he does."

"Actually, from what I have seen in Embry's mind, the last time we were both phased before I left, it seems that he is under the impression that Embry is gay. Embry doesn't seem to mind and is actually encouraging that thinking. Embry thinks that if the guy sees him as a threat it might lead to either Colleen breaking up with the guy, or him breaking up with her, or if she really likes the guy, her telling Embry to take a hike. None of which would particularly make either of them happy."

"Well, I don't want Colleen to reject Embry again, but I don't think he should be lying to the guy. It will most likely end badly for everyone, that way. Is Colleen aware of what is going on?"

"I doubt it. And I already told Embry that he needs to come clean. He is technically not lying, he never told her boyfriend he was gay, he just never corrected him. He could not lie to Colleen, because of the imprint, even if he tried, but if this guy can't handle her being friends with Embry then maybe he is not the right guy for her."

We had just pulled up to the courthouse so we would have to pause this conversation for now.

"Where are we meeting everyone?"

"Just outside of Courtroom B, I think. The trial isn't suppose to start for another hour and the lawyers want to go over everything with the elders, Embry, Sam and myself one more time.

"Um, Jacob? I understand the lawyers wanting the elders here but, why you, Leah and Sam? I mean, I know it's because you and Sam are the Packs two Alphas, but what are you planning on telling the judge? And why Leah?" Nessie looked confused. Something that I rarely ever saw.

"The Quileute lawyers don't know that we're wolves either," I chuckled, "they are just showing some representatives of the tribe who will take responsibility of Embry if they release him into our custody. And you know how Leah is my second, it's only right she be here, since she has basically been running my Pack while I've been gone. Actually my entire Pack should be here. It's the last time we might see them and they insisted on coming to say goodbye one last time." It was saddening to think about. But I would have to deal with that later. I needed to be here for Embry now.

"The lawyers better be successful." I continued. "I don't like the thought of Embry being stuck in a jail cell. Just him being locked up for the 6, or so hours he was before we bailed him out was worrisome. He probably would not do well confined and away from Colleen for longer. I don't know how long he would be able to last before he lost it and phased."

"Don't think like that. He will be going home by the end of the day. I know it. We need to think positively. And if the worst case scenario happens, then Embry has a wonderful person waiting for him when he gets out, and maybe she could visit him. At the very least, going back to her gives him a reason to remain calm. It's not like when he first got arrested. They are together now, even if it is just as friends."

"I hope you are right, Nessie. I don't know what I would do if I was in his shoes, just the thought of being away from you sends shivers down my spine." I shrugged, actually feeling cold for a second. "Come on. Let's go find everyone."

….

Contrary to what we were hoping for the Oregon court actually tried his case there. But the outcome of the hearing was the best we could have wished for. It was Embry first offence so he was only sentenced to 200 hours of community service, with no jail time. After some back and forth between our lawyers, where they re-stressed how this was an internal tribal matter, and the judge who pointed out how the "incident" took place in Oregon not the reservation, the judge finally agreed to let him carry out his _sentence_ on the Reservation. There would be a lot of paperwork that would need to be filled out to document that he was actually fulfilling his 200 hours, but we could handle that.

Embry was so thankful. Just like us, he was really worried about going to prison, even if it was only a very slight possibility. Our lawyers had already explained to him that that was extremely unlikely, but Embry was still nervous, not about jail, he just did not want to be forced away from his imprint for any amount of time.

Once we left the courtroom we _all_ met back up in some empty room lawyers used to prep clients and witnesses before trials. My father talked briefly with the tribal lawyers and assured them we would take care of everything. They asked to have us give them all of the completed paperwork to look over before submitting it. It was important everything be handled correctly. If something like this were to ever happen again, we needed to make sure we established a positive record that we could take care of things on our own land. So that next time, if there ever was one, I hoped not, but perhaps a judge would just let us take care of the entire matter ourselves.

"Okay so now that the suits are gone, what do we do now? I'm not going to have to pick up trash on the highway or something am I?"

"Embry, those _suits_ , as you call them, just saved your butt. You should be more respectful." Was he kidding me.

"Yeah, sure. But seriously though, what am I going to have to do? 200 hours is a long time to be away from Colleen."

"I think we can all agree that you and the rest of the wolves," Billy began, "have all done more than your fair share of _community service_ over the years, patrolling and keeping us all safe."

Leah huffed at my dad. "Yeah but he never would have gotten us in this mess if he had just come clean about his imprint in the first place."

"Sheesh Leah, I think the pain being without her all those months, was punishment enough." How could she be so uncaring?

"Yes, and look where it got us. Once you found out, Nessie was able to come up with a plan to fix his mess immediately. This fool would have never gotten Colleen if left up to himself, and would probably still have ended up in court, just with a restraining order instead."

"I know you are not a fan of imprinting because of me," Sam tried reasoning with her, "but don't punish Embry for it. You know we have no control over the imprinting drive. We are compelled to be with them, forsaking everything else that matters to us. But he did the best he could . . . we all do."

"Embry was reckless and endangered the tribe. This had nothing to do with my feelings on imprinting, or you. And don't flatter yourself Sam, it's been almost 5 years, I got over you a _long_ time ago. If you think I am still hung up on you then you are even more delusional than I thought. This only has to do with Embry's actions. He stalked that poor girl for over a year; who knows what else could have happened. The indecent exposure charge was probably the best case scenario. Maybe it is because of the imprint that you guys just can't see it, but Embry lied to all of us, he kept secrets from his Pack. He put us all in danger.

"I agree." Nessie spoke up. She had been sitting in the corner keeping out of the discussion until now.

Sam looked over at her, for the first time that day and did a double take. I couldn't blame him, the last time he saw her she appeared to be about three years old and now, two years later, looked closer to 15.

"I'm sorry Renesmee I know you're here . . . _with_ Jacob, but this is an internal matter.

"No, I don't think so. And I happen to agree with you _and_ my Aunt Leah."

I think hearing Nessie call Leah her "Aunt", which she technically was now that Sue married Charlie, made Sam rethink her place here. She was more than just my imprint, she was family. But I also didn't miss what Sam was implying regarding Nessie and me. What was he thinking? A slight growl escaped my throat and I made sure to give Sam a warning glare and slightly shook my head at him. She was still way to young after all for that, no matter how old she appeared.

"Imprinting does not excuse bad behavior. Even though Embry's intentions were honorable." Nessie continued, ignoring my growl. "What if something like this happens again, or worse, and leads to more wolves going off on their own. The thing that makes wolves strong is how you work together, is that not why you have your wolf telepathy in the first place, so you are not running around doing your own thing, chasing your tails? You need to always communicate with each other. When the communication breaks down . . . disaster happens."

It was ironic everything Nessie was saying. I wondered if she realized how what she said applied to me? Of course she did, she thought of everything. In a few hours after this was all over I would be leaving again, with Nessie, away from the rest of the wolves. Alone, on my own. No more wolf telepathy. No more Pack, no more family, no more anything.

"But I also agree that he has been punished enough." She continued, looking at Leah now. "Further reprimands or disciplinary actions will do nothing to fix anything and may make others even more reluctant to come forward if they have a problem in the future."

"Alright fine. Sam, I will handle Embry, he's my responsibility since Jake is leaving again, and he left me in charge of his Pack. I will take care of things, but I see that you and my _Niece_ have a point." Leah glared at Sam.

"Good, just go easy on him. And you know you can come to me if you need anything." Huh? I wonder if those two will someday become friends, at least. They loved each other once. And it would be nice if they could at least start to be civil to each other. Maybe that offer was the first step. Sam made his way towards Nessie, giving her a small hug. "It was nice seeing you again Renesmee. I need to be getting back." Then walked over the me and shook my hand. Jake I guess this is goodbye. Take care of yourself. I'll see the rest of you back on the res."

"Yeah, bye man." I called, but he was already out the door.

"Alright, so now that all the serious business is taken care of I think we have a birthday girl that needs some celebrating." Quil smiled at Nessie.

"Really, what did you have in mind?" She looked so happy now. I loved her smile.

"Nothing big, Nessie, I just thought we could go to a local restaurant for dinner. I hope that is okay?" I couldn't not celebrate her birthday at all.

"That is perfect Jacob. I was hoping you would get to spend some more time seeing Billy and your Pack." Leave to Nessie to be so selfless to put me before her own birthday.


	27. The Missed Birthday

**Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Seven**

 **The Missed Birthday**

Jacob's Point of View

The restaurant I picked turned out to be the perfect location for Nessie's birthday dinner. She still did not particularly like human food, at least when compared to animal blood, but I could tell it was starting to grow in her. And this really wasn't about the food. Well, my dad and Pack liked that part, but it was more about celebrating Nessie and seeing everyone one last time.

There were a bunch of us, seven in all, so the hostess seated us in a large booth in the back of the restaurant. It was around 4pm when we arrived so the place was still kinda empty and we were able to talk without having to worry about being overheard too much.

"So Jake, Nessie, what is the new house like? Is it as big as the last one. That place was sweet." Embry commented. He seemed so much happier and stress free now that the threat of jail time and being away from his imprint was gone. He was back to his carefree old self. Almost. Now that he had an imprint, her safety and well being were always on the forefront of his mind. It was like that for all of us. We wanted nothing more than to keep them safe and make them happy.

"We are actually living in a few houses this time." Nessie started telling him and everyone else seated at the table. "Everyone is pretending to be college students, even Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme. They said they wanted a change of pace. Classes don't start until next week, but everyone is attending Dartmouth; except me, of course. But with the way everyone arranged their schedules at least two or three of them should be home with me during the day, all of the time."

Yeah, the Doc and Esme have a place of their own, with a couple of spare rooms for visitors, between the other houses." I added in. "Edward, Bella, Nessie and I are in the house to their right, while Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper are in there own, towards the left. Everyone thought this made more sense to remain inconspicuous, than having a bunch of college students living in some giant mansion."

"Oh, yeah, you're sure to blend in now. The nine of you, a bunch of pale, yellow eyed vampires and a giant wolf attending a college in the middle of nowhere. Very low key." Seth laughed at us. He was right. We didn't exactly look like the typical college students there. At least we were trying, though.

"Humans tend to see what they want to see, and ignore everything else." Nessie explained. "They might garner some unwanted attention in the beginning but it should fade away after a week or two. And my family are happy to at least get to enroll as married couples. My mother and father seem the most excited by this. They did not like having to pretend to be dating when they redid high school in Hoodsport. Of course my aunts and uncles are use to it, having done it many times before."

"So the Cullens are finally growing up? Weird. I guess no one can be teenagers forever." Quil remarked.

"Naw, it's just for this move. Four years from now when we move again, it's back to high school." I gruffed.

"And they are not the Cullens anymore. Well not all of them. The family decided to switch things up a bit for this move. My mother and father are currently the only Cullens. My mom wanted to be able to show Grampy Charlie and Nana Renee her diploma. SO she kept the Cullen name. Grandpa and Grandma are the Platt's after my grandmother's maiden name. Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper are the Brandon's – that was Aunt Alice's last name when she was human. And Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett took Aunt Rose's maiden name of Hale." Nessie explained.

"How contemporary of them." Leah, rolled her eyes, she didn't seem to see it as humorously as everyone else at the table did. Whatever.

"Wait, how did they just create fake identities for themselves? Wouldn't the college notice they had no high school transcripts to match and kick them out? Come to think of it, how did they get in?" Embry asked.

"Embry the Cullens are loaded. They pay this guy just to supply them with fake papers. I even have a set as Jacob Wolfe, that Bella made me years ago. He can create anything. Fake marriage licenses, passports, high school transcripts, medical records. The works."

"Yes, look." Nessie added, pulling out her new passport, so they could see. "They are completely believable. I passed as an eighteen year old going through airport security." She seemed so proud of herself. She was so cute right then I beamed as I gave her a hug.

"Wow, Vanessa Wolfe?" Quil said, reading her fake name off of the passport. "Did you two get married and forget to tell us?"

Quil looked stunned. Actually everyone at the table did.

"No," I chuckled. "Like I said they're fake, it just made flying together easier."

"But then . . . are you a Black anymore, son, or not?" Billy seemed depressed and angry at the revelation. Oh, crap. I had not meant to upset him.

"No, dad, I'm still a Black. Wolfe is just for emergencies." I didn't want to tell him that this was probably the last time I would be Jacob Black though. At least for a while. When we moved next it was already suggested that I start thinking of a new name.

"Alright, I guess. And what do you plan on doing all day long while everyone is at school, young lady." Billy turned to question Nessie and change to a less upsetting topic, I would imagine.

"I am going to be spending the year taking college classes online. Hopefully next year I will be able to join Jacob and the rest of my family at Dartmouth. I will look like I am about 18 then and my growth rate will be slow enough that it should not be too noticeable."

Eighteen, really? Already? I guess that would be right If she kept up with her current rate of aging. This was just the first time it was dawning on me.

"A four year old college student. That's one for the record books." Quil smirked. "Well I guess you would be a three year old student this year, but that's online and shouldn't count. It would make the rest of us feel even more inferior than we already do."

Nessie looked hurt. I was about to growl at Quil for hurting her feelings when he started laughing, saying he was just kidding. Luckily for him, Nessie started laughing as well.

We talked and reminisced all through diner. But eventually, after everyone finished eating, it was unfortunately time to go.

"Dad, Leah, guys, I'm sorry to break this up, but if Nessie and I are going to get to the airport in time to make our flight we need to leave now." It would take us at least an hour to drive back to the airport and our flight was at 8pm.

This was it! The last time I was going to see my father, possibly forever, but I had made my choice. And I was happy with it. I would be spending the rest of my life with Renesmee, the love of my life. I loved my father and would miss him, but I would not be able to live without her.

Leah had been doing a fine job taking care of my Pack, protecting the tribe and even coordinating with Sam. She had no intention of giving up being a wolf any time soon, neither did Seth, he loved it and was holding out hope that if he waited long enough one day he would find his imprint. Quil of course needed to continue phasing as to not age while he waited for Claire to grow up, but then we all knew he would stop, so he could grow old with her. Embry mentioned staying a wolf for the time being, but wanted to see how things developed with Colleen. He wanted to protect her and if they were not going to exactly _grow old_ together he wanted to be able to always watch over her, as a wolf in case she ever needed him. So I guess in my Pack, at least, there would be a constant wolf presence in La Push. Well for the near future at least, without the Cullens there to trigger the change in any new wolves.

Sam's Pack was another matter entirely. Paul had already given up phasing, so he could grow old with Rachel. And I believed they planned on having more kids in the near future. The same was soon to be true for Sam and Jared. Well Jared was a few years behind, and I heard that Kim wanted to finish college before getting married and starting a family. So he was planning on taking over Sam's Pack for at least a few years when Sam retired, which he said was probably going to be within the next year. Eventually Colin or Brady would be old enough to take over. The rest of his Pack had been comprised of a bunch of young kids really. It was not as big as it was back when the Cullens anti-Volturi witnesses were everywhere, many of whom actually gave up their wolves as soon as the threat was gone. I could not blame them. That was a lot of pressure for a twelve year old.

After Nessie and I said our tear filled goodbyes an shared some hugs with everyone, we drove back to the airport, where we returned the rental car. Once we boarded our flight, Nessie and I quickly fell asleep. The next thing I remembered was the flight attendant waking us up. It had been a long few days after all. We started this trip two nights ago, just after 7pm, sleeping on the plane then and now again.

With the time difference on the east and west coast we arrived back at the airport in New Hampshire, after one stopover, just after 6am, where Bella and Edward were there to greet us.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

I could not wait to get home and go to sleep in my bed. We had been driving home from the airport for the past 38 minutes and were finally pulling up to the house. I had slept a bit on the plane both to and from Washington, but I barely got any sleep and the sleep I did get was not very good.

"I am afraid you are going to have to wait just a bit longer." My father said.

What? Why?

"Alice planned a little birthday party for you, it was suppose to be a surprise. But if you are too tired, or this is too much for you today I can tell her to reschedule."

"And let you deal with the wrath of Aunt Alice? I don't think so. I can handle one birthday party. It's just the family right?" Who else could there be, really?

"Yes, it's just us . . . And one other." My mother answered.

One other, who else could be here for my birthday? Grampy Charlie? It must be him. I knew he could not stay away from his only daughter. It was, after all, her birthday, as well.

"No honey, I am afraid it is not your grandfather. Though he does love you very much." My father responded to my questioning thoughts.

"It's Nahuel, isn't it? That . . . _guy's_ come back again, hasn't he?" Jacob spoke up.

If I had not been so sleep deprived I would have thought of that. Nahuel always came to visit around my birthday.

I knew Jacob wasn't very fond of Nahuel, but it seemed to be getting worse and worse every time he visited us. I was actually surprised to hear anything from Jacob right now, though. I thought he had been asleep this whole time, he had been so quiet in the car the entire drive. He got as little sleep as I did.

"How did Nahuel find out where the new house was?"

"I wrote to him some time ago and gave him the new address." My father responded, to which Jacob growled.

It would be nice to see him again, but I was not really in the mood to deal with a party, or the growing tension between Jacob and Nahuel, at this time.

"Nessie, I am sorry. If you don't want to see him now, or if this makes you feel uncomfortable, just say the word and he will be asked to leave."

"Actually I'm kinda hungry, I could go for a Nahuel sized snack." Jacob growled.

"Both of you stop that. I will be fine."

"We're here." My mother announced more to break the growing tension than anything else.

"Well, is there any way we can keep this brief so I can get some sleep? And maybe have cake and presents or whatever Aunt Alice had planned, tomorrow? "

"Of course sweetheart."

As soon as we walked into the house Aunt Alice sprang in front of me. "And why, may I ask, did I just see myself taking down all of your party decorations?"

"Alice, Nessie and Jacob are extremely tired from their trip. They need to sleep. They're both part human remember." My father explained.

Arrg, she looked so disappointed! "You don't need to take them down, can you just let us take a nap first and then we can celebrate? After all I think 7am is a little early for cake. I haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

"I have a great idea. Why don't the babies go take their little naps and then we can all go out for some birthday bears." Uncle Emmett suggested.

The White Mountains were great for their local wildlife populations of black bears, moose, and white-tailed deer's. That did sound better than cake, even if Uncle Emmet was a bit condescending with his suggestion.

"Yum, sounds good." I responded ignoring him. "Then Aunt Alice, I promise we can come right back and open my presents, okay?"

She still looked somewhat disappointed but agreed.

Nahuel and Jacob seemed to be in a standoff in the corner. Were they really going to start something already?

"Nahuel, it is good to see you again." I said as I walked over and scooted in between them to try and break up whatever was starting.

"Renesmee I would never miss your birthday, if I could help it. And may I add what a lovely young lady you have grown to be. Happy Third Birthday." He said as he wrapped me in a hug, which Jacob quickly ripped me out of.

What was wrong with a hug? _"That was rude. He is just trying to be nice."_ I said to him silently with my gift.

"Thank you. I would love to talk to you some more, later. But I am afraid I need to excuse myself for now." Then turning to Jacob I looked at him expectantly. "Jacob, did you still want to take a nap, too? Or not." He just nodded in the affirmative.

" _Good because I need to talk to you, alone. NOW!"_ I think I needed to use this time to find out what was going on between those two.

"I will see everyone later. Thank you for the party." I slightly shouted, on my way to my bedroom, to no one in particular. I needed my bed, and I needed answers from Jacob.

"I'm sorry Nessie." Jacob started apologizing as I climbed into my bed. He had heard the annoyance in my thoughts. Good. But now he was just standing awkwardly by the door though. I needed answers, not apologies. I needed to calm down and talk and think rationally.

"Jacob, why don't you come over here so we can talk?" I said as I patted the empty space beside me. "Just for a few minutes." I could see he was unsure what to do. My parents had forbidden us from sleeping in the same bed anymore, but we were still allowed to talk to each other in my bedroom.

"Alright, but you know I can't stay, right?"

"I know Jacob."

Once he was nestled into bed beside me, it was time for answers.

"Would you mind telling me what is going on between you and Nahuel?"

"I just don't like him, Nessie."

"I can see that, but why? He has been nothing but nice around me. Did he do something that I don't know about."

"I just don't like the way he looks at you. And he may have mentioned something's that he did in his past that I find . . . disgusting."

"Something worse than feeding from humans?" I questioned.

"Well, no. Not exactly. But he is still bad."

"Jacob, he is a vampire, of course he has killed people in his past. But you know he is trying to change. Promise me you will try to be nice to him. He risked his life three years ago, going to Forks to save me from . . . well, you know who." I shuddered just thinking about them.

"I know Nessie. If it means that much to you, I will try. But promise me you will be careful around him. I don't trust him."

"Alright you two, time's up. I think Jake needs to be getting back to his own room."

"You heard us in here? I thought Esme soundproofed everything?" I asked. I had barely begun with me questions.

"She did, but that doesn't work on Edward and you know it. I thought it would be healthier for you, Jake, if I came instead of him, though."

"Thanks, Bells." Jacob said to my mother before placing a kiss on top of my head and practically scampering off to his room. I think it was more him wanting to get out of this conversation than fear of my father. Jacob was never afraid of him, upsetting me on the other hand . . .


	28. Rude Awakenings

**Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Eight**

 **Rude Awakenings**

Renesmee's Point of View

After a nice four hour nap I woke feeling refreshed. I had not meant to sleep so long. I thought it hadn't been more than a couple of hours, but when I glanced at the clock I saw that it was after 11 in the morning. Well maybe this would be perfect. Bears for lunch and cake for dessert.

After a quick, but much needed shower and change of clothes, I found most my family and Nahuel in the living room.

"The birthday girl finally returns. I thought I was never going to get a meal today." Uncle Emmett joked.

"Sorry I slept so long, I must have been more tired than I thought."

"It's no problem darling. It is your birthday, you can do whatever you please." Grandma Esme said. Technically it was not my birthday, anymore, but I guess we were going to pretend. Actually everyone seemed a little tense as I looked around the room a bit more closely.

"Where is Jacob, Aunt Alice, and Uncle Jasper?"

Almost everyone's eyes in the room darted over to Nahuel, just for a split second, but long enough for me to catch it. And even if I had not, Aunt Rose was giving him a death glare.

"What happened?" I questioned to no one in general.

"Jacob woke up about an hour ago, and he walked in on a bit of a _disagreement_ taking place between Edward and Nahuel. Emotions were already rather high, and a misunderstanding ensued. It was thought best that everyone involved remove themselves from the house, and each other, to give one another a chance to calm down. Jacob appeared the most agitated so Jasper accompany him if he required any assistance, naturally Alice followed Jasper." Grandpa Carlisle calmly explained.

A disagreement? A misunderstanding? What did that mean? Was Jacob okay? Was he hurt? Is that why he was not here, so I would not see that he had been injured? I looked over to Nahuel. He looked fine. But that was no guarantee that they had not fought.

"Nahuel went off on his own and returned about half an hour ago. And I took your father for a short walk." My mother tried to explain, but that did not answer any of my questions.

"No one got into a physical altercation Nessie." My father tried to reassure me. "Jasper _dragged_ him out the back door before that could happen."

"So what then, you all were just screaming at each other?" And I managed to sleep through it?

"Well you were very tired, but there was not that much in the way of raised voices." My father answered my spoken words and thoughts.

I started glaring at Nahuel. He had not said a single word this entire time. But he did not look guilty or upset either. Actually he seemed rather pleased.

"And what, may I ask, were the three of you arguing about?" I asked Nahuel. "Something stupid I assume."

"Definitely not stupid, I assure you Renesmee. But it is nothing to concern yourself over at this time."

Really? He was not going to tell me. I looked around the room and everyone's eyes seemed to be avoiding mine.

"Where are they now?" I asked my father. Unless they had traveled a great distance he would be able to tell from their thoughts where they were. He could hear, in my mind, that I was not going to give this up until I found out the truth, and if he would not tell me then I would not stop until I found someone who would, and of course Jacob would. And my father knew that.

"They are about two miles east of here, by the creek, but I don't think it is a good idea to press Jacob about the argument with Nahuel. It would only upset you."

Upset me? More than not knowing? Was it worse that the worst case scenarios already going through my head?

"No not worse, just different. And trust me it is not anything that you need to know."

Need to know? Really? He was starting to sound like my Grampy Charlie. He was fine living in ignorant bliss, I however was not.

Without another word I ran out the back door and started following their scents to the creek.

When I arrived I was confronted with a scene I was not expecting. I knew Jacob was upset, about something. But I was not expecting it to be this bad. What happened? Trees were knocked down everywhere. I didn't even realize he could do that. Well, he was currently in his wolf form, which he was stronger in, but still he must have been extremely agitated. I had assumed Jasper would have tried using his gift to try and calm him down, with no affect.

At least Jacob seemed calmer now. He was still in his wolf form but was currently just laying on the ground, staring at the water. I didn't see Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice but could smell that they were nearby.

"Jacob?" I called as I approached him from behind. I didn't want to spook him but I don't think he had even noticed my arrival. He had not moved. That alone was unusual for him. But as I spoke his name again he slowly lifted his head and looked at me. A few seconds later he phased back.

"You're awake." He said as he stared at something that was apparently extremely interesting on my shoes.

"Yes. Have you calmed down enough that you can talk?"

"I think so." He sighed. "I'm sorry Nessie. I didn't mean to ruin your birthday, again."

"You didn't ruin anything. This has nothing to do with my birthday. I fully intend to go back home with you and have cake, ice cream and presents. But first I would like to hear, from you, what happened? All that my family will tell me was that you, dad, and Nahuel had an _argument_. But I can see that it must have been more than that. Otherwise the forest here would not be destroyed."

"It wasn't an argument exactly. But I don't think I can tell you. You know I can't lie to you because of the imprint, but please believe me when I tell you that it is not something I think you would want to know and not something I would want to tell you."

"Jacob, I'm a big girl. Whatever it is I am sure I can handle it, and shouldn't I be the one to determine whether I want to know something or not. Now would you like to tell me what happened." I was getting irritated that everyone was treating me like a child, and I was unhappy that they had fought in the first place and I didn't know who was to blame. I did not want to take it out on Jacob, but I could hear the anger seep into my voice.

"Alright, but please let me know if you want me to stop, at any point."

I just nodded.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "When I woke up I headed into the living room where Nahuel and your father were having a . . . heated discussion. It seems Edward had seen something in Nahuel's mind that he found more than a little unsettling. You know how Nahuel has been trying to adopt your families vegetarian lifestyle, with limited success?"

Again I nodded.

"Well it seems he has slipped more than once recently. But he claims he did not want to have any 'accidents' while here, so just outside of town he found a young girl . . . a teenager really, to head off any cravings he might develop while here."

"He ate someone . . . in the area?" I was shocked. He promised he would not do that. There were plenty of animals around. And in the past, he at least would travel far away, which was still bad, but at least It would not draw attention to us.

"Is that it?"

"Isn't that enough? Nessie you need to take this more seriously."

"No Jacob, you misunderstand me. I meant to ask if he bit anyone else? Was it just the one girl, or did he feed from more people around here?"

"No, it was just the one." The look on his face told me that there was still more but Jacob did not look like he was going to be very forthcoming on his own.

"Are you upset about him killing the girl or because he did it so close to where we live? Or was it something more. You saw the girl he fed from as me, didn't you?"

Jacob just nodded.

"Jacob, Nahuel is not going to hurt me. He is a friend, and a fellow half-vampire."

"Nessie, why do you think I get so upset when he is around? I don't like the way he looks at you. Sometimes I think he sees you as lunch, or more . . ."

More? What did that mean? But his voice just trailed off and he never finished his thought.

"And according to Edward the girl bore a striking resemblance to you – tall, beautiful, with deep brown eyes and matching long curly hair."

"That must have been just a coincidence. He just grabbed the first unfortunate person he saw. How could he control who he comes across randomly in the woods?"

"I am not so sure. He could have found someone who specifically looked like you and led them out there. And he has admitted how he still slips over and over, and . . ." He continued again, before I cut him off.

"Could you look at it another way, if the girl was truly a surrogate for me, and I am not saying that she was, but then he possibly did it to protect me . . . in his own way. So he would not be tempted when he was here."

"Nessie, _please_. I know you think he is your friend, but please listen to me. He is not good. He is not like your family. He is what I was made to fight, to kill. He is a monster. I have tried to put up with him coming here every year, for your birthday, because he helped us right after you were born. But he _eats_ people and he does not have a problem with it. In fact he likes doing it. It is not an ethical problem for him. The only reason he is trying to change is to be closer to you . . . and your family."

"Isn't that enough, Jacob? Who cares what his reason is for wanting to change. As long as the end result is him not killing innocent people. And maybe if he lives a vegetarian lifestyle long enough it will become his preferred diet."

"But what about the girl? She is still dead."

"Yes, and that is tragic. But it is not like he is the only one who has ever slipped. My father, Uncle Emmett, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jasper, even Grandma Esme have all succumb to human blood in the past. You don't have a problem with them do you? I mean I know you did in the past, when you first became a wolf, but now I thought you realized how hard it is for them to resist human blood, and how hard they try."

"I know that Nessie, but it's more of the reason behind why they resist human blood. They see people as _people_ , not as a food source. HE doesn't. How can he be good if his motivation is not just?"

"Actually I think my family see humans as food _and_ people" then I added in a whisper, "so do I." I didn't like admitting it out loud, especially to Jacob, and especially now. Would he hate me as much as he seemed to hate Nahuel? I hoped not and maybe it would help him see how hard it was for him.

"Don't you see Nessie? Its more than that. You would never trade one person's life for another, like he did. Of course I am glad he took steps to not hunt here, but the woods are full of animals, they may not be as tasty, but he would not starve."

"Sometimes it's hard to resist Jacob. You know that. You saw what happened between me and my Grampy Charlie. I would never intentionally want to eat him, but that day back in Forks, when I almost did, it was like I could not help myself. I had no control." The look on Jacob's face told me everything. He did not hate me, but comparing myself to Nahuel did nothing to sway him in Jacob's eyes, like I hoped it would. But I kept trying.

"And Nahuel has had 150 years of feeding from people. More than anyone in my family. It must be incredibly hard for him. Just look at Uncle Jasper. He lived off of human blood for 100 years, and he still struggles, and that is with his gift, _helping_ him feel the pain he is inflicting on the humans when he killed them. Jasper had to live with that for every life he took, and it was still hard for him. It still is. Please don't be so hard on Nahuel. He is trying, he will get better, I know he will."

I don't know if he believed me but out of the corner of my eye I saw Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper running back towards the house.

"Let's go home before Aunt Alice has a meltdown. Do you think you will be okay?" I asked. "He is still there." I was hoping that Alice headed back because she saw something in a vision that indicated everything would be okay, well at least that things would not get worse anyway.

Jacob just nodded so I grabbed his hand and we started running back to the house.

….

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	29. Unexpected Announcements

**Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Nine**

 **Unexpected** **Announcements**

Renesmee's Point of View

My mother, aunts, uncles, and I were gathered in the music room at our house listening to my father's latest composition on the piano when Nahuel joined us.

"I am surprised not to see your wolf joined at your hip, Renesmee. I didn't think he was allowed to leave your side." Nahuel said a bit too condescendingly.

Sheesh, will those two ever get along? No probably not.

"He went with Grandma Esme grocery shopping. Apparently there is some kind of condiment he had to have. He could not remember the name, but said he would 'know it when he saw it'. They should be back soon."

"Ah, then my timing is perfect. I was hoping to speak to you without him, in private." Then Nahuel turned to my parents. "And with you as well? In private, please. I have some important matters to discuss with you."

The four of us excused ourselves and made our way to my parents bedroom. My father must have listened to something in Nahuel's mind that he didn't like because I heard a slight growl from him before Nahuel even entered the room or said a word. What could be wrong that would cause my father to do that?

As soon as Nahuel spoke I had my answer.

"I realize you are not fully grown yet but I am afraid what I am about to tell you could not wait. You see there is a time constraint you probably are not aware of, but I feel I need to bring it to your attention."

My father's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head, whatever Nahuel was thinking caught him completely by surprise, but that did not stop Nahuel from whatever he was going to say next.

"As you know, when you reach seven years of age you will discontinue aging and your body will become permanently frozen. Everything will cease to change . . . including your reproductive organs." He said the last part so softly that I almost missed it. "If you ever wanted to have a child of your own, it would need to be within the next few years."

I just stood there, unmoving, completely still. I was shocked! Literally. A child? But I was still a child myself, physically at least, wasn't I?

"This brings me to my second topic. Renesmee, as you know I am the only male half-vampire to exist, that we know of. No others have come forward to the Volturi. And you are the only female half-vampire that exists, other than my sisters. Over the past few years I have watched you grow into a beautiful young woman and have enjoyed spending time with you during my visits."

"Um, thank you. I have enjoyed your company as well, Nahuel." Where was he going with this?

"That is very good to hear. I have observed that it is the custom in your family to do as humans do on most things. Work, school, marriage, even celebrating holidays," he chuckled a bit under his breath before recomposing himself. "I have observed that every mated pair in your family has gone through a marriage ceremony, so I have come here this visit to marry you?"

What? Marry Nahuel, really? What about my Jacob? I turned to ask my parents. "Do I have to get married?"

A smile broke out across Nahuel's face, obviously misunderstanding what I meant. "Of course not Renesmee, we can live like other vampires, as mates. We would not have to go through the pretence of a human wedding if you did not want to."

That did it. My father grabbed Nahuel by the arm and started to drag him out of the room. I was pretty sure he would not hurt him though.

"My daughter will not be doing that, with you or anyone." He growled, taking Nahuel away . . . somewhere.

After a minute, once she was sure Nahuel was gone, well at least out of earshot, my mother spoke rather reluctantly.

"Well that was unexpected. I wish he would have come and spoke to Edward and I beforehand about this. But now that he has, it seems you have a decision to make. Your father and I had hoped you would wait to get married until you were much, much older, but now it seems, if you want to have children, we will need to let you go a lot sooner than we planned."

I had a million questions. "Mom, what do you think I should do? What if I don't want to marry Nahuel?"

"It is your decision who you want to spend your life with, honey. But you need to take your time and figure this out. This has to be your decision. But take your time. You are, in fact, only three years old. You have four more years before time runs out. Don't jump into anything."

"I think we can all agree that you are too young to be having a baby at this time, Renesmee." My father reappeared from wherever he went with Nahuel. Was he okay? Did my father hurt him? Or kill him? Would he? He did not seem too happy with Nahuel's news or how he presumed we would be mated.

"Don't worry, Nahuel is alive. For now." He chuckled. "While I did not exactly appreciate the way he went about stating his intentions today, his feelings and intent for you were not news to me."

What? "You expected this from him?" What about Jacob? My father didn't want me to end up with him? Of course not. He was probably hoping I would end up with Nahuel. He must have hated Jacob, at least at one point, for trying to take my mother away from him and now the same thing was happening with his daughter.

"That is not true, Nessie. Your mother and I would be very happy whether you married Jacob or Nahuel, when you are _older_. As long as whomever you choose loves you, and you love them. We only want you to be happy."

I guess I would need to think about things. I wonder what Jacob would think of all of this? Was he aware of Nahuel's intentions? That must be the real cause of the discord between the two of them. Had they been competing with each other, over me, these past years without my awareness?

"Renesmee, I don't think you should tell Jacob about your um . . . _deadline_ , yet. No matter what your decision is. If you could see into his mind you would understand. His thoughts are already tormented enough about you growing up too fast. This would not help his state of mind," my father offered.

I knew he was right. Jacob would flinch, or worse, at even the most innocent of my suggestions, that his mind would twist into something more.

I think I needed to get away and think on my own for a bit, which my parents were luckily fine with. I don't think I could rationally talk about his with them right now. Well, I believe my mother actually wanted me to stay but my father whispered something to her and convinced her to let me go. I am sure he was able to see what a jumble my thoughts were at the moment.

Once I was in my room I began my deliberations. It seemed like I had three things I needed to think about and decide rather quickly.

One: Did I want children? One child, more than one? If I wanted more than one I would need to start right away, I would assume. Human babies took nine months to gestate, but my mother had only been pregnant for about a month with me. Unfortunately I don't think there was any way to know how long a baby of mine would take to grow before I gave birth, if I choose to do so.

Two: Did I want to get married? My parents seemed to assume I would, at least eventually. But on this topic did Nahuel have a point? Why bother to get married. Vampires mated for life, why would you need paperwork to legitimize it? Mr. Jenks fabricated our paperwork all the time. None of the families paperwork was real, especially mine. And the two wedding ceremonies I had seen did not seem like that big of a deal. There was no fairytale events taking place like the made up ones in movies and books. It hardly seemed worth all of the trouble.

Three: Did I want to spend my life with Nahuel or my Jacob. I knew it was between the two of them. Well up until an hour ago I just assumed it was me and Jacob that would be mated eventually. I had no idea that Nahuel thought of me that way. He had never said anything before. But I guess I should at least give his offer some consideration.

But should I think beyond Jacob and Nahuel? If I was going to choose someone to spend forever with did I want to limit my choice to just the two of them?

All of the male vampires I knew were related to me and married. I was not about to start searching the world for some random nomad.

I could not even imagine being with one of the un-imprinted wolfs from Sam or Jacob's Packs, that was not a possibility. Not only did I not like any of them in that way but they would just imprint on someone else, eventually. And I couldn't even begin to think about what that would do to Jacob.

Then there were human boys. But of the few I had met over the years they all seemed ridiculous and would die eventually, anyway. That would be a waste of time. Also, there were my families strong _opinions_ regarding not changing someone unless they were already near death. I doubt some random tragic car accident victim would do it for me.

I kept going back to the simple fact that I had always assumed it would be me and my Jacob. I have never even thought of Nahuel in that way. But I guess he had. It did make sense, what he said. There was no one else like us. Rationally, I agreed with him.

But what about my Jacob. I love him. He imprinted on me. I love him, he loves me. We belonged together. Would he be satisfied still being my best friend if I became Nahuel's mate? Yes. I knew that. He couldn't leave me, I was his imprint. So I guess my real choice was to either be a _regular_ couple with Jacob or have some sort of three way love triangle. A romantic love with Nahuel and keep my platonic love with my Jacob.

But would Nahuel want to share, would Jacob really be able to just settle for friendship . . . forever? Would I want that? I loved Jacob too much to lose him. He had to be a part of my life, always. But how? Friend or Lover?

Ouch, I think I was getting my first headache, ever!

I decided to make a list. One for each of them with Pro's and Con's. Maybe that would clarify things.

...

 **Jacob – Pro**

 _I love him_

 _He loves me_

 _He imprinted on me_

 _He's my soulmate_

 _It's painful when we're apart_

 _He keeps my nightmares away_

 _He helped save me from the Volturi_

 _Saved my "human" mom more than once_

 _Made me a beautiful chess set & is learning to play, just for me_

 _His "Job" is to protect humans and Me_

 _He already lives with me and my family_

 _We love working on cars together, and doing everything together_

 _He is my perfect hunting partner_

 _He would give his life for me, and I him_

 _We have the same taste in music, movies, sports, books, etc... everything_

 _He is my best friend_

 _He has always been there for me and always will_

 _He is extremely handsome, muscular, & very tall, 6'7"_

 _I loved his wolf self too_

 _He is always warm_

 _He smells amazing_

 _..._

 **Jacob - Con**

 _He already rejected me once due to my age -_ _Will he ever see me as an adult?_

 _My family doesn't like his scent_

 _He doesn't like their scents_

 _He had a "relationship" with my mother_

 _Wolves are natural enemies to vampires_

 _He exist to destroy vampires_

 _..._

 **Not Sure a Pro or Con?**

 _Imprints to create stronger wolves? Maybe_

 _..._

 **Nahuel – Pro**

 _He helped save me from the Volturi, even though he did not know me - shows selflessness_

 _He is the same half vampire species as me, the only other one on the planet_

 _He is trying hard to change his diet after 150 years_

 _Good looking_

 _..._

 **Nahuel - Con**

 _Lives in South America_

 _Horrible at chess_

 _Never seems to think too far into the future_

 _Previously hunted humans_

 _Struggles with vegetarian diet - occasionally still slips_

 _I don't know him that well_

 _Only 5'7"_

 _..._

If I picked Jacob, that would probably be the end of Nahuel's visits. Would I be okay with that? Could I live my life without him in it? Did I even care if he was around or not?

My one consolation was that if I picked Nahuel I could still remain friends with Jacob, with no change really to our current relationship, which I liked. And what about our current relationship. Did I even want it to change? I once thought I did, but it seems so perfect the way it is, could it really get better?

However, I did not appreciate how Nahuel had come here assuming his and my mating was a foregone conclusion, then again didn't I think the same of Jacob and myself?

In the end, looking over the lists, I realized I didn't know Nahuel well enough to make an informed decision. And I would need to get to know him much better before I did.

But did I have to make a decision right now? I guess I would soon if I wanted a child. But did I?

I knew that a possible reason for imprinting was to reproduce with someone who would create the strongest wolf offspring. And Nahuel made his announcement in order to begin mating with me right away, specifically to create children together.

I was starting to feel like nothing beyond a baby maker. I was more than that, surely. Was taking the time needed to choose a lifelong mate more or less important than meeting my baby deadline?

I was not going to be rushed into anything. Especially if I made the wrong decision, simply because I felt pressured to pick someone quickly in order reproduce before I was not longer able to. But what about me?

I know Nahuel wanted a child, my child. Did Jacob? He had always told me it was my choice if I decided to have our relationship turn romantic, "once I was older", he was forever reminding me of that part. But did HE want children? The only time he ever brought that part of imprinting up was when he mentioned Sam's theory. And we never actually talked about it beyond that.

Come to think of it, he had never mentioned children, as a positive or negative. Did he not even think about having children someday? Perhaps it was because he still saw me as a child. Or was it also due to the imprinting. He gave me whatever I wanted. And I had never thought of children, well not until now. So had he never wanted them, simply because I never wanted them? I wonder what his thoughts on children were? Was there a way to find out what he wanted without the imprint telling him what he, well I, wanted?

I wonder if my mother knew? They were together, sort of, before he had imprinted. But would a couple of teenagers really talk about wanting to have children some day? It was a long shot, but I had to ask.

I jumped off of my bed in search of her and of course, found her in the reading room.

"Mom, um, I have a question to ask you. It's a little strange, though."

"I know sweetie. Your father heard you. He told me what you came here to ask me, right before he left. He thought we could use some privacy."

"Oh," Of course he heard me. I wonder how upsetting my thought were for him. I knew he thought I was too young for this sort of thing even more than Jacob did. And that was a lot. But this was not up to him. It was my decision. I guess I will have to talk to him later.

"So, um . . Did you and Jacob ever talk about that when you were in high school?" I asked nervously.

"Nessie the imprint did not change Jacob's mind. The two of you are so close because you are soul mates. It did not change what he wants. You are connected in a way no one else on the planet is."

After a short pause she continued. "Think of it this way. He does not like sushi. You know this. He has had it before. He definitely does not like it. If someday you try it, love it and want to eat it all of the time, Jake is not suddenly going to start liking Sushi just because you do."

"But this is not a physical thing. It is a mental one. Didn't the imprint change his thinking?"

"He wants what you want because you are so alike, not because he is being forced into something. If he had never imprinted on you his wants would still be the same as they are now. Sometimes the imprint pulls him in the right direction, to protect you, but it doesn't take away his free will. He is still the same Jake I knew before you were born."

"I'm still not so sure. I don't think he ever would have wanted to move across the country, away from his father and Pack, into a house full of vampires if the imprint didn't tell him too, or if it didn't hurt to be away from me." I countered.

"No, that is true. But the underlying reason is why he moved. He could have argued for you, if not all of us, to stay. But he moved to be with the person he loved. If he was never a wolf and fell in love with some random girl who happened to live in England or somewhere, I have no doubt he would have moved for her as well. If he was truly in love. It is all about choices. He chose love over obligation."

"Back when he first became a wolf," she continued, "Sam used his Alpha voice on Jake and ordered him to stay away from me, and not reveal the whole wolf secret. And you know how well that worked out. Before long Jake was trying to work around Sam's gag order, as best he could, to get me to remember the Quileute stories of the wolves he had told me the year before. Our friendship was too important to him. And he would do anything so we could be together again."

"Okay, that's good to hear, well not the part of him willing to do anything to be with you," I joked, "But that he still had his own mind." I decided against pointing out the _slight_ flaw in her logic, again. Jacob probably risked everything to have my mother with him back when he first phased because of the same imprint bond that makes him want to be with me. We already discussed how it was already there, just weaker, back then between them, well Jacob and the part of my mother that would turn into me.

Maybe there was something else in Jacobs past where he thought and acted a certain way, that was completely similar (or different) than he does now. Perhaps I could give Billy a call and ask him.

"You should talk to Jake, and see what he wants regarding children. Just because he imprinted on you, I am not sure you both agree about everything 100% of the time. If one of you wants children and the other doesn't it is something you would need to work out beforehand. It might affect your decision regarding who you end up choosing."

"I never thought of that. Thanks, mom." I said as I turned to leave and walked back to my room.

Would that really affect my decision. If I wanted children and Jacob didn't, would Nahuel win by default? On the other hand, if I decided if I didn't want children and likewise neither did Jacob, would I choose him just for that reason alone? But what if he did want children?

I have a feeling I was _somehow_ going to have a very awkward talk with Jacob, finding out his position on children, while not reveling why.


	30. Mating Questions

**Year Four, Chapter Thirty**

 **Mating Questions**

Renesmee's Point of View

Jacob started school last week with the rest of the family. I didn't like having him gone so long, but at least it was less time than before when he was away at Hoodsport High School. Now he was home all the time on the weekends, of course and then gone for just over 6 hours on Mondays, they were the worst, but again not as bad as before. Tuesday afternoons he left for 3 hours, then was back home on Wednesdays, before being gone all morning on Thursdays and Fridays, returning just before and after lunch those days.

My family all had different schedules in college so they were always popping in and out of the house at various times. When Jacob was away and my family, who were home, but off doing other things – reading, play fighting, , "couples activities", or whatever, I decided to use that time to start to get to know Nahuel a bit better.

I had been going over my choices between Jacob and Nahuel for a little over two weeks when something occurred to me that probably should have been pretty obvious. Vampires mated for life, or eternity, or whatever. But I was only a half-vampire. What if I was more human in that if I never settled down with one person? Well one wolf or one half- vampire.

What if my feelings switched back and forth, continuously over the centuries, between Jacob and Nahuel? That seemed like a strange concept, it was weird, hopefully highly unlikely, gross even, . . . maybe, . . . possibly?

But what about my Jacob? I was it for him since he imprinted on me. I loved him, but did I love him in that way? I thought I did last year, but was I right? Was I too young? Jacob and my parents thought so, for different reasons of course. Am I still too young?

And if I didn't end up picking Jacob, he would never be with anyone else. In a way Embry had it easy. If his imprint never chooses him he would have 60-70 years of platonic friendship until she died and then it would be over. But Jacob would be stuck in friend limbo forever, literally.

But, then again, what if I did choose him, initially, but then one day changed my mind, or heart rather, after 50 years? I could never hurt him like that. But would I be able to stay with him if I developed feelings for Nahuel or someone else entirely? Or what if I just stopped loving him, even if there wasn't anyone else?

Nahuel was over 150 years old and he had yet to choose a permanent mate. Maybe half-vampires did not do that. I think I needed to have a conversation with him and get some answers, if he even had any. Maybe one of his sisters was able to choose a permanent mate, like full vampires did.

I had to get my courage up a bit, but the next week I asked Nahuel to take a walk with me, while everyone else at home was otherwise occupied. Jacob was still at school along with Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett, but should be returning in two hours. I think that should give me plenty of time to find out what I needed before Jacob returned. I didn't want him hearing my conversation and worry needlessly.

We were taking a leisurely stroll through the woods a few miles behind the house. I had hoped to run but Nahuel thought that, since it was such a nice day, he wanted to walk. Time was going to be cut close now, but I am sure Jacob would be fine if I returned home a few minutes after him. We were going to a little clearing I had found on one of my many hunting trips with Jacob.

I wanted to get far enough away from the house that not only would no one hear us, but my father, who was home, would not be able to read our minds, at least not until we returned and thought about what was said. I needed a little privacy at least while I was talking, with no interruptions from my father or anyone else.

"Renesmee, have you asked me out here because you have come to a decision about us?" Nahuel looked so happy, but I had no intention of leading him on.

"Actually I had some questions regarding how half-vampire mate."

He started chuckling. Why was he laughing at me? "You are not that sheltered are you? Surely you know how sex works?"

"Yes, I am aware of how it works, that was not what I was referring to. I was wondering if you knew if we were more or less similar to humans or full vampires?" He looked confused to I elaborated. "Are we capable of choosing one mate for life, forever, like my family? I know some of our cousins in Denali, Tanya and Kate, use to have many . . . um, partners over the centuries but never found a permanent mate, until Kate met Garret, that is. Now the two of them are mated together forever. Is it the same with us?"

"I too, have had many temporary _companions_ over the years," he admitted, "none of whom resulted in becoming my mate, but from what I have heard from my sisters, once we find that special person, yes, we do mate for eternity, like a full vampire would if they chose to."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, you don't know what a relief that is to hear."

"Did you have any more questions for me?"

"Not at this time, but it is nice to know I have someone to go to if I do."

"You can always come to me, Renesmee. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Nahuel." I said with a smile. This was such a relief to learn I would not be hurting either of them if my feelings were not constant.

"Well then, now that that's settled, shall we begin?"

Begin? Begin what? Nahuel grabbed my hand and moved in to kiss me. He wasn't moving fast, and his eyes were closed, so I was able to quickly sidestepped him and blocked his next attempt with my hand but he still had managed to get his arms around me.

"Nahuel, I think I gave you the wrong idea. I realize I am the only other half vampire that is known to exist, but I can't do this. I am not ready for this yet, with you or anyone else." I said as I pushed out of his grip.

Suddenly my giant russet protector was in front of me and growling at Nahuel. How did he get here so fast, and how did he know there was anything wrong? I was a little worried about what he had heard, but that was a problem for later.

"Jacob, calm down. I'm fine."

Nahuel took a single step back. "I'm sorry, Renesmee, when you asked me about us mating I assumed you meant . . ." He never got to finish his sentence though, Jacob began creeping towards him, growling louder and louder with every word he spoke.

"JACOB!" I half shouted, half pleaded. "Stop that, and phase back now. You are not helping. Nahuel is not a threat."

Thankfully he did as I asked and phased back to human. Unfortunately that did not stop his attack on Nahuel.

"What _EXACTLY_ do you think you are doing?" Jacob screamed at Nahuel as he knocked him to the ground. At 6'7" Jacob was a full foot taller than Nahuel's 5'7" height. He was not as strong as when he was in wolf form, but still much stronger than a normal human. I wasn't sure which one would win if a fight broke out now, Nahuel not being as strong as a full vampire either.

"This does not concern _YOU_. This is between Renesmee and myself." Nahuel yelled back as he sprang back onto his feet.

"EVERYTHING regarding Renesmee _concerns_ me! And I heard your little _chat_ with her. I don't remember her EVER saying she was interested in doing _anything_ with you."

I did not want to find out who would a fight between the two. "Jacob, could you give me a minute, alone, with Nahuel?"

"Nessie, I . . ."

"Please?"

"Alright, if you are sure, but I will be right over there." He relented, pointing over to a tree less than 100 feet away, but then turned to Nahuel and added a warning. "But if you even try to lay one hand on her, remember that I will be back in an instant and bite it off."

Jacob walked away but this was going to be awkward. I didn't want to alienate either of them and knew Jacob would still be able to hear and see everything that was happening between Nahuel and myself. I would need to choose my words very carefully.

"Nahuel, I am sorry if I gave you with the wrong impression. I only meant to speak with you in order to see if you had any answers to my questions. I needed to know what to expect regarding my choices for the future. But as has been pointed out to me, repeatedly by my family and Jacob, I am only three, or fifteen years old, depending on how you look at it, after all. Both are too young to choose to mate and begin _that_ part of my life.

"I do not think you are too young. I do remember being your age, you know. And I have noticed the change in your aroma. You smell even lovelier than you did before."

My scent? What was different about the way I smelled? "Yes well, . . . also, as Jacob pointed out, I did not exactly say I wanted to start anything with you right now. We don't actually know each other very well after all."

"Renesmee, we have forever to get to know each other, but the time before you stop aging is dwindling quickly."

"Not that quickly. I still have four years. Is that the only reason you are interested in me?"

"No, I genuinely like you, and believe we can grow to love each other someday. You are a fascinating young woman, Renesmee."

"How can you say that? You barely know me." I questioned again.

"I think I know you pretty well. What did you think I was doing coming all the way here, and to Washington before this, for your birthday every year. I wanted to spend time with you, to get to know you, so I could become your mate as soon as possible."

I heard Jacob growl lightly, but I still needed to talk to Nahuel so I shot him a warning look. Nahuel was not doing anything to me, or saying anything I did not already know.

"I am sorry to disappoint . . . your visit." Did I really know Nahuel? I _knew_ Jacob, and my mother and father, and my aunts and uncles, and grandparents. I saw them every day of my life. But Nahuel? I guess I knew him as well as the wolves in La Push, but did I really KNOW them? I knew their names, and a few odd facts about them, we hung out together a bit. But I did not know everything about them, like I did with my family.

I wonder how well humans got to know each other before they mated? Well, actually they did not mate for life, like vampires did, but I believe they did briefly get married or enter committed relationships for a small number of years before dying, getting divorced or simply moving on to someone else. And from what I learned from books, poems, music, television shows and movies they did sometimes engage in the physical aspects of relationships even before getting to know each other very well at all.

"If you do not believe you are currently old enough then I must respect your wishes, for now. But please keep the time constraint in mind. I know we would be good together. I think, right now it would be best if I gave you some space, for a bit. I shall be in Carlisle and Esme's guest room. Please come find me if you change your mind. I do not believe I will be too welcome closer to you, presently, around your protector until he has had a chance to cool down. But Renesmee, as the deadline approaches I will be more persistent. Please think about what I have said."

Hmmm, I might need to add "possessive" and "arrogant" to Nahuel's con's list.

As Nahuel jogged back to the house, Jacob came back over to me.

"So, you and Nahuel?" Jacob snickered uneasily.

"Oh yeah, sure. I absolutely wanted my first time to be right here in the woods." I could see Jacob was trying to not be too upset around me but he was obviously still disturbed no matter how hard he was trying to hide it. "What is wrong with him. Really? What was he thinking?" I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"I told you to watch out for him." Jacob lightly chuckled back. "But seriously Renesmee, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to you sooner. What were you doing out here all alone, with him, without me? He's dangerous."

"I needed to ask him something in private. It's okay, really. He would not have hurt me . . . and I can handle myself."

"I know, I saw, but it's my job to protect you, sweetheart."

"You don't need to protect me from Nahuel."

Jacob looked shocked. "You don't . . .um, do you like him, did you want to . . . um, should I not have . . ."

What? He would just give me up, not that we were together, but if I wanted to be with Nahuel . . . just like that? I know he had mentioned it to me before, during the whole Embry imprint fiasco, but I wasn't sure how much I believed him. Imprinting could be strange and possibly _helpful_ in this situation . . . depending on what I decided.

"No. it's fine." I was getting irritated though. "I don't really even know him. He seems to think we are destined to be together but I always thought you and I were suppose to end up together. But it doesn't even matter right now because . . ."

". . . you are still too young." Jacob finished for me.

"Among other things."

"Well it is your choice who you want. Don't let him pressure you into anything. If you don't want to be with him, you don't have to, and I am not just saying that because of . . well . . . you know."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Jacob. You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too, sweetheart. So now would you like to tell me why Nahuel is so concerned about when you stop aging?"

"Oh . . . um . . . It's a long story." I guess I would have to tell him now. I was hoping to wait. He already had a problem with my lack of advanced years. Informing him of my reproductive deadline was something I was not looking forward to. My mother, father and I agreed to put off telling him until I at least _appeared_ a bit older, physically, in the hopes that it would distress him less. Oh well. "Nahuel came to me and my parents a couple of weeks ago and asked to speak to us about some . . ."

"Renesmee?" Of course my father was here.

"Hi Dad. I assume you read Nahuel's mind when he returned to the house and saw what happened?"

"Yes, I did. Are you okay?" He seemed agitated but not overly angry.

"Of course. Is he?" Did my family do anything to him? If Jacobs reaction was any indication he might need Grandpa Carlisle's help.

My father started chuckling a bit too menacingly to himself hearing me think that. I however did not think it was funny.

"He is currently in one piece, but it was decided that it was in _his_ best interest, for the time being, to return to Huilen and his own home, for awhile. Emmett and Rose are already driving him to the airport."

He then turned and looked a bit . . . queasy?

"Renesmee, isn't there still something you need to talk to Jacob about? I will give the two of you some time." He pointedly looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I knew what he was referring to, I had been avoiding it up until this point. The baby question. I had hoped I could ask him his position on children without talking about my deadline, but after what he overheard from Nahuel, and what my father just said, would he figure it out?

"Thanks dad!" Why did he do that? He was the one who suggested we not tell Jacob about my deadline. Did he change his mind? Was Jacob ready to hear this now?

"Don't worry Nessie, stick to your original plan. It will be fine." He whispered into my ear when he hugged me before taking off back into the house. I hoped he was right.

"You need to talk to me about something?" Jacob questioned.

"Yeah, um . . ." How was I going to start this now?

"Nessie, you know you can talk to me about anything. Whatever it is."

"I know, my Jacob. I was just thinking how best to start. It's not really important right now, it's just that the whole Nahuel mating _thing_ got me thinking."

"Nessie, I saw the look Edward gave you. Are you trying to break it to me that you do actually want to be with . . . HIM . . . someday?" Jacob looked like a sad little puppy. But he was looking directly into my eyes. I could see the love he had for me, that he just wanted me to be happy. But I also saw the disappointment, . . . and fear?

"No, Jacob. That is not what I wanted to tell you." Technically I was not lying. I had not made a decision one way or the other on that subject. At least he seemed to relax a bit though.

"Okay, then what is it, honey?"

"It's silly really." I decided to pass it off as a whim I was toying with. Would he be able to see through me though? "When Nahuel mentioned mating, I sort of started thinking of one possible result of my . . . mating . . . with _someone_. And what the result might be. And I wanted to see what you might want. At some point in the future. For yourself."

"Um, Nessie, you sort of lost me? What is it you are trying to ask me?"

"I was just wondering if you ever thought of having children? . . . With me? . . . Someday? . . . In the future?" My eyes darted to the ground. I could not keep looking into his eyes any longer. I was barely able to get my question out as it was.

He didn't say anything for a long time. I really just needed a yes or a no answer, since I had not decided what I wanted. Whatever he answered would probably not upset me either way. But I knew it was not that simple for him. It was why I had been avoiding asking him this question for the past few weeks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. It is not that important, just forget I asked."

"No, Nessie. I can see that it is."

"I know I am not old enough for you, yet. And it's not a guarantee that our relationship will ever be like that. I don't really want to know what you see for us, either." I took a deep breath before I continued. "I was more interested in if you ever thought about having kids, in general. If it was something you had ever wanted at any point in your life."

"Yes."

"Yes?" Hmmm, I was expecting something more.

"Yes, I always hoped to have a child one day. But making a baby takes two people, so I guess it would be up to you, in the future. And if you do choose to be with me that way, we can wait as long as you want before we started trying. But we have plenty of time. You are going to be young forever."

Oh, crap! Maybe I should tell him the truth. But I still had four years. I could wait a bit longer for him. He needed time.

"Or if you don't want children," he continued, "or . . . choose to be with someone else, then I will just have to deal with that. Not every person in this world is lucky enough to have a child, I know that. I will be fine. Eventually. One of the perks of living forever." He added with a smirk.

I smiled back, I know he was just trying to not make me feel bad, but now I was more confused than before.


	31. Lots to Learn

**Year Four, Chapter Thirty-One**

 **Lots to Learn**

Jacob's Point of View

"Where is it? It has to be here somewhere? No, no, no!"

"Renesmee? Honey what's wrong? Did you lose something?" She was on her hands and knees crawling around the living room.

"Jacob! It's horrible, I don't know how it happened. I am so sorry."

"Nessie, why don't you calm down and tell me what is wrong." Whatever it was really seemed to be bothering her.

"Look." She said holding up the light wood Alice chess piece.

"Okay?" I didn't see what she was getting at. Did she loose the darker wood counterpart? Or maybe the light wood Jasper companion piece?

"Jacob, the credit cards she was holding have broken off. I don't know how I could have let this happen. I have always tried to be so careful with all of the chess pieces you made for me." She was on the verge of tears now. "They have to be here somewhere. If I can just find them, maybe I can glue them back on. You worked so hard on it."

"Here, I'll help you look for them, but even if we find them, we may not be able to fix it. They were very small to begin with."

"Oh, Jacob I'm so sorry."

"It's no problem, sweetheart. I can always carve you a new one." This was not something to get upset about. It was partially my fault for making the figure so delicate to begin with. It was almost inevitable it would get damaged.

"I don't see them anywhere."

"Neither do I honey. When did you notice it was broken?"

"Just over two hours ago."

"You've been searching for those tiny little credit cards for over two hours?"

"Yes. It is important. You made the chess set for me. I need to find them and won't stop looking until I do."

"But the cards might not even be here anymore." They were so small and delicate they could have gotten stepped on and crushed. They would have turned to nothing more than splinters. Or maybe the answer was simpler. "Has anyone vacuumed recently?"

"Oh, no!" She said while collapsing onto the floor.

"Nessie its okay, really. Look it's still early. Let's take a walk outside and find the perfect piece of wood so I can carve you a new knight Alice."

"Alright. Um, what kind of wood should we look for?"

"I don't think they will have the same wood I used back in Washington, here. But I think a piece of white birch would match pretty closely. You know what that looks like, right?"

"Yes of course. I think I saw some birch trees over there." She said pointing to an area a couple of miles away in the White Mountains.

"Come on, let's go then." I responded with a smile as I grabbed her hand and took off running in the direction she had indicated.

As we neared the edge of the Cullen property I needed to let go of Nessie's hand so I could strip off my clothes, minus Alice's special shorts, and phased. Twenty minutes later we found the birch trees Nessie had mentioned.

"Will this work Jacob?" Nessie asked holding up a small piece of wood. It was the right kind of wood, with few knots in it. It didn't appear to have any rot, even though Nessie had picked it up off the ground.

"Yes, that should be perfect. Lets grab a couple more pieces while we are here, in case I need to make any more replacements."

"Alright." Nessie said before she turned into a blur and a pile of wood was soon stacked at my feet. She was getting faster and stronger all the time. Not as fast and strong as a full vampire by any means but the speed at which she moved was still impressive.

Soon the pile was up to my shins. "Nessie . . . Nessie . . . hold on. I think that is more than enough." I said to the haze moving away to find even more wood.

"How many pieces are you planning on breaking?" I joked.

"Oh, right. I guess I got carried away."

"That's okay, but if you want to bring all of this back to the house I am going to have to help carry it, and possibly make a couple of trips," I said taking another look at the huge pile, "unless you have a bag hidden somewhere. I can't phase and carry things. There are some drawbacks to being a wolf"

"I don't think so. I think you are perfect, Jacob." She said as she reached up and pulled me into a hug.

"Jacob, take off your shorts."

What!? "Um, Nessie . . ." My whole body stiffened, but I tried to not make it too noticeable as I gently pushed her back away from me.

"Just go behind a bush or tree, take off your shorts and phase, then I can use the shorts to carry all of the wood in. The shorts have panels in them so they expand. They should be more than adequate to carry everything."

"Oh, um, right. Good idea." What is wrong with me. Calm down.

Once we had run back to the Cullens property, I sorted through the wood Nessie gathered and found a piece that would be perfect for a new Alice figurine.

"This might take a little while Nessie. Did you want to go in the house and do something else while I carve this?" I loved spending every minute of the day with her but didn't want her to be bored. But then I had an idea. "Or would you like me to teach you how to carve something yourself?"

"Jacob, I was just going to ask you to teach me. How did you know?"

"Must be an imprint thing, I guess," I responded with a chuckle. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. "Why do you want to learn, though?"

"Well I figure that it would be good since I broke your gift, I should fix it."

"Nessie you don't have to do that. And how do you know you broke the chess piece. Do you remember breaking it." She didn't answer. "I didn't think so. I can make a new one for you and as many more as you want. I'm happy to do it."

"Thank you Jacob. But I would actually like to learn. I think it would be fun. You make these amazing things just with your hands and a little knife. I would love to be able to create something half as wonderful. And it would give me something to do all day long while you are at school."

"Aren't you taking classes online, Nessie?"

"Yes, but half-vamp brain, remember," she said tapping the side of her head. "It hasn't been taking me that long to read and complete the assignments. I'm usually done with everything for the week within an hour or two."

"Yeah, I could see how you might get bored. But what about everyone else? You're never home alone. Are you?" I didn't think so. Everyone had made their class schedules keeping Nessie in mind, so that she would never be home alone. Maybe something slipped through the cracks.

"No but they all have their own lives. It's not their job to entertain me. It's okay, I look like I'm 16, even if I may only be three, I'm not a little kid. "

I could not believe what I was hearing. Were they really just ignoring her. I was stuck in class, away from her four days a week, for roughly up to seven hours at a time, when I factored in the commute. Was she really by herself that entire time?

"Jacob what's wrong." Nessie started looking around frantically. "Did you see something? I don't smell anyone?"

What was she talking about? "What's do you mean honey?"

"Jacob. you were growling!"

"I was? I hadn't even realized. I'm sorry to scare you. Just the thought of you being neglected got me so upset, I guess I did it involuntarily."

"I'm not being neglected, school only started two months ago. In the beginning I would hang out with Nahuel, while you were gone." WHAT! Calm down, calm down, calm down, I chanted over and over to myself. Getting upset now would not help anything. I would have heard if something had happened.

"I think the family just got use to doing their own things without me, that first month of school. But once Nahuel was sent home, no one seemed to notice my only companion, other than you of course, was gone, and I was left alone. I can take care of myself. I was never in any danger, other than loneliness. It's okay. "

"No, sweetheart. It's not." Two months was a long time. I should have been paying more attention, even if she never mentioned a problem I should have known.

I think I was going to have a long _chat_ with the family after I tucked Nessie into bed tonight. Right now I had something much more important to do.

"So are you ready to learn how to carve a piece of wood?" I asked, effectively changing the subject.

"Yes, please. What should I do first?"

"Why don't we start off with something easy, like a heart. Go ahead and pick a couple pieces of wood that you think most resembles a heart shape to start with, while I run in the house and grab a second knife for you."

When I returned I showed her how to first carve out the basic shape, in three dimensions, looking at it from every angle, not just the front, to make sure it looked correct all the way around.

"Jacob, I was wondering if are you able to hear your Pack here when you phase?" Nessie asked me while she was carving. "I know 3000 miles is a lot to hope for, but you never mentioned anything and I was just curious."

"No, honey. I didn't really think I would be able to. 300 miles was probably the limit."

"But if another wolf came here, you would be able to hear them within 300 miles of _you_ right? Or does it just work within a 300 miles proximity of La Push?"

"Hmmm? I never thought of that. I would assume that I would be able to hear them here. I think it must be the closeness of the wolf. The Quileute magic must be tied to the wolves, not the location, otherwise I don't think I would be able to phase way out here. Right?" I never thought of that, but it made sense I guess.

"Good point. Um . . . what do I do now?" She asked as she held up her heart.

She was just about done with the basic shape of it so I began to show her how to use the knife to gently soften, and start to smooth the edges.

"So is it hard? The quiet I mean? When we were in Hoodsport you could still hear and speak to your Pack when you were phased even though we needed to separate ourselves physically from them. It must be strange not to hear them anymore when you are a wolf."

Of course she had thought of all of this. It was sweet of her to care. But of course she did. She was the most caring person I knew.

"It is, I had gotten use to everyone in my head. It's strange. All those years ago, when I first became a wolf, I never thought I would get use to it. Now it seems strange that they are gone."

Nessie smirked as she grabbed my hand and used her gift. _Well, if you miss having someone else's voice in your head I can help you with that._

"Thank you sweetheart."

"What about Skype, or some other video phone service, so you could keep in touch with everyone back in La Push? I know it won't be the same as hearing them in your head, but it would be more personal than a regular phone call."

"That could be a doable idea, but I am not sure how that would really work. Maybe someone in La Push has a computer with a camera that everyone could use." I doubt it though. It was a nice idea that Nessie had, but computers cost money and that was one of the things that people in La Push did not have. Family, community, friendship, trust; those things all were in abundance enough to compensate most of the time.

Maybe I could work something out and find a way to get them a new laptop. They all seemed to contain cameras now. The stock Alice bought me should be getting bigger and bigger, I should do something with it. And if everyone in my Pack got to use the computer it could be very helpful for them, in addition to allowing me to see them, and my family.

It would be nice to see Billy, Rachel, my nephew Jeremy, and even Paul, I guess.

I could see she had stopped working on her heart. Was she done? "How is your heart coming?" I asked before seeing that she was and finally showing her how to sand it smooth with some sandpaper I remembered to grab when I got her a knife.

"Are you making friends at school at least?" Nessie asked.

"Yeah, there are a few people who I hang out with between classes." It wasn't like High School with the Cullens. Dartmouth was so big people didn't shun me like they did them, but they were vampires and not only expected it, they were use to it, and actually seemed unbothered by it. Even Bella seemed to be dealing with it better. We were barely ever in the same section of the school anyway and I only had one class with any of them – Spanish with Jasper. I wasn't sure why he was even taking it, he was already fluent, but at least he was able to help me when I needed it during class.

"Would you tell me about them?"

"There is not much to tell. It is not like we are friends, just people I am friendly with. I don't know much about them. But sure. Let's see . . . There is Justin and Mark, who seem to be competing for the title of class clown. If they don't start taking school more seriously I think they might flunk out. Andy seems nice, and loves cars almost as much as Rose, if you can believe it. And then there is Rob, who I think has a crush on Andy, but is either oblivious or . . . I don't know, exactly." I think that was it. I had not really talked to too many people. Was there anyone else? "Oh, and Jenny, she seems very smart but takes everything school related a little too seriously. She kind of reminds me of Bella, when she was human, you know if Bella was an overgrown, six foot behemoth, with short curly red hair, freckles and a nasty overbite. "

"Jacob, are you making fun of the way this girl looks?"

I started laughing a little louder than I intended, much to Nessie's horror.

"No honey. That was how she actually described herself. She is from somewhere in Scotland where she is a some sort of local celebrity know for her size and ability to toss a tree or log or something, while she is not busy reading, of course. I don't understand it exactly, but she is quite proud of all of it."

"Oh, okay." Nessie didn't seem exactly convinced but seemed to drop it.

"Here," I said handing Nessie another piece of wood, "why don't you try carving a second heart while I start on the new Alice chess piece."

….

How was it that the school year was almost over? My first year of college flew by.

I was surprised that the Cullens missed very little school in New Hampshire. It was not as rainy as Washington, but the sunlight did not keep them away as much as I thought it would have. It did snow a lot, here over the winter, but not constantly. Even though the weather was sunny sometimes, the temperature was mostly cold enough that they could just bundle up, pretending to be as cold as everyone else, and thereby covering almost every inch of their body. Then they simply had to go from shadow to shadow, between the parking lot, into the buildings. Once inside, the rooms were practically windowless, Dartmouth was an old school, and the buildings hardly had any to begin with. And the ones they had were small. The risk of sunlight streaming through them was negligible.

Everything was going great now, for everyone, even though the school year started off a bit rocky with Nessie's family. Not the school part, the Nessie being left alone part. But it was easily resolved. We set up a schedule so she would always have someone to talk to, share her day with, someone to spend time with so that she would never be left alone, or feel alone, at least while I was at school and could not be with her. They were all actually appalled that she was being neglected and were happy to spend time with her.

I could not wait until next year, Nessie would be in school too, and we could be together more.

"Jacob, you wanted to remind you when it was five minutes till seven." Bella said poking her head into the bedroom. Dartmouth was not easy. But like they promised, the Cullens helped me out whenever I needed it. I was in the middle of studying for a math test I had coming up, but this was for something completely unrelated.

"Thanks, Bells," I said as I grabbed my laptop and set it up to wait for the Skype call from Billy. He was suppose to call at seven and I didn't want to miss it. I tried not to have my computer out while I was studying, since I tended to get distracted and go online and surf around instead of what I was supposed to be doing. Especially when Nessie was not here.

It was not that often that we were apart, but she was off for a girls night with Rose and Alice at their house. I guess it was the vampire version of a sleep over. Since she never went to school and had normal friends this was the closest she was going to get. The three of them planned a whole night of silly teen movies, makeovers, facials, and mani's and pedi's.

"Hey, Dad. How is everything going?" The laptops that I was able to get my family and Pack were working out great. I managed to get a good deal on them, while only having to buy two, in the end. And, thanks to Alice, that was actually easily affordable. Edward of course tried to pay for them, but this time I put my foot down. I got one for Billy, Rachel and Paul to use at Billy's house, and one for Quil and Embry to share. Bella insisted on paying for a couple for Leah and Seth, since they were technically her family now. She also got some for Charlie and Sue. At least now I could see everyone through video calls, I still missed them but this made it easier.

Right after the laptops were set up in La Push Nessie had asked me if it would be alright with me if she called Billy, _alone_. She didn't seem to want me to know why she wanted to talk to him, but said it was important, though nothing to worry about. Whatever it was she seemed much happier after they spoke. I wish I knew what it was. Did she have a problem? I didn't like not being able to help her solve any problems she had, but I guess if I could not, I was glad that she was able to go to my dad for help.

That night I talked to my dad for over an hour before I had to go. I still had a lot of studying to do.

I knew school was important, but all of the required classes I had to take, some of them just seemed to be so pointless.

I was still thinking of what I wanted to major in. The school said we needed to declare our majors before our sophomore year, so this year I was just taking general studies classes. Maybe I should talk to Nessie and see what she was interested in, then we could major in the same thing. I think everyone just assumed I would major in Native American Studies, but I wanted to study something new. Growing up on the res, with the chief as your dad, I already had a pretty good grasp on MY tribe's history, at least. Well our tribe was a bit different than others, since our myths and legends turned out to be true, it just made everything more real.

It was amusing to see the Doc and Esme going back to school. Apparently Carlisle (or Edward or Rose) returned to medical school once every few decades to keep up to date on the new advances in medicine. Occasionally he also studied some of his other interests. I never realized he had any others besides being a doctor but it turns out he also enjoyed art and music. Edward always seemed to monopolies the piano so much that I guess no one ever really bothered much anymore, except the occasional lesson he now gave to Bella and Nessie.

Maybe a Photography major would be fun. Esme was going to major in that. She had studied photography before and now she thought it would be nice to get her degree in it. She seemed excited to learn of all of the possibilities of digital cameras combined with what she already knew of classic film photography.

I really liked the photo present Nessie made me where she had photoshopped the images of my Pack in there wolf and human forms into one image. It might be nice to learn how to do that.

Edward decided to major in physics with Rose. He thought it would be fun to take together with her. They had not taken classes together since the last medical degrees they received over twenty years ago. I was amazed to learn that Blondie already had a PhD in astrophysics. Getting another bachelors degree in physics didn't seem like it would be much of a challenge, and she seemed upset to learn that there was not much new in the field in the last 30 years; but she said she got to take lots of math and physics classes which is what she really enjoyed. I don't know how anyone would enjoy that but it wasn't my life, so whatever.

I always thought Bella would have majored in English or Literature, or whatever this school was calling it. She was always reading the same old books over and over, but surprised everyone when she told us she decided to instead major in Art History, I think she also mentioned how she was excited that next year she would have some classes with Esme.

Jasper, our resident history buff, liked the idea of learning about history from a viewpoint other than militarily and was going to try his hand as an Art History major as well. He thought it would be fun learning about the past from a non-war perspective. I give him a year and a half at most, before he gets bored.

Alice was going to be majoring in Women and Gender Studies. I have no idea what that means, but Alice loves all things fashion, and I guess fashion and women go together. I was sure she knew what she was doing, nevertheless.

Then of course Emmett heard she was taking classes about "women" and "gender", and thought it would be a hoot to take with her. I know I don't know what it really means, but I am pretty sure it is definitely not about whatever he thinks it is about. Somehow I don't think that was going to work out well. But it would probably be hilarious in the meantime.


	32. The Volturi Return

**Year Four, Chapter Thirty-Two**

 **The Volturi** **Return**

Renesmee's Point of View

As we went back to the house I smelled them. The Volturi! They had been here.

Alice had warned us last week that there was _someone_ uninvited coming to visit. She promised that it was nothing we needed worry about, but she did not mention it was THEM. She knew what the mere mention of their name did to me. Now I wondered if it would have been better if she had told me so I could have mentally prepared for their visit.

I froze when I walked in the front door of the house and saw them, Felix and Demetri, with one other whom I didn't recognize. They were still here! Their red eyes just seemed to be glaring at me.

Jacob had kept me out of the house for most of the day. He must have known who would be arriving today, but, I assume, we both thought that whoever it was, would be gone by now. Why hadn't my family called one of our cell phones and warned us not to return yet?

"Ah, there she is. Renesmee, my dear, we have been waiting for you. Oh my, what a lovely. . . _young_ . . . lady you have . . . _grown_ to be. Let me wish you a belated _Third_ birthday." Belated was right, it was July after all. Demetri spoke with a fake smile, that somehow also looked more like a frown to me. He was in front of me before I knew it, grabbing my hand and bringing it to his lips. As he started to place a kiss on my hand Jacob knocked his arm away and jumped protectively in the small space between us.

"Get your hands off of her," he seethed. Jacob's entire body was shaking now like it did when he was about to phase, but I could tell he was trying hard to calm down. Phasing now would be bad. Very, very bad.

"Please, both of you, there is no need for violence. Let us return to the living room and discuss matters, peacefully," Grandpa Carlisle stepped in.

Demetri backed away sufficiently that Jacob was actually able to calm down enough to stop shaking as we all walked into the living room, where my entire family was waiting.

" _Don't let me go."_ I said to Jacob with my gift. Of course he never did; holding one hand in his, with the other wrapped protectively around my waist, we walked in the living room. He sat on the empty chair by my parents and placed me in his lap. We both needed to relax, but that seemed highly unlikely right now.

" _Breath, my Jacob. There are only three of them, they can't hurt me."_ I used my gift again to try and reassure him. Now I just needed someone to help me do the same. I felt Jacob squeeze me tightly to him but I wasn't sure if it was meant to try and calm me down, give me a hug, or just him not wanting to let me go, protecting me in his strong arms. It helped a little, but just not enough.

"We didn't realize you would be staying so long. Alice told us you would be just stopping by, passing along some info." Jacob said to them as nicely as he could. It still came out rather harsh but I know he was trying.

"Yes, well, we have been traveling, letting ALL of our kind know of the newest law, prohibiting the creation of any new half-vampires. It has taken us almost three years now, We of course began in Italy, moving throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and lastly North America. You can imagine it takes awhile tracking down all of those nomads . . . but I digress. There is another reason why we are here."

"I am surprised your little profit did not tell you beforehand." Felix looked at Alice with false shock.

My father started growling under his breath. What was it they were keeping from me?

"I would have mentioned something to everyone," Aunt Alice began, "but I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about." She shrugged rather worriedly.

"Oh, well isn't that interesting. It doesn't really matter. Demetri decided at the last minute that he just _needed_ to see how your young Renesmee, here, was developing." Felix chuckled over to him. "We have been waiting for you, my dear, all day."

"We didn't realize the Volturi were so interested in our daughter that they would send someone specifically to check on her," my mother interjected.

"They are not the ones who are interested in your daughter, this time. This was completely my own curiosity. I just thought it would be good to check up on the _young_ lady, in case anyone asked when we returned to Voltura. Better safe than sorry, you know." Demetri smirked. "Well, now that we have seen _young_ Renesmee here, and know all is well, I think it is time we left."

Why does he keep saying " _young_ Renesmee" like that? And why was he so interested in seeing me?

"Good idea, I don't think I can take the stench anymore" the one whom I didn't know his name said, looking over to my Jacob. He seemed bothered by him, I'm not sure why, he was with the Volturi, weren't they the ones who threatened all of the Vampires in the world. He must know Jacob was a werewolf. I remembered my father mentioning Caius was terrified of them. Was this guy also?

"Of course, why don't you let me show you out," Grandpa Carlisle offered, extending his arm toward the front door.

They left without another word and the atmosphere in the room calmed down about a million percent.

"I am sorry, we would have called and warned you two not to return so soon, but they refused to leave until they saw you, Nessie." My father explained.

"Well at least I have an explanation as to why I did not see beforehand that they would be staying. I'm sorry Nessie. I should have looked harder," Aunt Alice apologized to me.

"No, it's not your fault. There is no way you could have known they would stay. You heard them, it was a last minute decision on that creepy Demetri's part."

"Why was he so interested in Nessie anyway?" Jacob asked my father. "I didn't believe for a second that crappy explanation he gave us."

"I am not sure. He was guarding his thoughts very carefully, the entire time he was here. Before the two of you returned I did pick up that he had a bit of a . . . _crush_ on Nessie, but something was off." He fruitlessly tried to whisper to Jacob, but I was sitting on his lap, so of course I heard too. "Of course if I were him, and knew that the girl I had a crush on, had a father who could read my thoughts, I would try to guard them as well," my father scowled. "Alice could you keep an eye on him and let us know when he plans on returning?"

"Of course, I don't see any problems in the immediate future though, but I will keep checking." Aunt Alice said as her eyes went out of focus for a second before snapping back.

"It may turn out to be nothing, just a passing fantasy," Aunt Rose suggested.

"That doesn't make sense though." Grandma Esme looked worriedly over to my father. "The last time he saw Nessie she appeared no more than a toddler, now she looks like a teenager. But he left so quickly after waiting so long to see her. So strange. There must be something more that we are missing. Did you get anything else from him Edward?"

"Um, Edward?," Uncle Emmett turned to speak now, "I know last time we ran into him, you were a little preoccupied, but do you remember hearing anything about his reaction to Nessie when she was . . . er, smaller?" He said looking kind of repulsed. Why?

One second later my father sort of gave a queasy . . . smile.

"He did have a preference for younger _meals_ as I recall."

Oh, I grasped what he was implying just as everyone else did. Yuck!

"You're probably right Emmett, I did not think much of it at the time, it was not really a top concern of mine, back then." My father continued.

"I guess we know now why they departed rather abruptly after hanging around here for so long just to see Renesmee." Jasper added. "I was wondering why his mood soured so dramatically once he finally saw her."

"I guess this means that I don't need to be looking into Demetri's future anymore, since Nessie will only be getting older. Problem solved." Alice chirped happily.

"This is gross, I think I need a shower," I said to no one in particular. I needed to get out of this room. Away from their smell. They had stunk up the whole living room. I don't have a problem with Vampires smells, like my Jacob did. I actually thought everyone in my family smelt wonderful. But this was different, it was more the association, than the actual smell. Please, I hope they did not go in my room. I could not sleep in there anymore if they did.

I know everyone was currently relieved that the creepy, pervert vampire was not going to be a problem but I was not so optimistic. It was just a theory, after all. And my father said that he had a crush on me. What if he suddenly realized I am not so big as he first thought? What if he changes his mind and comes back? What if he doesn't care how old I am? There were a thousand "What If's".

But that was not all that was upsetting me.

I was also so disturbed by seeing the Volturi in general, not just that one. The Volturi have been terrifying my unconscious mind for years now, haunting my dreams with their nightmares, with their robes, and powers, and evil red eyes, and just everything about them. I had finally thought I had started to get over them and now they came back.

I had to squirm to disentangle myself from Jacob's arms before heading off to my bathroom. His grip on me while those henchmen were here had been so tight, but I knew it was because he was concerned for my safety. I just wished it could make me feel completely better and take all my worries away. I loved how protective he was of me, sometimes.

"Are you sure you will be alright Renesmee?" My father questioned. He was in my head and knew exactly how upset I was. But I needed to go, and get out of this room. I felt gross, dirty, slimy. Just the way they, he was looking, leering at me. Yes I defiantly needed a shower.

"I'll be fine," I said out loud more for everyone else's benefit. "Right Aunt Alice?"

"Nessie, of course, I just told you, your future, at least your immediate future seems fine. You're safe."

"See, I'll be fine." I said again, this time more for my benefit. A quick look around the room told me that no one believed me, but no one tried to stop me either.

….

Jacob's Point of View

That night I tucked Nessie into bed after her shower, before going back to my room. She had stayed in the bathroom a very long time and I was worried. I hope she would be okay, and not think too much about that creep from the Volturi.

Of course it was the one thing that I was trying to avoid in myself. The last thing I wanted was to become some perverted pedophile like him, with Nessie. Not that that would ever happen. But what were the odds, that the very reason I was not in the same bed with Nessie anymore, was so similar to why the Volturi creep had been interested in her.

I must have just fallen asleep when I heard Nessie screaming.

"Renesmee!" I yelled, as I leaped out of bed, and sprinted towards her room. Emmett's theory must have been wrong. That Volturi pervert came back! If he laid one hand on her I would literally rip him to pieces. But once I was through her door I saw that she was alone. She was still in bed, screaming, in her sleep. She was having a nightmare, probably about Him. I knew he must have creeped her out more than she let on.

"Nessie, Nessie wake up. It's just a dream, your safe," I gently said as a tried to nudge her awake. The last thing I wanted was to scare her more. "He's not here, your safe, I won't let him touch you."

She looked very confused when she woke up, but grabbed me into the tightest hug she had ever given me. After about five minutes she ended the hug but didn't let go of me.

"My Jacob, I'm so glad you're safe." She said sobbing into my shoulder. I wiped away the tears that had fallen on her cheek but more just came.

"Nessie you were having another nightmare, were you dreaming about that Volturi pervert from earlier tonight?" What else could be bothering her, to bring back her nightmares?

"Oh, no, not exactly. His personal _preferences_ freaked me out, yes, but they were more disgusting than frightening. It's the Volturi in general, coming after me . . . after us, that scared me. I don't care about that guy, much, apart from him being part of the Volturi. I thought that I had gotten past my issues with them, and then they show up after all these years, and I feel like I am right back there again, and now it seems worse, more concrete, more real. What is wrong with me, my Jacob? Why can't I get past this?"

"Nessie, there is nothing wrong with you, do you hear me? ,Nothing. It just shows how good you are that those evil bastards have affected you like this so much. Please don't worry though. You know that I will never let them hurt you. Ever."

When she finally stopped crying and started to settle down I briefly tightened my grip on her and placed a kiss on her forehead before getting up to go back to my room. "Try to go back to sleep, okay?"

"No, my Jacob, please don't leave me. Stay," she pleaded.

"I can't sweetheart, you know Bella and Edward won't let us sleep in the same bed together anymore."

She didn't say anything, but looked so sad. I expected some kind of verbal response from her, some type of negotiation to try and get me to stay - begging, pleading, something. But she just looked lost and so unbelievably sad. Then the tears started again. She still didn't try negotiating with me, but curled up into a ball and began quietly sobbing to herself. That was it for me. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, Nessie, lie down." I said as I slid in next to her.

" _Edward, I am sure you are listening. She needs me tonight, You can do whatever you want to me in the morning,"_ I thought to him, knowing he would hear me.

He didn't break down the door and drag me out so I assumed he was okay with me staying, at least for tonight. I cuddled in Nessie's bed, with my angel in my arms, giving her sweet little pecks on top of her head as she drifted off to sleep. I knew that night I would have the most peaceful sleep I had had, since before I was pulled away from my angel. I only hoped I could do the same for her.

….

"Good morning sweetheart." Nessie was just waking up, but I had been awake for over an hour just watching her sleep. I missed this, just laying next to her, watching her, breathing in and out. The slow steady rhythm of her breath. The warmth of her skin touching mine, soft and smooth, yet strong. The steady beating of her heart. When we were together like this in the past our heartbeats would sync up, so if someone were listening they would only think they were hearing one person's heart.

I loved the time I was able to spend with her this morning, but now it was over. I would have to go and see Bella and Edward and deal with whatever they were planning on doing to me, for spending the night in Nessie's bed. Nothing happened, of course. I just calmed Nessie down after her nightmare so she could sleep. I had never seen her so bad. She was so sad, and looked like she was giving up hope.

"How did you sleep? You didn't have any more nightmares, did you?"

"No, Jacob. Thank you for staying with me. I don't think I would have been able to go back to sleep without you there. My dreams were wonderful, for the first time in awhile, just from having you back with me."

"You know it was just for last night, right Nessie? Edward and Bella are not going to let me stay with you again. In fact, now that you are up I should go and see what sort of punishment, or whatever, they have waiting for me." I didn't think they would physically try to hurt me. Maybe they would limit the amount of time Nessie and I got to spend together each day, but that would hurt Nessie, too. In that case maybe a few broken ribs would be better.

"NO!"

"I'm sorry, honey?" What did she mean?

"I said 'No'. I will not let anything happen to you. Come on, we are going to go talk to my parents together and we are going to convince them that not only was there nothing wrong with you spending the night, calming me down, last night, so I could sleep, but that we are going to return to our previous sleeping arrangements, sharing a bedroom, from now on." Nessie said as she started dragging me out of the room to go find Bella and Edward.

This was not going to go well.

At least we did not have to go far. As soon as we exited Nessie's room we saw her parents waiting for me, or us, I guess, in the living room.

"Nothing happened . . ." I started as we walked towards where they were sitting on the couch.

"We still need to talk to you, Jake." Bella still did not seem happy even as she confirmed she had believed me.

"That's not true, Jacob and you know it." Nessie countered out of nowhere.

What? I threw her a look of disbelief. Why would she say that? Was she trying to get me killed?

"Jacob, I needed you last night and you were there for me. You were there when and how I needed you just like you have always been. You were perfect. Everything about last night was perfect."

Okay, I'm dead.

Nessie then went up on her toes and placed a soft peck on my cheek. That was probably not helping my case.

" _Just let me talk to them."_ She thought to me with her gift. I hoped she had a plan, but knowing her, she did.

She calmly went over and sat next to Bella and Edward on the couch as she placed her hands in Bella's. There must have been some things she needed to tell them that she could only communicate properly with her gift.

"Jacob, you protected me. you protected me, as you have always done. Maybe not from a physical attack, but from a mental one generated from my own mind. And your imprinting drove you to protect me just as it always had done. I needed you and you were there for me. It is wrong of my parents to try and keep you from what your instincts were telling you what you should be doing."

She was looking at me when she spoke but I knew it was meant for Bella and Edward. But she was right. I only wanted to protect her, nothing more.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

"Mom, dad, I can't and won't continue to sleep without Jacob. He belongs in my bed, with me. I love Jacob and I need him there. _. . . Nothing is going to happen. He is still not ready for us to be together like that. I know that, and I know that you know that. I promised to wait until he was ready and I will."_

"For now but things could change, you could change your mind." Why was my father thinking the worst about us.

"Don't you trust me?" Was he really doubting me?

"After what happened last summer I am not sure if that is possible." My mother sighed.

No, not her too.

"That was a mistake, I know, but not for the reasons you think. I know you thought I was too young then. . . . _You believe I am still not mature enough, but I am, not that it matters if Jacob is not ready._ . . . But I am older and wiser now. Just look at me. I'm physically 17 years old. I look like I am the same age as you, dad. And I'm 5'7", that is taller than you, mom. You've let me take college classes online and next year I will be going to school with you."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Yes, they can." I agreed. "Mentally I have been as smart as an adult since my first birthday."

"Book smart yes, but life experiences wise, I think not." My father countered.

"What do you think Grandma Esme was doing, with me, and her social training, while you were attending high school? She knew I needed to be prepared for life sooner than you realized. And she managed to squeeze in almost a lifetime of experiences into two years, pretty successfully I believe."

"Nessie, I am sorry, I don't think you too should be sleeping together."

"Dad, I am sleeping with Jacob and that is final. . . . . _And besides, I know you are concerned about us someday moving too fast but I might . . . not want Jacob romantically anymore."_

"Really? And what about what Jake wants?" My mother seemed shocked. I know my father probably heard me thinking about it over and over after Nahuel's _little_ announcement, but I haven't come to any decisions.

"Jacob feels the same as I do. . . . _And_ s _ince I currently have not decided if I want Jacob or Nahuel, he should have no desires for me either. This is a moot point though, like I already said, Jacob is not mentally ready for me yet, so it does not matter."_

"Things could change. _You_ could change your mind in the future." My father added in.

" _Probably_. . . . It just seemed like you assumed we will end up together? Don't you think I would follow the same path most other imprints did with their wolves."

"Of course sweetheart, but it is your choice, we just want to protect you." My mother said softly.

"Protect me? Jacob protects me. He would never do anything that wasn't what was best for me. Which is why we should be allowed to sleep together. You know that is how imprinting works. He wants what I want and need, right?"

"Theoretically." My father didn't seem to truly believe it even though he agreed.

"But I am still concerned about what happened last summer?" he continued.

"I know. _. . . And I don't want to make excuses, but that was also before Nahuel said he was interested in being with me. I always just assumed I was supposed to be with Jacob, but I need to take some time to be sure I make the right decision. . . ._ But you see there is nothing for you to be concerned about, . . . _when I do make my choice . . ._ I would hope that you would be happy for me. . . . _With whomever I choose."_

My parents exchanged a quick look, then my mother nodded to my father and they consented to let Jacob sleep in my room again, at least until my nightmares calmed down again, but warned that my father would be keeping a close watch on us at night.

...

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think.


	33. Fight Training

Year Five, Dating

Chapter 33, Fight Training

Chapter 34, Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 35, Nahuel's Return

Chapter 36, The College Plan

Chapter 37, College (and Trouble) Begins

Chapter 38, The Tough Talk

Chapter 39, Driving and Dating

Chapter 40, A Dream and a Wedding

Chapter 41, Talks with Bella and Jacob

Chapter 42, A Very Long Night

…

 **Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Three**

 **Fight Training**

Renesmee's Point of View

I awoke from my dream with a smile on my face. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to take some control of my life. I could not continue always relying on Jacob to protect me, not in the waking world and not in my dreams. These nightmares of mine would never end as long as I was letting someone else take complete responsibility for my protection. They were my nightmares, my worries, my fears. I needed to handle them. Jacob only offered a temporary bandage. If I did not want to be continually ruled by them I would need to get rid of them myself. I needed to start fighting; metaphorically and literally.

It was the end of August, school did not start up again for another few weeks. It was the perfect time to do this. Hopefully I could start right away. Today, even.

Jacob would teach me how to fight, surely. He always gave me what I needed, and I needed this. But who else?

I bet Uncle Emmett would be more than willing to help me learn as well. He could be a giant goofball, fight training with him would be fun, I hoped. My mother and father had gone hunting last night, some sort of extended trip, high up into Canada, and were not due to return until late this evening, but maybe they would be willing to help tomorrow.

Uncle Jasper was the best fighter in the family, but I think that I might want to work up to him, so that I don't get too discouraged right away. And what about Grandpa Carlisle, and Grandma Esme, I knew they did not like violence and would only fight when it was deemed necessary, and I did not want to upset them if I did not have too. So they were out.

Then there was Aunt Rose and Aunt Alice. Aunt Rose would probably enjoy play fighting with Uncle Emmett. But then again she was too protective of me, what if I got hurt? She would be sure to over dramatize it. Maybe. I will still ask her, she could be fine. And she and Jacob had been getting along so well lately. I don't think I will ask Aunt Alice. I had heard she was a great fighter, no one could touch her. Being able to see what everyone was going to do gave her an amazing advantage, but she could not see me, or Jacob, and it would lead to her probably getting frustrated. And who knew how good a fighter she really was without her gift to help her? Plus I was not asking Uncle Jasper yet, and I didn't think it was right to choose one over the other like that, they were kind of a matching set, that would not be separated. Of course you could say that of all the couples in the family.

"So you want me to teach you how to fight?"

"You're awake? . . . And you saw my thoughts?" Of course he did, my hand was on his arm. "Wait do you see my dreams every night too?" He had never mentioned anything. That could be embarrassing.

"Very rarely. Only when you're hand happens to land on my cheek, if you are moving around in your sleep; when our skin connects anywhere else nothing happens. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. It's only happened twice, and I moved your hand away as soon as I realized. I didn't mean to invade your privacy."

"It's okay, you didn't." Jacob's face seemed to relax from the sorrowful expression he wore when he revealed his barely-peeping into my dreams. It wasn't even an issue. And why would I ever hid anything from him. The more I thought about it the more I didn't care if he saw my dreams. We shared everything else. Why not those as well. "So is that a yes? Will you teach me how to fight?"

"Yes, but I don't know if it will be so easy convincing the rest of your family. Edward in particular. I seem to remember him having a problem with teaching Bella to fight."

"Well, we will just have to convince him when he returns. Come on, let's get started." I said as I jumped out of bed.

After getting dressed and eating some breakfast, we found Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose and began trying to convince them to help.

"So my little Niece thinks she's ready to take on a big bad vampire all by her little self?" teased Uncle Emmett.

"No that's not it. But I do think I need to start learning how to defend myself."

"What's going on, Jacky here not doing a good enough job?"

"Uncle Emmett, my Jacob is perfect. I said with a smile over to him which stopped his growls. "But I need this for me."

"Bella and Edward are not going to like this." Aunt Rose cautioned.

"I can't believe that. They would want me to be able to defend myself if I needed to. Right? Even if it was just until one of you showed up. Jacob cannot be by my side 24 hours a day."

"Yes, I can." He responded.

At the same time Aunt Rose smirked, "Oh, I think he would if you let him, Nessie."

"Jacob you deserve a life, too. Guarding me should not be your full time job."

"Guarding you . . . no, watching you . . . maybe." Emmett chuckled, before Aunt Rose smacked him off the top of his head.

I knew what he was implying and it did not have the intended result he was looking for, well it only made Jacob smile before looking down to his feet, embarrassingly. Hmmm, I wonder why? We're his feelings starting to change?

"Ok let's get on with this. How should we start?"

"Rose, honey, why don't we show these two how it's done." He said with another chuckle. "Come and get me."

I started to think this might have been a bad idea. Maybe Uncle Jasper would have been a better choice after all. But then Uncle Emmett dropped into a defensive crouch as Aunt Rose ran towards him.

I watched over and over as he evaded her attacks. Eventually I felt ready to try it on my own. Uncle Emmett volunteered to be the one who would "attack" me first. Jacob, and Aunt Rose, were looking very nervous that Uncle Emmett would somehow hurt me, but he went so slow in the beginning that it was almost too easy, there was no chance of him coming into contact with me.

Eventually he did start to speed up and I continued to evade him, . . . until I didn't. In an instant I felt like I was knocked into by a mac truck and was flying backwards through the air before landing safely in Jacobs arms.

"Renesmee, are you okay? Talk to me sweetheart."

"Hmmm? . . . I'm fine. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me."

"Come on, I think that is enough for today."

"No Jacob, really I'm fine. I want to try again. I think I know what I did wrong. I need to test my theory while it's fresh in my mind." I said as I tried to climb out of Jacobs arms.

"Alright, but if you get hurt, even a tiny bit, we are done."

"Jacob, I'm fine. Look not even a scratch."

Three additional passes later and I was still good. I was at least getting the handle of ducking, evading, jumping out of the way. Things like that. Just not getting caught in general.

We all agreed that it would be good to move on to some hand to hand self defense after lunch.

I had no intention of _attacking_ a vampire, but if they got their hands on me it would be nice to get myself out of their grip, at the very least, so I could run away. Or hide until reinforcements showed up.

Of course I knew I was all not as fast as a full vamp so running away would not be that practical for long. And I was not as strong so I could never win in a hand to hand fight, but I was hoping for at least a chance to prolong things long enough to be "rescued" . . . if the need ever arose, that is.

For today they just had me practice what to do to get out of a vampires tight grip, if one ever got their hands on me. Okay, so not only Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose's vampire grips, I also practiced getting out of Jacobs arms as well. It was actually fun, but I think I might actually be sore tomorrow. I had been practicing all night when we finally decided to call it quits upon hearing Jacobs stomach growl. Dinner time!

It was a long day, very successful, I think, but I was so exhausted and worn out, I nearly passed out at the table. Actually I think I did. I remember Jacob caring me to bed after dinner and then nothing.

The next morning I woke up to the sensation of Jacob's warm body being ripped away from me and being replaced with empty coldness. What was going on?

"How could you? You promised me." My father was screaming.

When I opened my eyes and looked around the room I saw that he had Jacob shoved against the far wall.

"Dad, what are you doing? Mom, help! Stop him." She was standing next to me now, just glaring at Jacob.

It didn't look like she was going to do anything. I could not understand why. Weren't they best friends? They use to be. Why would she let my father hurt my Jacob like this?

I ran across the room and started trying in vain to pull my father's hands off of him.

Ouch! I was sore. Not nearly as sore as thought I was going to be from last night, but my muscles were aching from being used in ways they had never been before.

My father was now growling at Jacob even more, still ignoring my attempts to remove him, and started shoving Jacob back into the wall with even more force.

"Get your hands off of me!" Jacob growled. He was standing there, not fighting back, but shaking and struggling not to phase. I could tell how just doing that was taking a lot of effort.

"I saw your dreams. Did you think I would not find out?" He looked at me and seethed as one of his hands wrapped around Jacobs throat.

"My dreams?" I questioned my father. What was I dreaming about. I was so tired from yesterday I fell into such a deep, deep sleep last night. Between that and the shock of everything going on right now, at this moment I could not even begin to recall what I had dreamt about.

"Both of yours." He responded which caused my mother to start growling too.

"What?" I still did not understand. "Jacob what were you dreaming about?" I pleaded.

"Yesterday." Was all he was able to choke out. Maybe Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose said something to my parents.

"Did you talk to them?" I asked my father.

"They were leaving just as we arrived and were guarding their thoughts pretty closely. But I saw how they knew I would be angry when I learned of yesterday's _events_. Why would you think I would speak to them about . . . this?"

"Because they were there, helping to teach me how to fight. Isn't that what you are upset about?"

Finally my father released Jacob. "You mean you were _actually_ . . . wrestling? Nothing more?"

Jacob seemed to take the sudden shock that came over my father as an opportunity to punch him square in his jaw. Wow! I had never seen him lift one finger to my father, before this, and he probably had been justified on more than one occasion.

"JAKE!" my mother yelled running over to them and throwing Jacob back into the far wall. She didn't actually intend to hurt him, I think, she was just getting him off of my father. And of course my father was okay. One punch was not actually going to hurt him. But that knowledge did not make me feel better. I did not want this turning into an actual fight.

"No, no, no, all of you. Please don't fight." I started sobbing as I ran over to Jacob who was crumpled to the floor. What was going on?

"Nessie. I'm sorry, don't cry, honey. I'm sorry I hit Edward." Jacob said, sitting up. He didn't look hurt, but I didn't stop crying, either. I didn't want the two men I loved the most fighting.

He wrapped his arms around me in an attempt to sooth me. "I'm sorry I lost my temper. I should never have hit him. I won't do it again. I promise. Please." He tried again. It seemed like my crying was upsetting him more than what my father had just done.

I needed to get a handle on my emotions. This wasn't helping. After wiping my tears, I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

I looked over to my father, and saw him whispering something to my mother too low, even for me to hear. At least they didn't look so angry anymore, but as I realized what set him off in the first place I now was the one who was livid.

"Dad," I began, taking control of my emotions as best I could, while getting up and walking over to him. "What is wrong with you? You cannot keep doing this. You cannot continually become irrational every time you think something has happened with me that you don't approve of. I can handle things and make my own decisions."

"Renesmee, I am sorry I overreacted. I misread the situation. I know now nothing happened." He replied. But "sorry" was not going to make things better.

"That is not the point. So what if nothing happened. Eventually something really will happen that you don't approve of, and then what? You kill the person I love?"

I started recalling for him in my mind, all of the times I had seen him overreact.

"And why would something happen that I do not approve of?" My father started getting upset again. "When you are old enough, you will get married, then you will be free to do as you please."

"You don't seriously expect me to get married do you?"

"WHAT?" All three of them said in unison.

Why were they so shocked. I had heard the stories of how my father had to practically beg my mother, over and over again, to marry him. She finally gave in, but only in exchange for something she _actually_ cared about.

"You never want to get married? At all? To anyone?" Jacob looked like he was in shock.

"Just because I don't want to have a silly ceremony, does not mean I don't want to commit my life to one person, someday." I said looking straight at Jacob.

"This is Nahuel's doing isn't it? He put this idea in your head with his offer for the two of you to go off and you become his mate without bothering to get married, isn't it?"

"He did what?" Jacob seethed.

"Dad! No." How could he think that? How could he say that? And in front of Jacob? Oh, crap! "This has nothing to do with what Nahuel said. I just don't see the point of marriage."

"When did that happen?" Jacob demanded. "Nahuel has been gone for months."

"Back in September." My mother quietly answered him. "But Nessie was not interested and anyway she was too young to be making those kinds of decisions. Just like you are still too young to decide whether or not you may want to get married someday."

"Bella is right." My father said. "We don't need to settle this right now. It will still be years before we need to seriously think about this. Why don't we _all_ take some time to calm down."

Was my father serious? How hard did Jacob hit him? This was not over, not even close. And what was with his thinking that he would be involved in my decision as to whether or not I want to get married? I was not going to change my mind about marriage. But I did not want to do this in front of Jacob. I could see how upset he already was by what he had learned this morning, not to mention the rude awakening he received by my father.

"How about I make you two a nice big breakfast this morning. Any requests?" My mother asked.

Was she delusional too? Breakfast was not going to fix this either. But I needed time to talk to Jacob and her making breakfast would give me that time.

"Um, sure mom. Whatever you feel like making, I guess." Then I turned to Jacob. "I think I need some air. Would you like to go for a walk before we eat?"

"Um, yeah, sure, Nessie." He still looked stunned. This might be a longer walk than I thought.


	34. Decisions, Decisions

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Four**

 **Decisions, Decisions**

Renesmee's Point of View

As I walked out of the house and into the woods with Jacob, my dreams from the night before started coming back to me. I was indeed reliving the events from yesterday. But they had focused on the fight training parts between Jacob and myself. And I know my imagination had gotten a bit carried away. My dream version was a bit more _intimate_ than reality had been, and that was just the starting point. No wonder my father had gotten the wrong idea. But what was Jacob thinking about. He just told me that he was thinking about "Yesterday". Had he been thinking of _more_ as well?

"So, that was . . . interesting." I started.

"Yeah. What is going on with Edward? How many times do I have to go over this with him? I would never do anything like that with you Nessie." I guess not. "Doesn't he know me, by now. He should know I still think you're too young." Really! 18 is still too young for him? "And besides, I would never just . . . arrrg." He growled ripping his hands through his hair. "But I want to apologize again to you for hitting him, even if he did have it coming."

"Jake it's okay, I understand, I guess. Just don't do it again, please. We all know how he can get sometimes. That's partially why we're in this mess. And I think you both owe each other an apology, not just me."

"Sure, sure. If that is what you want." He said a bit reluctantly before trying to relax before speaking again. "I have a question about some of the things that were brought up, that I would like to ask you, if you don't mind."

"Err . . . okay, Jacob, I'll try to answer any questions you have as best as I can." I was afraid of this.

"Well um, do you mind telling me what happened between you and Nahuel? It seemed like quite a bit from what Edward implied."

"Jacob you already heard pretty much everything that took place. Nahuel came here last September in order to see if I was willing to become his mate but I obviously turned him down. You were there that day in the woods. Remember?"

"Oh, that was it?"

Wasn't that enough? Maybe he was hoping I would have completely rejected him and told him I never wanted him. But I could not do that. Yet.

"No, not really. Well, he first asked me, a couple weeks prior to you chasing him off in the woods, in front of my parents. You can imagine the reaction from my father."

"Hmmm, I'm surprised Nahuel's still alive," he sighed. "But there wasn't more - that whole no marriage talk?"

"Well, yes, I guess. He did first ask me to marry him, but only to be like the rest of the family. It was not like it was a real proposal."

"But why do you not want to get married, to anyone Nessie? Are you sure you never want to?"

"I have my reasons."

"I'm sure you do. Would you care to tell me why?" Was he getting mad? No, I didn't think so. Disappointed? . . . Maybe.

"Jacob it's like I said, I don't see the point of marriage. The two wedding ceremonies I've seen just seemed like a waste of time. After it is over you still end up being with the person you would have been with if you had not had the ceremony in the first place. Only now you also have a _legal document_ when it is all over. But all of my paperwork, along with some of yours and almost everything for the rest of my family are all fake anyway."

"Then there is the religious aspect of weddings." I continued. "There has never really been a religious . . . anything in the family, during my lifetime, anyway. You know how I feel about Christmas. And put that together with the entire lack of souls for a Vampire and where does that leave me?"

"Nessie, you know you have a soul right?" He looked at me skeptically.

"No, I don't. I'm the child of a vampire after all."

"Of course you do. I would never have been able to imprint on you if you didn't, Renesmee. Imprints are wolves SOULMATES. The first word is Soul. Your soul is the other half of mine."

"Yeah, and what about the second part of the word?" I smirked at him. I was curious about his reaction to the possibility of being my mate. But he just raised his eyebrows and gave me a look like I should know better than to say that after this morning's events. I guess he was right, so I dropped it, for now. "Jacob, you are the kindest, most loving person I know. Someone as good as you probably just has a soul big enough for the both of us."

"You're joking, right?" He knew I was and we both started chuckling, a bit.

"Okay, so I guess I have a soul, but I am not giving in on my other points."

He looked disappointed but there was nothing I could do about that. He didn't say anything and I didn't see us resolving this issue anytime soon, so after a minute of neither one of us talking I decided to change the subject.

"Jacob, what did you promise my dad?"

"What?" He seemed puzzled.

"I know I was still half asleep but when he first, um . . . entered our bedroom, he was screaming something like 'How could you? You promised.'"

"Yeah, that . . . well, it was a long time ago, Nessie. And I didn't exactly promise him anything. But we did talk about . . . well if at some point in the future, . . . and I was lucky enough that you chose me, that I would marry you . . . you know . . . um, first. Before certain _things_ happened. If you wanted to, that is."

"Oh."

"I guess that is not going to happen though." He got quiet again, before speaking again. "Maybe it is time I left." What? Leave? No! "I should just go and get my own place."

"Jacob you can't leave me!" I cried.

"No honey, I'm not leaving you, just this house. And I wouldn't go that far Nessie. I can just get a place nearby. It's only going to get worse around here with Edward and you know it."

"Well your leaving would make things ten times worse."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because I'd be coming with you and if you think he's upset now he'd be livid with us living alone together."

"Nessie, you wouldn't be coming with me."

"How could I live without you in the same house. Jacob, I can't even sleep without you in my bed."

"Isn't that what the fight training was for? So you could take some control of your life, so you would not need me to sleep with you every night?"

"Okay, so maybe I don't _want_ to sleep without you." Why was he making this so difficult. "Jacob, if you leave I'm coming with you. I look like I'm eighteen now, and I already have the IDs to prove it. We could find a place together. You stay, or I go too. End of discussion. You were right. The fight training was me beginning to take control of my life and this is me starting it."

"Sure, sure, so I guess I'm staying then. I might need you to protect me from your father, though, since I am not allowed to hit him ever again." Jacob added with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, that was scary. I didn't like seeing the two of you fighting. Even a little bit."

"I'm sorry Nessie. None of this should have ever happened. I never want to see you this upset. It killed me back there seeing you cry."

"Jacob you can't protect me from everything. I need to experience life. And that includes the upsides and the downsides. What kind of a life would it be if I never had anything bad happen? How would I know what was good. You're not helping me by protecting me from everything."

"I guess you're right Nessie. I just hate seeing you upset."

"Hey, I don't want you to be upset either."

….

Jacob's Point of View

"So . . . breakfast?" I asked Nessie. This was one weird morning. So much had happened, so much was said.

I can't believe I actually punched Edward. Nessie looked so hurt when I did that. I can never lose my temper like that again. Edward had been so good to me over the years, and we had actually become friends. Of course he was choking me and possibly trying to kill me at the time.

I guess I could see where he was coming from. Sort of. I know I had dreamt of yesterday, how I spent it teaching Nessie to fight. How had Edward misconstrued that so much, that he thought we had been doing something more? Not to mention the fact that I still did not see Nessie like that, but I guess the last time Nessie tried turning our relationship romantic, that had caught Edward off guard also.

"May I have a word with you, Jacob, before you return inside." Edward had appeared out of nowhere and was now standing in front of us. Great, what did he want now.

Nessie was giving him a skeptical look but he assured her that he just wanted to talk to me.

"I'll meet you inside in a few minutes sweetheart." I said as I gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

As soon as she entered the house, I kept my promise to Nessie, and apologized to Edward for hitting him, even if the punch had been more than justified. I thought my mental comment would get at least a growl from him, but I was surprised that he actually looked ashamed of himself.

"Jacob, you are correct. And I feel I also need to formally apologize to you. I jumped to conclusions without obtaining the facts. You have been nothing but honorable with Renesmee. There is no excuse for what I did." Edward began.

"I think after all of these years you would know me by now. I feel the same way about your daughter as you do. I only want to protect her, care for her, love her, make sure she is happy. Nessie is special . . . not that Bella wasn't," l was backtracking now, seeing the look on Edward's face, and not wanting to insult my friend, and his wife, "But I'm not some stupid teenager anymore. I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize my future with Nessie, however she may want it to be."

I wanted to make one other thing clear to Edward, but I knew he would not like hearing it, of course I also knew he could read it in my mind, but I thought hearing in out loud would be helpful, if not possibly painful, well maybe not for me at least. "But keep in mind . . . if she wants me, and we are together what we do, and when, is her call. Not mine and certainly not yours."

"Jacob, you would have a say in things too."

"If Nessie wants . . . _certain things_ when she is older, and it's . . . _safe_ and it will make her happy, then why would I say no? You heard her today. She does not want to get married. It's not like you can force her too. You must have heard her think about the subject before this. It could not have come as such a complete surprise as you made it out to be."

"Yes, you are right, I have heard her think of the matter before. But until today she was always unsure. It was always a question that she was still considering. I'm afraid my actions and comments this morning may have pushed her over the edge."

"Great, thanks a lot."

"Don't lose faith, Jacob. She could always change her mind."

"I hope so."

"As do I. And who knows what may happen over the next few years."


	35. Nahuel's Return

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Five**

 **Nahuel's Return**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were in the middle of a game of chess against Bella and Edward. Okay, so it was not a traditional chess game. We made up our own version so Edward could not _cheat,_ well not as easily,and it would be more challenging for everyone. In our version Bella didn't even need to keep her shield up around us, so Edward could read our minds and see what we were going to do. Bella mentioned how it was somewhat frustrating for him when she did that in the past. This way he could still hear the minds of everyone, except Bella's of course, while we played. It was interesting, Bella and Edward against Nessie and me.

We were playing on two boards and would switch opponents and then boards every other turn. On the first move I would play against Bella, while Nessie played Edward, then Edward and Bella switched places, effectively playing a new opponent and new board, while Nessie and I kept the same board, but got a different opponent. Then on the next turn Bella and Edward stayed at the same board and Nessie and I switched. It made the game challenging and fun. Since Edward could not read Bella's mind he did not know what she was going to do during her turn and it seemed to even things out.

We were in the middle of our third game, and were currently tied 2–2. This was supposed to be the tie breaking last game before Nessie and I went to bed. We had started playing just after lunch only breaking once for dinner. But this last game was going longer than expected. I could see Nessie was getting tired. It was after eleven, after all.

"Eddie," he hated it when I called him that, "are you ever going to make a move, or are you hoping to win by default, if Nessie falls asleep?" Come on, he had been staring at the board for over ten minutes already.

"I will move my piece when I am ready. And I believe I have mentioned before not to call me that." He half threatened, half chuckled.

After probably another eight to ten minutes later it looked like he was finally going to make his move. He picked up his _Jasper Knight_ piece and was about to take Nessie's _Rosalie Rook_ when he dropped it and ran out the back door, yelling for everyone to stay inside the house.

Like Hell!

If there was trouble I was not sitting in the house.

Bella agreed to stay with Nessie and I took off following Edward's scent. A few hundred feet from the house I picked up another that I recognized. I was wondering when Nahuel would show up again. But why had Edward met him out here?

Just as I was getting close, I could hear Edward speaking, so I stopped advancing. I decided it might be best for now to just hang back and listen in on whatever he had to say.

"Congratulations Nahuel. One year without a single drop of blood, not even animal, that is truly amazing." Really he did that?

"Yes well, after last year I saw that I had a lot of work to do. But I wanted to be worthy." Nahuel replied.

Worthy?

"I can see that. How did you do it, cutting yourself off of blood cold turkey?" Edward asked, seemingly in as much disbelief as me.

"It was not easy, but I knew it had to be done. I could not risk myself around her otherwise." Her? Nessie?

"Well you are to be commended. After feeding from that young girl last year so close to us, I was beginning to have my doubts about you, but I am glad to see how seriously you talking this. It is my daughter's life after all."

"Yes I am well aware, but there is still one more obstacle - her wolf." Yeah, no kidding I am going to be an obstacle. He was never going to lay one finger on her.

"Jacob only wants what is best for her, but you should know that he will protect her at all costs. Even disregarding his own life and safety, if necessary. If you hope to have any chance with Renesmee you will need to prove to him that you are not a threat, first. But do not think that just because you have stopped feeding from humans, means in anyway, that you and my daughter are a sure thing. This only means that I will not interfere from you attempting to pursue her in the future. It will be her decision, in the end, if she chooses to be with you."

I could not believe what I was hearing. That monster actually convinced Edward that he had changed and would not try and kill his daughter when . . . no, IF they . . .

"Jacob, I know you are there. Why don't you come out and talk to Nahuel." Edward called to me. "I think you will find what he has to say extremely interesting."

I emerged from the tree that I had concealed myself behind and moved toward them. "You don't think that I would believe, for one second, anything this monster has to say?" I questioned Edward.

"I don't expect you to believe me Jacob. My behavior in the past had been despicable. Especially my behavior towards you. I would ask for your forgiveness but I don't think I deserve it." Nahuel was actually attempting to apologize to me? Sort of.

"Sorry, still don't believe you." I sneered towards him.

"Jacob, I have seen inside his mind, as you are well aware. You may not trust him, but believe me, he really has changed. After the unfortunate incident with the girl last year, together with your and my reaction to it, along with Nessie's rejection of him and your protectiveness over her, Nahuel reexamined his life and made a change; a permanent one apparently. His diet is completely void of blood, human or animal. It is similar to the change in thinking Rosalie made regarding you.

Oh, really? Wait, No! No way. That is not possible. If it were that easy Jasper would still not be struggling after more than 50 years.

"It's true, he doesn't even seem to crave blood anymore. It might have to do with him being half-vampire and is able to exist off of human food in its place."

How? Nessie can't even go a week without blood, she almost attacked Charlie when she went two weeks between feeding.

"Renesmee is still growing, Jacob. Perhaps she can make a similar change when she stops aging so rapidly and her body ceases to change." Edward said in response to my thoughts.

"Jacob, I have not had any blood, or female _companionship,_ for that matter, since that young girl last year."

I turned to Edward. "You're sure?"

"Completely."

He could just be hiding the truth from you, Eddie. I thought over to him.

"He's not. I would be able to tell."

You better be right. "That does not mean he won't change back though, does it?" I questioned out loud. I had to be sure. I know Nessie deserved to choose who she wanted to spend her life with, and that meant that Nahuel was a possibility, but only if it would not be risking her life.

"It would be highly unlikely. It is hard enough for a vampire to change once, to do it twice is practically unheard of."

I still didn't trust him. "But there is a chance, he is not a full vampire. Things are different with him. The fact that he was even able to make this change proves it."

"Jacob, please believe me. I would never want to hurt Renesmee. That is why I tried so hard to do this. So that I might get the opportunity to be worthy of her.

"We'll see. I will be keeping an eye on you while you are here. And just how long do you plan on staying this time?"

"Actually, I was hoping to stay with you, permanently. I wish to make this my home. One of the comments Renesmee made to me, the last time I was here, was that she did not know me very well. I was hoping to remedy that. I had thought the time we had spent together during my past visits for her birthdays would be enough, but it seems I was wrong."

"You want to move in with us?" No, No way.

"Nahuel, while I applaud your . . . _perceptiveness_ that you need to get to know my daughter better, and are willing to spend the time to do so, your desire to live under the same roof as her would be highly inappropriate at this time. Also I am afraid that we simply do not have the room, as you are well aware. We are more than happy to arrange for you to stay in the guest room at Carlisle and Esme's house, however. I am sure they would be more than willing to accommodate you."

"That is wonderful to hear. I believe I have a lot of work to do to before we begin mat . . ."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." I snapped. "Just because you will be getting to know Nessie better doesn't mean she will develop feelings for you. And besides she is not old enough. She won't even be four years old for another week."

"Yes, she made that clear, on my last visit as well. You do not believe her thinking has changed on that matter?" He was actually questioning us as to whether Edward's daughter felt she was old enough to start . . . mating? I don't think Edward would ever feel Nessie would be old enough to even _date_ anyone. And I could not ever picture me with her, yet.

"You can get to know her, possibly even become friends, but that is all, for now. Jacob is right. She is not even four. She is still a child."

"Really, because she probably looks like an adult by now. What does she appear now . . . twenty? That seems plenty old enough."

"It is not!" Edward and I practically shouted in unison. I am glad we were on the same page about this. Not that I was surprised, but it was good to know that he felt the same way, and just didn't want ME keeping away from Nessie, in that way.

"And she looks seventeen, maybe eighteen, at the most. Nahuel, for now I would suggest you just let her get to know you better. She has _time_ still for the other part. I do not want her rushing into anything." Edward said more as a warning than anything.

"Alright Edward, I will not attempt anything with her . . . yet. However, I do believe you are incorrect. She is more mature than you give her credit for. But I will back off, for now." Then he turned to me. "Jacob, I do not want to do anything that would cause you, as her protector, to take action against me. Do I have your word that you will not interfere with my desire to begin a . . . deeper friendship with her?"

Really? He wants me to give him permission to move in on Nessie? Like hell. He should be thanking me that he was still in one piece right now.

"Jacob, you know she deserves to be able to choose who she wants to be with." Edward reminded me.

Arrrgh! I knew that. But why did it have to be him? No, it would not be him. Nessie was smart, she would see right through him. Maybe her getting to know him better would be a good thing. She would see just what a horrible monster he really was.

But why did this have to seem so familiar? It was like history was repeating itself. Instead of Edward, Bella and me it was Nahuel, Nessie and me. Hopefully things would turn out differently this time for me. Because while Edward turned out to not be the monster I thought he was, I had no such hopes regarding Nahuel. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward give me a slight smirk, in response to my thoughts on him, before quickly hiding it.

Maybe it was just the imprint talking, but I didn't think anyone could protect Nessie like I could. Maybe Nahuel really did care about her. Maybe he did love her, or at least he wanted to. He had not actually done anything to her that I had a problem with. He had never tried to hurt her. He had always been kind to her, just as she was always pointing out to me. Perhaps I was just over reacting; being overly protective?

"Fine, I won't try and stop you." Much. "But just know I will be watching."

….

Renesmee's Point of View

Nahuel had returned!

After spending the night, at my grandparents house, sleeping after his long journey, he came and talked to me, the next morning, with some interesting news he wanted to share. It seems that he somehow, for some reason gave up blood. No blood, human or animal had passed his lips in almost a year. I didn't see what the big deal was, but Uncle Jasper happen to have been within hearing range at the time and became extremely interested. He started badgering Nahuel with questions trying to figure out exactly how he came to do it. Nahuel however did not seem to have a concrete answer for him, much to Uncle Jasper's chagrin. He just said it was something he HAD to do.

Nahuel had asked him to picture life without Aunt Alice. Then he posed the following question to him - "Could he change his diet and give up human blood, even give up the desire for it, if it meant that that was the only way to keep her?" Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately for him, however you look at it, Alice would never leave him, even if he slaughtered the whole town. They both would leave the Cullen's first.

Uncle Jasper didn't seem to happy with his question, or answer for that matter, but in the end he was no worse or better off than before learning of Nahuel's _accomplishment_. He ended up thanking Nahuel for speaking with him before sulking off somewhere. I later found out from my mother that Uncle Jasper had similar troubles with her ease of resisting blood. It seemed everyone in the family was better at controlling their desire for human blood than him. But to be fair he had to deal with everyone else's emotional responses to it. He needed to go easier on himself. I was going to try and talk to him, but my mother assured me that this was not something I needed to worry about and he would be fine, in a few days.

I wish I could come to terms with things that quickly. Or even make decisions that fast.

I have had almost an entire year to think about my options regarding Jacob and Nahuel. One quarter of my life, technically. I surmised that since Jacob and I are to be together, no matter what, due to the imprint, the question really was if I wanted Nahuel to be a part of my future too. I needed to get to know him better. Then and only then I would break the news to him that Jacob and I were a packaged deal. If he could not handle that condition then I guess it was just not meant to be.

I didn't like using Jacob but I knew that because he had imprinted on me he would always be there. Waiting in the wings, sort of. If I did end up choosing him he would still be there. There was no risk of losing him.

Nahuel was the unknown factor. Would he wait around for me forever, like Jacob would? There was also my procreation deadline to consider. But we were the only match of our kind, sort of. So I guess that meant something, at least to him. It seemed, that Nahuel assumed that the two us becoming a mated pair was already a foregone conclusion.

I however did not think that way, I had a choice.

I knew Jacob understood that, no matter how much it would hurt him, and I knew it definitely would. I would be hurting him by not automatically choosing him, and I would probably be hurting him even more if I ended up choosing Nahuel. I hated myself for what I was about to do to him, but I needed to be sure, and if I had another option I needed to explore it. I didn't want to have literally an eternity of regret.

But how was I going to tell Jacob? Maybe I would not have to, maybe he would just automatically know through the imprint magic? Not likely. Okay so I knew I was being a chicken, but was dreading that conversation. I did not want to hurt my Jacob. But I knew I had to.


	36. The College Plan

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Six**

 **The College Plan**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were sprawled out on the living room floor going over the Dartmouth course catalogs. The classes Nessie had taken online last year, together with the classes she had tested out of, meant we would both be sophomores together. I was still trying to pick a major though.

I had procrastinated long enough, using Nessie's fight training as the perfect excuse. I would have thought Edward would have put a stop to it, but he actually thought it was a good idea. Well in a way. He did not want to be anywhere near us while it was happening, I could understand that, him not wanting to hear strategies in others mind as to how to attack his daughter. But he should see her. She was actually getting quite good. And Emmett and Rose were having a blast as well.

Of course all of my earlier fears of Nessie getting hurt were basically for nothing. She was stronger than I realized. And so was her skin. The theory that it might be just as impervious as a full vampire's turned out to be true, we found out one day when Nessie went flying into a sharp chunk of metal by the garage. It would have sliced her open, had her skin been closer to a humans, or mine for that matter, but the shard just crumpled in on itself. After that we, well _she_ , felt it was safe enough to experiment a little, with Carlisle overseeing, just in case. We tried everything we could think of to just give her a tiny cut or even a needle prick and nothing worked.

Well, eventually something worked. Rose's nails. She was able to scratch Nessie's arm. It was actually strange that she had never gotten injured in this way when we were practice fighting. But I guess it made sense. Vampires could hurt other vampires, so of course a vampire could hurt a half-vampire. And it worked in reverse as well. Nessie's nails were able to scratch Rose. But the results were different. Rose's skin repaired itself instantly. Nessie bled, just for a second before the wound closed up, just as fast as my skin would have. I had a mini panic attack watching this the first time, but Nessie assured me she was fine. And of course the Doc found it immensely fascinating.

And that also meant that if Rose's nails could break through Nessie's skin, so could a vampire's teeth, and so could mine. But there was no way we were trying that.

But that was yesterday, today I needed to finally decide on a major.

"I don't know Nessie. What are you majoring in?"

"Jacob, just because I pick a certain major I don't expect you to choose the same. We don't have to do everything together, do we?"

"No, it's just everything seems like much more fun when I am with you. And then you could help me study."

"Don't worry Jacob, I can help you study whether I am in your class or not." Nessie giggled. Of course she could. She did not actually need to go to school to learn, it just gave her something to do during the day.

"Sure, sure. So what _did_ you pick? Do you plan on being a doctor, lawyer, astronaut?

"Ha, ha, ha." She laughed. I loved her laugh.

"Yup, you guessed it. Renesmee Carlie Cullen, first vampire in space. But seriously I think NASA might have a slight problem with my accelerated heart rate and high body temperature, among other things."

"Yes but you would more that make up for it with your super strength and speed. They could overlook that other stuff when they realized how valuable you could be. Image not needing machines to lift heavy things, when all they need is one little girl." I joked back.

"I'm not that little. I'm almost as tall as Aunt Rose now."

"I think she still has a few inches on you. She's what? 5'10" and you look about 5'7" at the most."

"5'8" and you know it. That's four inches taller than my mom."

"And six inches shorter than Edward, and still almost a foot shorter than me." I teased.

"Hmmm, maybe I should start wearing six inch heels. Close the gap a bit."

"Six inches? That sounds dangerous. Why do you want to be taller?"

"Probably for the same reason you want to take the same classes as me. So we can be even closer." She smirked. She was so silly sometimes. "And it's not like I would fall or trip and hurt myself. Okay so maybe six inches is a bit too much," she chuckled again. "Four?"

"Jacob, I heard you were picking your classes finally. Make sure French is one of them." Alice's voice chimed as she walked through the front door.

"Hi Aunt Alice," Nessie said as she got up and hugged her aunt. It was mind boggling seeing how Nessie towered over her now. "Why does Jacob need to learn French? He took Spanish in high school and his freshman year of college. That is the only class he has picked out so far."

"Well I am afraid he is going to have to change course. I had a vision of all of us, well you know, all of us, minus the two of you of course, living near the Caps et Marais d'Opale Natural Regional Park in Calais, France soon."

"But we just moved here last year. We have to leave already? Why?"

"Oh don't worry so much Nessie. I didn't say we were moving right away. We still have a year or two. I think. It would be easier to tell if I could see you, then I would be able to see how much you had grown. But for now I am not even sure why we move."

"That's it? That's all you can tell us?" I gruffed. French? I had enough trouble with Spanish. After five years I still wasn't very good. Now I needed to learn French in only one to two years?

"Sorry, I don't make the rules." Alice mused. "I would just assume you would want to be able to speak the language, when we do move, Jacob."

"Ouch!" She had thrown something in my lap, which ended up hitting me in a very sensitive spot. "What did you do that for?"

"Oh, get over it, you heal fast enough. Now start studying."

"It still hurt. You could have just handed it to me." When _I_ stopped throbbing and looked down I saw that she had hit me with a book, and not just any book, an _Intro to French_ book.

"Gee, thanks." I said as she took off as quickly as she had arrived.

"I guess she did not want to stay and visit." Nessie looked a bit sad but got over it soon enough. "So I guess we know what you are picking for your language requirement. Now back to the question of your major."

"I think I am still waiting for you to tell me what you will be majoring in, now that I know your becoming an astronaut is out." I jeered.

"Very funny Jacob, could you imagine. They would probably think I was an alien. Hey there's an idea, maybe in a few hundred years, if humans ever do discover life on other planets, we could all pretend to be aliens and stop hiding." She joked.

"Sure, sure. But in all seriousness honey, I think I should take the same classes as you for, like, oh the next year or two. Nessie you have lived a very sheltered life up until now, but you're going to be entering your sophomore year of college. That means you will be with guys . . . men really, who are 19, 20 or even older. It's my job to protect you, not only from vampires," or half-vampires, "but everything, including other men. I know you're IDs say you're 19 years old, but trust me you are not ready to deal with some of the guys around there." I took a deep breath before continuing. She had not attempted to say one word while I was giving my little rant on the dangers of men. I knew that when she got quiet, she was thinking and often that was not a good sign, for me at least.

"Let's go through college this time together. I can major in whatever you want to. We have forever. Next time you can take your own classes and I will pick whatever I feel like studying. Just let me do this for you this time."

"Jacob, when are you going to realize that I am a big girl. Look at me, I am not a child anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Just the fact that you think that proves you don't know what you're talking about." Ha, Leah had said something like that almost word for word to Seth years ago.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward, Bella, Emmett, and Rose walk into the room. They had been upstairs in the music room, listening to Edwards latest composition.

"Renesmee listen to Jacob. He is right. I think it would be a good idea if you stuck with him this time through college."

Really? He does? I would have thought he would want Nessie and I to get more distance. And give Nahuel more time to move in. It had been only two days since his arrival and he was already getting on my nerves.

"Or the rest of the family could arrange to alter our class schedules so we can all take a different class with you." I don't think I imagined it, I swear I saw Nessie cringe when Edward mentioned that. Whatever Nessie was thinking didn't seem to fracture Edwards façade. I guess he was expecting her negative reaction to going through school with him and the rest of the family. "You will not be interacting with children anymore. This is not one of Esme's social experiments. You need someone to guide you and ease you into the real world. It is your choice honey, all of us scattered throughout your classes or just one? And it would not have to be Jacob, if you did not want him. If you preferred to choose someone else in the family I am sure we all would love to have you with us."

"Oh, me, me, me. Pick me. We could take Physics together, it would be so much fun to go through it with my favorite Niece." Rose squealed. "It is easy and math makes so much sense. Just right and wrong answers, no messiness. I know you don't like that."

"Rose, I do not think Renesmee wants to go through her first college experience with her father. I am majoring in Physics with you, remember?"

"I guess that means that you don't want to take art history with Jasper and me either? And I don't think med school with Carlisle would be a good idea."

"No, not with all of the blood." Nessie shook her head.

"Well that leaves Photography with Esme or Women and Gender Studies with Alice and Emmett." Rose snickered.

I think she was as excited to see Emmett go through a Women's studies class as I was, and to my knowledge she had not informed him about what the classes would really be like, and of course he had made no effort to find out.

Up until now everyone had been taking the boring prerequisite general studies classes, for the most part, with the exception of Carlisle of course. He started right off as a graduate student wanting to learn as much as possible that was new in medicine and not waste time. This was the first time everyone else would really be separated into different majors.

"Or, don't forget you can still pick your own major, you will just have some company." Edward added. Why was he suggesting that again. He just mentioned it a minute ago, and it was not like Nessie was going to forget. She has never forgotten anything.

"Thank you all. But, um, could everyone give me a minute to think? Alone!"

Nessie seemed to be thinking about something that was upsetting to her, I could see it all over her face, but what?

"Of course honey, we will be over at your Aunts and Uncles house. Why don't you come find us when you make a decision." Edward offered.

I started to get up to join them. Maybe I could see if Rose was doing anything exciting in the garage.

"Actually Jacob, could you stay?" Nessie asked, looking hopeful.

Was she actually doubting that I wouldn't do exactly as she asked? Well, within reason. No, there must be another reason for her expression.

"Of course Nessie. What is it honey?"

"I don't want to have to go to college with my family always watching me."

"Not a problem. I already offered to major in whatever field you pick." This would be great, we could be together all day long.

"No, Jacob, I don't want to do that."

No? I could feel the smile on my face fall without my permission. I didn't want to upset her, and seeing my disappointment was sure to do that. I tried to regain my composure as quickly as I could, but I knew she saw it. She never missed anything.

"Did you want to hold off on going to school for now?"

"No, I still want to go, but I want to make a compromise with you."

"What kind of compromise?"

"Well I was thinking that we could switch things up a bit. I want to join _you_ in whatever major _you_ pick. It does not seem right that you have to give up your dreams to follow me. You already moved away from your home and your family. And I know you say that it is not a problem, because you imprinted on me. But it is. This is one minor thing I can do to at least alleviate some of my guilt."

"It's not a problem, Nessie. I want to be here, with you. So you should not have any guilt, besides I have not even picked a major yet."

"I know, and I believe that is my fault as well. Or at least it is the fault of the imprinting. I think you have not been able to pick anything because you only want what I want. But if I was not here, or if I was not going to school too, you could. Can you try to think about what is it you would want to major in? What is it that you want to do with your life?"

Oh, my sweet Nessie. "Honey, my imprinting on you, is not stopping me from picking a major. In fact my problem is that I can't narrow it down to just one. Maybe you could help me with that . . . if you really want to go through the next few years of school with me, we both may as well enjoy ourselves."

"Really, Jacob? I'm not stopping you? Or holding you back?"

"Nessie, imprinting is a positive thing. It would never happen if it prevented a wolf from reaching their full potential. I just get the added bonus of having you in my life. But it is not like I am stuck by your side, waiting on you, hand and foot. I'm not your servant or something. I still have my own free will." _Sort of._ I probably would if she asked me to. But she wouldn't, she was wonderful.

"I know that. I don't treat you like that do I?" She looked horrified by her incorrect realization.

"No, honey, of course not. I didn't mean to imply that."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. Now if you are going to be majoring in the same thing as me at Dartmouth, you need to help me decide what exactly we will be studying." I smiled the biggest smile I could. I wanted to relax her and not feel like I was putting her under any pressure.

"Alright, Jacob. What are the choices?"

"The first is Native American Studies, but I feel like that would be something that people would expect me to take and not something I am too excited about. I mean I think it could be interesting to learn about other tribes across the country and their history, but not for a career, at least not right now."

Maybe you, well we, could minor in that?" Nessie offered.

I knew we were perfect for each other. "I was thinking the very same thing." I said leaning in and giving her a slight loving shove. "My next choice was Engineering. I figured I might do well in it, you know, since I am good with car engines. And my last choice is Environmental Studies. I've grown pretty attached to the forest, and nature, and that kind of stuff, since becoming a wolf and it would be nice to protect it." I was also toying with the idea of going into medicine like the Doc, but Nessie would most likely not be able to handle the blood so there was no point bringing it up, currently.

"So you were actually thinking of getting a job after college was over instead of starting high school again like the rest of the family?" Nessie questioned.

"Nessie, I know I am only 20 years old, but look at me. Even though I am not getting any older I don't look like a teenager anymore. I haven't for awhile now, ever since I first became a wolf. I think I look like I am about 25. That's two years older than Carlisle looks and just a year younger than Esme. Your parents and aunts and uncles might be happy repeating high school over and over but I think that I would go crazy doing that. And it was a bit of a miracle that people in Hoodsport actually believed I was young enough to still be in high school." Luckily we were using my actually documents and my father and the La Push school officials vouched for my age.

"Oh, of course you are right. You know I never was able to attend high school, but if you truly did not enjoy it then you should not have to continue repeating it." She was agreeing with me, but why did I still feel her sadness? Then it dawned on me a second later.

"But I promised you that our next time through school you could pick your college Major, so I would go back to school with you, high school and college if you wanted." She would be the only reason why I would repeat that hell. I would do anything for her. "I am sure that Jenks guy could find a way to get me back in."

"Jacob, I don't think you will have to worry about that. I doubt I will be able to ever attend a high school. Have you looked at me lately either? I look like I am 18."

I just nodded, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well, I am going to be turning four in a couple of weeks. And I know my growth rate has slowed over the years, but it has not stopped; and it won't until I turn seven. Who knows how old I will look by then. If Nahuel is any indication you and I might look similar in age. I assume that I will end up appearing to look as if I was in my early to mid twenties."

Huh, I never thought of that. I always think of Nessie still as a little kid, despite the fact that she is smarter than me, and she does look 18, her IDs say she is 19, and she is starting college with me. Do I need to start seeing her differently? Was this due to the imprint? Edward only seemed to see her in her biological years. I did too. But why? Everything about her was screaming that she was not a toddler, but my brain had always refused to listen. Maybe with this realization things were starting to change. Maybe. I still did not think of her romantically. Ew, no, no, no, definitely not. But she was getting older, physically. But it was more like watching my sisters, Rachel and Rebecca getting older.

"But it would be nice to go to college with you, again, perhaps in a decade, or so." Nessie said taking me out of my crazy thoughts.

"Oh yeah, right. Of course, honey. Whatever you want."

"Wonderful, but for now we still need to settle on a major. Engineering or Environmental Studies?"

"Well I do have forever to go back to school and get as many degrees as I want, and since Alice sees us moving to France, for whatever reason soon, probably before we even have time to graduate, I think I will go with Engineering this time."

"You know we can continue our studies, in whatever subject you decide in France, Jacob?"

"Not likely, I will probably be having enough trouble just speaking the language, I think attending college will have to wait."

"I see what you mean. But Engineering does sound fun."

We spent the next hour registering online for our classes, and luckily even though I had waited till the last minute we were able to sign up for most of the required classes for our chosen major, since it didn't look like we would be staying long enough to graduate, I guess it didn't matter if we took every class required this year or next. We also got some classes in Native American Studies, which Nessie had also agreed to take with me, and of course French. Nessie was already fluent but we agreed to stay together for all of the classes, so she would not have to take something else with one of her family members. I was not sure why she was so against it, but it meant I could spend even more time with her, so I was not about to object.


	37. College (and Trouble) Begins

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Seven**

 **College (and Trouble) Begins**

Renesmee's Point of View

Jacob was just pulling his Volvo into the Dartmouth parking. Today was going to be my first day of school, ever. I did not count the homeschooling I had received from my family.

This place was huge! I was now very glad that I had agreed to attend classes with Jacob. Not that I was scared of being around so many humans, We went hunting yesterday, so I wasn't concerned about losing control and attacking someone, it was all just a bit overwhelming.

Jacob told me that a few of the friends, he made last year, had called him and he agreed to meet them on one of the picnic tables outside of some main building. I was unaware that he had made that good of friends before. He never went to hang out with them, or even mentioned them to me more than a few times last year, and only then when I pressed him on the subject.

"You know how I mentioned that Rob and Andy were more classmates, than anything, Nessie. We only had a couple classes together. I was as surprised as you when Rob called. He said that Andy checked the class rosters online and saw that we would all be majoring in Engineering together and wanted to meet before class started. You don't mind do you?"

"No of course not _." I am happy that you made friends, Jacob._ I added with my gift. We were holding hands as we walked and I loved communicating with him this way.

"Look," he said, pointing over to a couple of humans, "there they are. Come on." He was practically dragging me over, while looking very excited to see them.

"Jake, dude. Long time no see." A tall guy, with blond hair, that was cut so short it almost made him look bald, and deep set baby blue eyes, said. He looked to be about the same height as my father and was almost as good looking as some of the men in my family. Of course there was no way a mere human could compare to the perfect flawless skin of my family or the chiseled physique of my Jacob, but for a human I could see how others would think he was not bad looking.

"Hey Jacky, we missed you. You couldn't pick up the phone so we could hang out once over the summer?" Added a twenty something woman. I thought we were meeting Rob an Andy. Who was this? Some other friend? Jacob had only mention one girl that I could recall. I have a perfect memory, and this woman was nothing like the woman he described. Whoever this is was the exact opposite of Jenny. Jacob had described her as a behemoth, with an overbite, freckles and curly red hair. This person was of average female height, 5'5" I ascertained, her teeth seemed reasonably straight, her skin appeared unblemished, again at least by human standards, and she had straight brown hair. Whoever she was, she was rather pretty, and she smiled, a lot. While she seemed pleasant enough I just didn't seem to like her for some reason, but I could not figure out why. I had, after all, just met her. I didn't even know her.

And what was up with the names? Jake? _Jacky_? They sounded so strange.

"And who is this?" the guy asked.

"Andrea, Robert, this is Vanessa." It was more than a little weird hearing Jacob call me that, but I was enrolled in school as Vanessa Wolfe. It was almost as strange as hearing his friends call him anything other than Jacob, especially with him being so formal with all of our names. I know that my mother called him Jake, as well as his family and Pack, but I never really gave it much thought. I was just so use to my own family referring to him as Jacob. It was all I ever called him.

"Nice to meet you, Vanessa . . . wait you're not Nessie are you?" Andrea (well Andy I guess) asked more as a rhetorical question than anything. At least this solved that mystery. Nicknames! "We were starting to think Jacky made you up. He would talk, and talk, and talk about you all of the time, but never brought you around."

"Can you blame him. Look at her. If I had a girlfriend that looked like her I would keep her locked away too." Rob smirked. I could tell Jacob was not happy with his comment but I was taken completely off guard by it.

Girlfriend? Was I Jacob's girlfriend? Traditionally, for humans, I knew a girlfriend was a person one dated, before marrying or mating with. Which before I started considering Nahuel, I guess would have meant that that would have been me, for Jacob. And since I have not mentioned my indecision yet, and temporarily rejected Nahuel last year, I could see where Jacob might think that, I guess. But didn't people normally "go out" on dates? Of course, up until now, I was pretty much confined to the house, with the exception of hunting. Were our hunting trips _dates_ to Jacob? I think I needed to clear this up and let him in on my plans sooner than planned.

But at the current moment, I was getting a little uncomfortable by the way Rob was leering at me. It reminded me a bit of that Demetri pervert from the Volturi. I could now see why Jacob had insisted on accompanying me through college. Were all men like this?

At least Jacob moved slightly in front of me, effectively blocking Robs direct line of sight.

"Dude, I'm shocked you failed to mention the girl you're dating is so hot." Rob added with a wink while he tried peering around Jacob before he readjusted his stance again.

What? Hot?

"No, Nessie and I are not dating . . ." Jacob started denying Rob statements, but he also needed to calm down and continue to block me from Rob. I guess he didn't like other people commenting on my physical appearance, whether positively or negatively. Was I hot? Perhaps I should ask Jacob at a later time. Right now I needed to deal with the current situation.

"Jacob and I live together." I ended up blurting out to Andy while Jacob was busy with Rob.

"Really, you too are sleeping together?" Andy seemed surprised. How much had Jacob told them about me? About us? And why was Jacob looking so strange now?

"Yes, well only for the past few weeks. My parents would not let us before that. They thought . . ."

Jacob quickly turned around to face me. "NESSIE, stop, please. Some things are . . . um, private." He stated barely above a whisper.

He looked so upset. What was wrong? Jacob actually looked . . . worried.

And why did Andy look so sad? Whatever was going on Rob thought it was hilarious. He could not stop himself from laughing even though no one else was joining him.

"I think we had better go, honey. We'll see you guys in class." Jacob said as he started dragging me away gently, but hurriedly.

As we were leaving I tried to say how it was nice meeting them both and how I guessed I'll see them in class, but I don't know if they heard me.

When Jacob was done relocating us, and finally stopped, I used my gift to ask him what was wrong. _Did I say something incorrect? Should I not have said anything?_

"Nessie," Jacob huffed, "you can't go around telling people we are sleeping together. It doesn't mean the same thing, to them, as it does to us. They don't know that you are only four years old."

I wanted to scream at him that I was not four years old. When was he going to realize that? But he was so worked up already, I didn't want to risk upsetting him more. We were still in public and he needed to calm down. But I needed to find out what got him so upset in the first place.

"You and I know it's perfectly innocent sweetheart, but when you tell humans that you're sleeping with someone" he continued, "you're implying that you're having sex with them." He got quiet for a second, like he was trying to figure something out. "It is still innocent for you isn't it?" Jacob questioned.

Oh, I guess I understand why he got so upset. Especially if he still saw me as a child. Stupid human rules. But I needed to make this right, at least until his thinking of me changes.

 _Of course it is Jacob. I didn't mean to imply anything . . . improper going on between us. I'm sorry. I forget sometimes that our situation isn't normal to humans. I will try to adjust my speech to fall in line more with what I have observed on television and movies. "_ You're not that upset are you?" I added out loud.

"No, not upset, but Rob tends to blab about things. It might get out around school, a bit."

"Well if you didn't want people to think that, then why did you tell your friends that we were dating?"

"Nessie, I did not do that. They must have just jumped to conclusions. Looking back, I guess I can understand why. Last year I was always talking about you to them, I missed you so much when I was here, and you were still stuck at home. And then we came here today, together, holding hands, and I guess they just . . . I tried correcting them when Rob said that, but then you started talking over me. And I don't even want to think about what is going to happen if Edward hears about it in some random kids mind."

Yikes! I don't want another indecent between the two of them. I need to fix this _myself_ and fast.

"Don't worry Jacob, I'll speak to my father before anything gets out of hand. Maybe I should call him right now. He doesn't have class until this afternoon and if Rob really is a person prone to gossip then it will probably be in enough people's minds, even in a school as big as this, that my father will definitely hear something and overact before we even have a chance to explain."

Jacob let out a small sigh. "Thank you Nessie, that will probably be a good idea. Right now I think we need to be going to class, we don't want to be late for our first day, why don't you call him on the way."

As expected my father was not too happy to hear the news, but at least he would not try to tear Jacobs head off.

"Do you think we will have time to explain things to Rob and Andy after class, Jacob?" I asked as I sat down in an open chair.

"Um, honey, we can try but I am not sure how effective that will be. Saying one thing and then taking it back a little later is not the way to make people believe you. But I will try anything to convince them, and will continue to for as long as it takes, if it is something that upsets you to have people think that about us."

"Oh, no that's alright. You don't have to do that for me. I don't actually care what humans think, I just don't want things to be awkward for you." Especially when I actually get my courage up and talk to him about Nahuel.

"Well, let's just get through this class, maybe nothing will come of it. This is college, most people probably won't care. They're all dating on and off, all the time, no one really cares who's seeing who, or who broke up with whom. If this were high school, we might have a problem, I am probably just overreacting over nothing." Jacob added.


	38. The Tough Talk

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Eight**

 **The Tough Talk**

Jacob's Point of View

Blondie, Emmett, and I were in the garage working on some new wreck Rose got me. Okay, Rose and I were working on the car, Emmett seemed to be doing anything he could think of to hinder our progress.

We had been talking about some of our classes, sorta. I was telling them about the engineering classes Nessie and I were taking, but everything Rose said about physics just sounded like gibberish to me. Hearing Emmett tell us how he was really "loving" his Women's Studies classes was all I had hoped for.

It was really nice of Rose anyway, to get me this car, and a fun new project to work on. At least it was something to take my mind off of the gossip going around the Engineering Department, regarding me and Nessie. I think that was why Rose got it for me. Everyone in the family knew. Some were more upset than others. But Nessie was young, mistakes happen. She just misspoke, and I should have intervened better. In the whole scheme of things it was not that big of a deal, really. And she was right, who cared what the humans thought. Okay so it did bother me, but I was trying to not let it.

Nessie said she didn't care about mindless human gossip, so I was trying not to let it bother me. But I did not like the way a few of the guys were leering and gossiping about her, behind her back. But they only talked to each other; I never left her side, so they never approached her.

On more than one occasion, over the past few weeks, I found myself growling, under my breath, at a group of guys in reaction to what I heard them talking about. Why would they think that if Nessie was sleeping with me, she would be with them as well? But then again, she was beautiful. It was why I wanted to be with her when she was at school, I needed to protect her better. I am sure guys would have noticed her, with or without Rob shining a spotlight on her.

If I was not a wolf there would have been no way I would have been able to hear them. Once they saw me coming they shut up. But they did not realize I could hear them from as far back as I could. This was getting out of hand. Hopefully something else would happen at school soon and some other fascination would garner their interest and take their attention off Nessie.

There was nothing I could really do for now. Nessie, could hear what they said as clearly as I could, she said she did not care and did not want me to do anything. So that left me just stewing.

Rob however was another matter entirely. I could not believe he told as many people as he did. And when I found out exactly what he said, it made me want to smash him into tiny bits. Not that I would, he was human, and Nessie didn't want me doing anything to him either. But why would he even do that? I thought he was my friend. He claimed it was just "locker room talk", but I didn't care what it was. That didn't excuse anything. No one should speak about Nessie, or anyone for that matter, like that. While I was unable to put a stop to his gossip, the damage was already done, our friendship was over.

I tried concentrating on the car. It think it use to be a '62Ferrari 250 GTE. It was in such bad shape I could barely tell. I was amazed Rose was able to find so many original parts for it. I guess when money was no object it makes things easier, even obtaining obscure almost obsolete engine parts.

"Hey Jacob, don't worry. Whatever we can't find we can just have custom made." she smirked. Where was that thinking when it came to my Rabbit? "Don't worry about it. I've got it. YOU have much more important things to concern yourself over."

"I do? What?" Schools going okay. At least the classes were. There were no outsider vampire threats in the area, we haven't heard from that Volturi pervert in months. Wasn't the car suppose to be taking my mind off of the Nessie and me rumors? What else did I miss?

Rosalie saw the confused look on my face of course. "Renesmee!" she said as if the answer was obvious.

"What's wrong with Nessie?" I jumped up from where I was seated on the floor. What had I missed? She told me she was fine with everything. Was she actually upset by Rob's gossip?

"Nothing's wrong with her. But while you're in here with us, she is out with HIM." Nahuel? Nessie had been spending time with him recently, trying to get to know him better.

Rosalie couldn't even say his name anymore. Not since she learned how he would dispose of his conquests by feeding from them, to avoid any complications, i.e. children. I guess it was kinda good that he didn't want to be like his father in that way.

But he was a vampire. Well half, anyway. He wasn't like the Cullens. I knew that. His aunt had red eyes. I knew what they ate, at least what he ate in the past. I believe his aunt, and her new mate, still fed from humans. Even if he did currently eat only human food Rose still didn't trust him. I didn't like him either but I was trying to give him a pass after my conversation with Edward a month ago. And I keep reminding myself that he did save Nessie's life, all those years ago, from the Volturi.

Nahuel had changed. Edward assured me he had. Not just his diet, he had given up women, altogether. It was the only reason I was able to be in the garage while Nessie hung out with him right now. She was just in the house, making another fruitless attempt to teach him chess.

So why was Blondie still so worried? Edward had explained to her his complete change, just like he had with me. And she had seen for herself how Nahuel had been eating entirely human food since staying with us, this time. He claimed to truly have changed in the last year, and his behavior seemed to confirm it.

"They're just friends Rosalie, she isn't interested in him that way. And I also don't believe he is suddenly going to decide he's hungry, and have her as a snack."

"Don't be so sure. You heard what he said about his past. How he would ensure he did not end up like his father."

"WHAT!" I was enraged. How could she think that my sweet little Nessie could . . . No, it wasn't possible. She would have told me. She tells me everything. She doesn't think of him that way, I kept repeating to myself. (I silently prayed she would pick me when the time came.) But him? Would he take advantage of her like that? No, he said he just wanted to get to know her - for the time being, at least, and he would wait, for now. Edward would hear something in his thoughts if he changed his mind. Blondie was wrong. "That's ridiculous. There is no way anything is going on between them."

"No, not yet. But I've seen the way he looks at her. He's just waiting, getting close to her, becoming her friend, so that when she is ready he can make his move. It's only a matter of time."

"Edward would never allow anyone to hurt her." I knew I was grasping at straws. If she had changed her mind and returned his affections, then no one, not Edward, Bella, Rose, or myself would be able to stop her. Normally I loved her stubbornness, but not now, not with him.

"Edward has faith in him. Too much in my opinion. He thinks Nahuel will be able to control himself, when and if the time comes, like he himself was able to do, while Bella was still human. He wants Renesmee to be able to make her own choices. But she's like my own daughter, and I could never take that risk. You however, would never hurt her. You're not capable of it."

That was true. Because of the imprint, I won by default in Rosalie's eyes. She loved Nessie more than she hated me, but Nahuel was too much of a risk. Technically she did not hate me anymore, I think. We had actually even become friends over the years. But it wasn't Rosalie that I needed to win over, it was Nessie. And I didn't even realize I should have starred fighting for her yet. She was just still so young. But if it meant protecting her I guess I needed to start.

But then, oh god, a thought occurred to me, and I hung my head. "I can't." It came out as a whisper.

This is so embarrassing. I haven't had any desires of a sexual nature for years, ever since I imprinted on Nessie as a baby. I didn't mind at the time. I barely noticed. In truth I hadn't noticed at all until my Pack brought it up a couple of years ago. It didn't seem to matter before. It wasn't like I would do anything with Nessie when she looked like a child, even if everyone knew she was mentally years ahead of me by her first birthday.

"What's wrong now?" she huffed.

How am I going to explain this to Rose? "I only want what Nessie wants. Clearly she doesn't want me like that."

"How do you know that? She loves you."

"It's not a romantic love. I would feel it if it was. I would have a _physical_ reaction if she did. I would be able to . . ." I don't want to say it, please get where I am going with this. Oh! Why did we have to have to be having this conversation in front of Emmett?

"Oh, you mean you can't . . . You haven't . . ." I have never seen Rose's eyes so big.

Emmett was roaring with laughter.

"No," was all I was able to get out.

"Wow, I was wondering how you were able to keep things in your pants," Emmett went on, "with Nessie looking so grown up nowadays. And you sleeping next to her at night, too. I guess the gossip around school is untrue after all. I was beginning to wonder if Edward was giving you a pass since you imprinted on his daughter, and stuff."

I know he was just joking but that did not stop me from wanting to kill him right then and there. But instead I just started growling at him . . . for now.

"Seriously have you looked at her recently. Pretty hot," he added.

"Emmett, she's FOUR and your Niece!" I snarled. What the hell?

He laughed again, louder this time. "Just giving you a hard time dude."

"Well, we'll just have to work around it, and change her mind." Rose said, ignoring her husband. Idiot!

"But don't you see, I can't. She doesn't want me. I could never force her to do anything she didn't want to do, let alone be with me if she chooses someone else."

"But it's you who doesn't see. She hasn't chosen either of you yet? You still have time. You need to fight for her. Does she even know how you feel?"

"Of course she does." I reminded her of the incident that happened during our movie night, shortly after Nessie got her first period. Everyone in the family had found out, of course. But at the time she was still physically too young and I had to stop her. I had rejected her and she had never tried anything like that with me again. Did she think I was permanently rejecting her? She said she understood at the time. I told her that I loved her and we could be together, that way, when she was older, but she had not tried anything since. Did she think that I would never want her like that? That I was just trying to placate her at the time? Oh no! What had I done? At the time I thought I was doing the right thing. But had I lost her forever, romantically at least?

"I don't think that is as big of a problem as you are making it out to be." Rosalie started. "Nessie is a smart girl. I am sure she knows what you meant."

"I hope you are right," I agreed, "but if she picks Nahuel, what are you going to do? It is her choice who she wants to be with and we will need to respect it. You know he has changed. He won't hurt her and I believe he does care for her. He could make her happy. Isn't that what is most important?" Don't get me wrong. I don't want her to pick him, but if she did I guess I would survive, since she would, I would ensure it.

"That's good to hear, I am so glad you have changed your opinion about Nahuel." Nessie voice rang from the doorway.

"Nessie? How long have you been listening?" What had she heard? I hope she did not hear _everything_.

"Not for long. I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation." She said, looking sadly over at Rose. "I just heard you defending Nahuel. It's nice to hear that you two are finally going to start getting along. I'm so glad you realize that he would never hurt me . . . because I wanted to talk to you about him, Jacob." She got silent for a minute. It seemed like whatever she was about to tell me was hard for her.

Was he leaving and she would miss him? But he had mentioned that he was going to be staying this time. Maybe that was it. She didn't realize I already heard that he planned to stay and she was trying to break the news to me gently.

"Jacob you know how Nahuel has been coming here, year after year? To get to know me? In order for things to eventually . . . well, in the hopes that someday we might . . ."

She looked so nervous. I guess I could help her out just a bit, without embarrassing her and being too explicit.

"Nessie, I know why he comes here. We all know he is here for you, and not just to celebrate your birthday."

"Okay, well . . . I think I need to see what he's like on a more personal level."

"What are you saying, Renesmee?" Rose actually growled. I had never heard her growl at Nessie before. Emmett heard it too and moved to position himself behind Rose.

"Calm down babe, let her talk before you bite her head off." Emmett whispered in her ear.

"I think it's time he and I started dating." She said flat out.

"Oh." was all I was able to get out at that moment. I was too late. This was like my worst nightmare coming true. I know I just defended him to Rosalie but I never actually, truly believed it would happen. I had always told her she had a choice and I meant it. So if that is what she wanted I guess I would have to live with it. What else could I do. Well, live with it, and protect her . . . forever. I just hope I would not need to protect her from Nahuel.

Rosalie was not as accepting though. "NO!" She screamed. "You stay away from HIM!"

"Calm down baby," Emmett said as he grabbed her in a hug. I know he was trying to comfort and restrain her all at once and I was suddenly thankful I had resisted the urge to throttle him a minute ago.

"Rosalie, why don't you give me some time to talk to her alone. It will be okay. Trust me." I didn't really know if it would be, but I wanted to get Nessie away from her. She seemed a bit dangerous like this, not that I thought she would ever intentionally hurt Nessie, (that was why she was so upset in the first place, just the possibility that Nahuel might hurt her, was too much to even consider) but accidents happen.

"Nessie, let's go for a walk." I suggested leading her out of the garage and into the woods towards one of our favorite spots, near where we found the birch wood for the chess set.

"Please don't look so sad, my Jacob. We will always be together. You know I love you."

"I love you too Nessie, but why now?" And why him? "I thought we were in agreement that you were still too young? You are only four years old. You have forever, there is no need to rush into things."

"No, you, and the rest of the family, believe I am too young. I do not. And Nahuel does not either. And between the two of us, you have no idea what you are talking about. You have not been through my life like I have. Nahuel has. He knows how mature I am. And I hear the guys at school, they don't seem to think I am too young . . . for anything." I just gave her a look like she was crazy for that last one. She must have known how that was a long shot towards her arguments, but she didn't seem to care. I could feel through the imprint how she needed me to understand her way of thinking, her way of seeing the world. She believed she was old enough for this. I could tell that she felt she was and she needed me to start realizing that, one way or another. But I was unwilling to give up so easily.

"Nessie I have been with you since the day you were born. I know you better than anyone. There is still so much for you to learn, to experience before . . ."

"And just how do you expect me to get that experience Jacob, if I am never allowed to do anything? I can't be cooped up at home forever. I thought you understood. I thought my going to college was everyone's way of telling me that you all finally saw me as an adult. I look like one don't I? When you rejected me a year and a half ago it was because you thought I still _looked_ too young. Well I don't look too young anymore. Do I?"

"No." She had me there. And I could tell I was not going to change her mind about this. This is what she wanted and _needed_. I had to let her. I could feel it through the imprint. I just also had to hope she would be safe. I took a deep breath to calm myself before speaking again. I wanted to make myself perfectly clear and not have her think I was speaking out of hurt, anger, or fear. "Just promise me to please be careful with him. Go slow and don't do anything you're not ready for. Nahuel is older than you, more experienced." Much more. "You're still just so young, even if you don't think so. I don't want him taking advantage of you."

I didn't like the thought of what I would need to do soon. I would have to watch them, well watch over her when she was _with_ him; not in some sinister peeping tom sort of way, but just to make sure she stayed alive and in one piece.

She looked so embarrassed by our conversation, and a bit angry. I did not want her feeling that way. I guess it would be strange for her. She was so young and innocent, and I was the other man, for all intents and purposes.

"Jacob, I don't intend to do anything like _that_ with him. I just need to see if there's a possibility of us being together."

"So then . . . " how could I ask my next question, without offending or embarrassing her more? "you don't intend to pick up where he left off in the woods last year?"

"No, certainly not. I don't know him well enough for that yet." She replied and I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. "But I have to begin somewhere, if we might ever have a future together."

But why him? "Is this because of what happened in the past between me and Bella? You never really got over it like you said you did, and you are still mad at me, right? Is that why you don't want me?" This was my fault. I had lost her because of my own stupidity when I was a teenager.

"No, this is not some sort of punishment for before. I am not mad at you and I don't want to hurt you. I just need to explore all of my options."

"Have you mentioned this to Bella and Edward yet?"

"Yes, my father was the one who suggested I started by dating _him_ . . . um . . . first."

"Oh, okay, I guess." What else could I say? That was the one thing I thought Eddie and I would be in agreement with, but I guess Nahuel's change had changed Edwards thinking more than I realized. I thought he would have required her to wait longer, at least until she turned seven and stopped aging.

"Um, should I give this back to you?" She asked, fingering the promise bracelet I made her for her first Christmas. I had woven and rewoven it many times over the past few years, each time she grew, so that it grew with her, but it was essentially the same bracelet.

"No, keep it, please, even if you no longer want to wear it. I gave you that as my promise to you, that I would always be there for you, not the other way around. Of course if you don't want it, . . . or _me_ , then I guess you could . . ." Could what? Throw it in the garbage, like a worthless piece of trash? Did she not want it anymore? Did she not want _me_ anymore? No, she just told me she loved me and we would always be together. Just not romantically, apparently. But had she changed her mind already? Why did I have to bring up my past with Bella?

"NO! I want to keep it, I just didn't know if you still wanted me to have it, seeing as I will be with . . . him."

"Nahuel. It is okay. You can say his name. I'm a big boy. I can handle this." I forced a smile on my face, trying to defuse some of the tension. "I have always told you that you deserved to make your own decisions, and choose who you wanted to be with, and I meant it. I always assumed it would be Nahuel, if it was not me you chose. It's not like there are a lot of other options. Well I guess if you fell in love with some human and asked Carlisle to change him for you . . ."

It was amazing what I was willing to _tolerate_ if it meant that Nessie would be happy. Not too long ago I wanted to kill each and every Cullen when I thought Edward had turned Bella. Now I was practically offering to go find some poor pathetic human that would essentially be killed, or made undead, for Nessie, if she wanted him.

"No, no humans. I could not take a life, or change one, anymore than you could. You were right. It is between you and Nahuel." Hmmm, she thought better of me than I did.

Wait did she say "is" and not "was"? Did I still have a chance? Was her decision not final? I could only hope.

But then again, Nahuel had changed. For her. He went through a miraculous change solely for the chance to be with Nessie. He did seem to genuinely care for and about her. And she was picking him, at least for now it seemed. I would not stand in her way if it was what made Nessie happy. That was the most important thing. If she was happy, I would be happy.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

"Jacob, did you open your invitation yet? It came in the mail this morning." I asked as I popped my head into our bedroom. I wasn't sure if he would be happy about it or not.

"What invitation? Did we get invited to a party or something?"

"Um, no, not a party exactly. Here," I handed it to him, after retrieving it from the entryway table. He must not have seen it when we returned from class today.

"Thanks, hon . . . I mean Nessie, er Renesmee." He corrected under his breath. He seemed so sad as he began opening the envelope. Maybe this was a mistake. Even if I could not help the timing of its arrival I should not have been the one to give it to him, and I don't think he would be happy to see it.

"Jacob, please don't do that." I grabbed his hands just before they pulled out the invitation. I needed to clarify things between us and that traitorous piece of paper would not help right now. "Just because I have my first date with Nahuel next month," I know it was far off, since I told Jacob last week about my plans, but I wanted to give him some time to get use to the idea, "does not mean you can't call me all of the nice nicknames you have used all these years, ever since I was a baby. It is still me, still us. Right?"

"I doubt Nahuel will appreciate it. I know I would not like it if I was the one who got too . . . um . . . . and someone else was calling you their sweetheart . . . it wouldn't be right."

"I disagree. I am your imprint, those rules don't apply to us? We are going to be together forever. You and me, and maybe him too. I should be able to call you whatever I want and so should you."

"Alright . . . honey." He relented and even managed to crack a smile when he said "honey". "So if that is settled can I open this now?" I had been holding his hands the entire time but released them now and he pulled out the paper. I watched helplessly as his face fell. Damn, stupid timing. How could I have been so thoughtless?

"Jacob? Are you okay?" I doubted he would be.

"Um, I . . . Crap! I'm sorry Nessie. I'm fine really. I just thought, well hoped, things would have worked out differently for him . . . them. But I guess that won't happen now."

"Do you want to go? If we both received an invitation to the wedding they probably invited everyone from your Pack and all of the imprints. Possibly Sam's Pack too. Embry never mentioned anything when you Skyped with him?"

"Yeah, he did. This is just happening so fast. But this is not actually a wedding invitation Nessie. It is a 'Save the Date' card. Sort of a pre-wedding invitation. The wedding is so far off that couples like to mail these out to guarantee guests won't make other plans. It's only October 12th, honey. The wedding is not for another four months," he said pointing to the date listed on the card of February 14, 2011. "The official invitations will probably come sometime in January."

"Oh. So how is Embry doing with all of this? It must be hard that his imprint is marring someone else."

"Strangely enough he is actually not that bad. According to him, Henry is a good enough guy that really seems to love Colleen." Jacob then added under his breath, "Just not as much as Embry does."

"Well I am glad that they are all getting along. I was worried about Embry when he finally decided to come clean to Henry about the whole mistaken gay vibe."

"Yeah, well it is not exactly all peachy either. It was more than a little rocky there for a bit, and it has only gotten slightly better between them. But since Embry doesn't see Colleen romantically, since she does not want him too, Henry soon figured out the same thing. Not that he knows anything about imprinting, or wolves, or anything. But I think he can see that Embry has no desires for his fiancé in that way. I think Embry is trying his best to show him that he just wants to be a really good friend to his future wife."

"It's nice that they are able to at least trying to _share_ her like that."

"Yeah, it is a little strange, but they are trying their best to make it work, it seems."

I hope, if all goes well between Nahuel and I, that the three of us will be able to make things work too.

...


	39. Driving and Dating

**Year Five, Chapter Thirty-Nine**

 **Driving and Dating**

Jacob's Point of View

"So what do you think, Jake?" Nessie asked me as we were approaching the house.

After about her first month of college, Nessie had started calling me "Jake" on and off, when we were just casually talking. She seemed to go back to calling me "Jacob" when we were talking about something more serious, but even then it was fading away. It was understandable when she heard just about every other person who talked to me calling me "Jake" and not "Jacob". I didn't mind the difference, I actually kinda liked it, although it did shock me the first time I heard her say it. I'm not sure if she even realized she did it, she made no facial expression one way or the other to give me any clues. I guess it was just another step she was taking as she got older. Just like when she transitioned from calling Bella "momma" and then "mom" when she was little.

"I don't know that your parents are gonna go for it." I signed.

"Why not, my passport and all of my IDs says I'm 18. I'm in college as a sophomore now, don't you think it's about time I learned how to drive. I can't continue to be dependent on the entire family every time I want to go somewhere."

"Why would you want to go anywhere without me, honey." I jokingly asked. "You know I'll drive you wherever you want to go? If you ever need anything you can always ask me."

"I know, Jacob, but it would be nice just to have the option, sometimes. What if I want to go out and you're busy, or sick, or hurt." I just gave her a smirky look for that one. She knew she was grasping at straws, knowing how I don't get sick and heel exceptionally fast. "Okay, well what if I want to go and get you something for a surprise without you seeing it? I'm just saying that it would be nice to have a little freedom every now and then."

"And what do you think your parents are going to say about this, you know they still see you as a little kid. You're only four years old to them."

"No they don't. I'm old enough to date now, remember." How could I forget. I winced a bit but tried to cover it as to not upset her. "Jake, I can build and rebuild an entire car engine with my eyes closed. I love driving in the car with you and don't want to be stuck in the passenger seat forever. I want a chance to be the driver. It's only fair," she whined, ironically just like a real four year old kid.

Arrrg, she knew I could never really say no to her. "Alright, Nessie. If Edward and Bella agree to it, I'll teach you how to drive, you win." I chuckled over to her.

Contrary to what I assumed, Bella and Edward actually approved, quite readily, to my teaching Nessie, on the condition that I teach Nahuel to drive as well. I'm sure Nessie could see the disappointment, or resentment, on my face, but I gave in knowing that it was what she wanted. Not that I resented teaching her. It was him!

Why Nahuel? And why me? I know Bella said that if he was going to be staying here, he really needed to learn how to drive but why did I have to be the one to teach him.

The next day, I kept my promise to _both_ of them. It had actually taken Nessie no time at all to learn, she pretty much had everything all down, just from watching me drive over the years. Nahuel took longer, his experience in a car was almost nonexistent, and what little he had mostly took place in taxis, when he came to visit us, and that consisted of him riding in the back seat. So it took him a bit longer. But he was still a half-vampire so _longer_ amounted to about an extra 20 minutes.

The most time, well maybe not really the most, but the most boring amount of time, was actually spent when Nessie and Nahuel read through the cars owner's manual and a DMV drivers manual. Edward had picked them up at some point between yesterday and today. When they were through reading I tested them, but of course they had memorized the entire books, word for word.

When we were done and the car was returned to the garage, in one piece, Bella let Nahuel know that she would contact Mr. Jenks and get him a drivers license, seeing as Nessie already had one.

….

"So do you know where you are going on your date tonight?"

Nessie was trying to put her hair in a ponytail, at least I think she was. She had redone it three times already. I don't know what the problem was. Her hair looked perfect. Everything about her looked perfect.

Why could I not have realized that a couple of months ago? Well that is not exactly it. She was beautiful as a baby, and toddler, and child, and all through her teen years. I knew that. She never went through an awkward phase or even got a pimple. One on the perks of being a half-vampire I guess.

But my changing feelings for her, rather my changing thinking towards her, from child, to teen, to woman had happened so slowly, well not really slowly when I consider how quickly she grew, but so gradually that I missed it, or misjudged it. I misjudged myself. The change in my feelings towards her changed so slowly, so gradually that I missed it.

Now she just finally looked old enough that the part of my brain that had been holding me off from moving forward with her, because she was too young, had stopped. But I had not been paying attention. I was too caught up in keeping her safe, that I forgot to notice she was not a kid anymore, and I certainly did not think of her the same way I thought of my sisters. Why didn't I? Damn it!

It possibly could have saved me all of this turmoil I was feeling now. I loved her and wanted her to be happy. And she seemed happy to be going out on her first date tonight with Nahuel. Well happy and nervous. But I got the feeling it was an excited nervous, not one brought about by fear. I just wished it was me going with her tonight. But I would be there, in a way, following behind in wolf form, keeping her safe, looking out for her, always.

"Yes, he asked me what I wanted to do tonight and since the holiday is next month I suggested that we could go look at Christmas Trees at one of the local tree farms that opened last week. They let you cut them down yourself, and at night there probably won't be that many people around. It should give us a chance to talk and walk around outside somewhere other than the woods outside the house."

"But you hate Christmas." Why would she pick that? We had not celebrated in years. I didn't want to complain too much, the location was perfect for me, I could watch over her in the cover of the trees, hopefully staying undetected in the process. "Here, let me do that." I said as I grabbed the brush from her and began gathering her massive waves into an elegant up do. Attempts four and five apparently weren't right either. But I had gotten fairly good at managing Nessie's wild curls over the years. I actually enjoyed brushing her hair for her. Rose even taught me a few styles to try out. Who knew I would have more in common than just cars with Blondie.

"Thanks," she said handing me the hair elastic. "It is not so much that I hate Christmas, just the memories associated with it. I want to work on that, and I figured now was as good a time as any to start."

"Are you sure that this is such a good idea honey?" I asked as I grabbed some bobby pins.

"What's the worst that could happen? I have some negative reaction to _trees_ and we come home early? It's not like they will be lit up and decorated with people singing carols in the background. Anyway it is more the time of year that I have the biggest problem with, not the holiday itself. But you will still be with me every night to keep my nightmares at bay, anyway." She suddenly looked scared. "You will still sleep with me, won't you?" Did she think I would abandon her now that she was dating Nahuel? Thou it did seem a bit strange, dating one man and sleeping with another, however platonic it was with us.

"Of course honey, you know I will always be with you, whenever and however you need me." At least until she no longer needs me anymore. I am sure some day, hopefully far, far in the future, _He_ will be in a position to help keep them away just as easily as I do now. But I did not want to think about that right now. "So do you actually plan on cutting down a tree?" I asked, changing the subject back.

"No, probably not. I just thought it would be an interesting backdrop for our conversation. It's way too early anyway. Who gets a tree in November?" She replied, finally seeming satisfied with what I did with her hair, grabbing a jacket and heading out our bedroom door. "Nahuel should be here soon, so I guess I will see you tonight." She continued while wrapping me in a goodbye hug in the living room.

Of course as we walked towards the front door we saw that Nahuel was already here and in a whispered conversation, too low for Nessie and I to have heard from the soundproofed bedroom, with Edward and Bella.

"Renesmee, we would like to have a word with you before you leave with Nahuel tonight." Edward called to her. But as he looked at me it seemed like he rethought something. "Um, Renesmee you remember what we talked about before?"

"Yes of course, dad."

"Alright then, you two go and have fun tonight and we will see you when you get back." Edward said, as Bella gave her a goodbye hug.

Huh? That was it? I was expecting more of a fatherly talk from him, you know the kind where he warns her of all the things she is not allowed to do - he'll be watching, she'll be grounded for life, all the usual stuff . . . Where was the overprotective Eddie from back when I was trying to win Bella? He was not my favorite guy back then, but I sure would have appreciated him showing up now.

I know my face must have been showing the confusion and irritation I was feeling at that moment and even if it hadn't he could still hear what I was thinking.

They were gone now, off on their _DATE_ and Edward just broke out in a chuckle.

"What the hell was that?" I questioned him.

"So anyone feel like a game of chess?" Edward asked neither of us in particular, as he walked over to the table that currently held the board and started setting up the pieces.

Was he really just ignoring my question, my concerns? Why was he not worried? I know Nahuel had changed his diet but he was still a man, with needs and desires. And we all knew what he wanted to do with Nessie. And Edward had just sent out his only daughter, his very _sheltered_ only daughter, on a date with him.

I started shaking and growling right in the living room.

"Calm down Jacob. I heard what you were thinking before and know you plan on following them. Bella and I are sure that Nessie will be perfectly _safe_ with you looking after her. But you should probably get going soon if you don't want them getting too far ahead of you. Nahuel is driving Emmett's Jeep and the hood is up so you won't be able to follow their scent. They are headed to the tree farm twelve miles east of here."

So that was it. That was why neither of them looked worried. I was kicking myself now for ever, even agreeing to teach Nahuel how to drive, though.

It turned out I had nothing to be worried about, their first date turned out to be nothing more than two of them walking around and talking, just like Nessie had said. He didn't even try to go for an end of the night Kiss. I wonder if it had anything to do with what he, Edward, and Bella talked about while Nessie was getting ready in the bedroom? Had Edward threatened him enough that now he was not even going to try anything? Then why would he also want me following them? Well I guess Edward was being as overprotective as ever. Good!

Over the next few weeks Nessie and Nahuel continued to go on more "dates" just about every other night. I followed them each time, luckily every one of them took place outside. I figured that some would have eventually been in a movie theater or dinner at a restaurant but that never happened. There were lots of walks, some long runs in the woods, occasionally a picnic, but that was it. I never had a problem staying in wolf form to oversee everything. I felt a bit guilty spying on them, but it was for Nessie's own protection. Maybe I should tell her? But what if she tells me not to go anymore? It was too much of a risk. Her safety was more important than her privacy.

Currently I was hiding in a bush not 100 feet from them on another one of their picnics. At least tonight they were staying in one place. I was tired and was in no mood to be following them all over New England. It was getting windy and I had a feeling that they might need to end things a bit early tonight. I could tell it was going to rain soon.

Suddenly Nahuel's head shot up and he looked in my direction, I didn't think he could see me from where I was hiding, but had he heard something. A split second later something was hurled through the air and lodged in my shoulder. I let out an involuntary whimper. When I looked down I saw that the offending object was a fork sticking halfway out of me, prongs out. I could not get it out as a wolf. I would need hands to do that.

Great!

Nahuel was growling now, ready to spring on whatever he thought was out here – me, but Nessie was trying to calm him down.

"Nahuel, it is okay, it is just Jacob." I heard her tell him.

What? She knew I was out here? Had she known all along? Maybe that was why their dates were all outside? But it was exceptionally windy tonight, she could have just as easily gotten a whiff of my scent. But then why had Nahuel not? Or maybe that was what had alerted him to my presence in the first place.

I guess it was time to phase back to my human form. I was pulling the fork from my shoulder when Nessie appeared before me.

"Jacob, are you hurt very badly?" She looked worried instead of angry, like I thought she might be. But all I felt was concern coming through our imprint bond.

"I'll be fine, honey." Even as I spoke the wound was already closing.

"What is your wolf doing here?" Nahuel asked coming up behind her. He, on the other hand, was having the reaction I was expecting. Not that I cared too much what he thought, but if him being upset was going to make Nessie upset, I would need to smooth things over between the two of us.

What could I say though. Y _ou know I don't trust you not to suck the life out of the girl I love, so I have been stalking you during your dates._ I don't think the truth would go over very well.

"Nahuel, you know Jacob is my protector, of course he is here. He is always with me. You know that. Did you really expect him to be sitting at home waiting for us to return?" She answered for me.

"Yes, I am well aware of that, but I was expecting you to call him off during our _private_ time together. Can't you give him the night off or something?"

"I will go where ever I want!" I growled back at him. So much for smoothing things over.

"Nahuel, that is not how it works. Jacob is here to protect me." Nessie added, at least she was doing a better job than I was.

"I see. And he feels like he needs to protect you from me." Nahuel seethed.

It had started sprinkling now, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the weather.

"No, I am sure that is not it. He trusts you, I know he does, I even heard him tell Aunt Rose how much you have changed and there was no need to worry. But there are other things out here, and Jacob would never take my safety for granted."

Humph. That was partially true. I was not worried, as much, anymore that Nahuel might feed from her in the heat of the moment, not that they would ever get to that, at the glacial rate they were going, not that I was complaining, but still, no matter how much he had changed I doubt he was a saint.

"In that case, may I suggest a compromise." He sneered. What was he up to? "I believe that I am more than capable of protecting Renesmee as well as you. Jacob, you should of course continue to watch over her while she is attending school and during her hunting trips. But I would request that you let me oversee her care during our dates. I am sure two half-vampires would be more than capable of handling anything we would come across out here. And I believe Renesmee carries a phone that she can call you if we happen to run into an army of vampires out roaming around the New Hampshire wilderness." Was that his attempt at humor?

Nessie looked at me, more pleading than anything else. "Jacob," she began grabbing my hand and turning me away from Nahuel _. I know what I told Nahuel was not entirely true, but I want to try to see if I can make this work with him. You can't hide in the bushes anymore and I think he would probably object to you tagging along right now, in any capacity. What if I showed you a replay of my dates with Nahuel, each night when I returned home?_ "Please." She added out loud for Nahuel's benefit, probably to hid the fact that she made her offer behind his back, so to speak.

"Alright," I relented, I could see she really wanted this, and I could never say no to her. But then I turned back to face Nahuel, "but if I see anything damaged on her, I will do the same to you. Splinted, broken arm, or worse, you get the same . . . understand?"

Nahuel actually had the audacity to roll his eyes, but agreed. I guess he felt he could keep Nessie safe. I hoped he was right.

…...

Renesmee's Point of View

"So, Nahuel is coming with us to class tomorrow?" Jake asked me after watching the replay of my latest date with him. Really? That was all he had to say? I guess my dates would be a little boring for him to watch. All Nahuel and I ever did was talk on our walks and dinner dates.

Nahuel had never given Jake one moment for concern. He had told me, soon after Jake stopped _accompanying_ us on our dates, about certain aspects of his past. But he had assured me (and Jacob and my parents) that he had overcome his desire for other woman – both their blood and their um . . . bodies. And so far it seemed to be true. He had completely switched to eating human food, and barely left the house, when he did, it was with me or another member of the family, so I know he was not sneaking off, and my father would definitely see that in his mind.

When I had showed Jake what we talked about, that night, he seemed surprised. Not the information about Nahuel's past, much to my chagrin, Jake had already known about it. For some reason he had assumed Nahuel was going to hide his past from me. But how can you build a life with someone if you hid things from them? I had not even had to ask Nahuel anything, he was the one who wanted to confess, as he put it, his past mistakes. It was hard for me to hear, but not totally unexpected. I knew what his diet was before, and he had already revealed to me, in the woods last year, that he had prior experience of being with other woman. Of course I was upset regarding the nature of the relationships, or the lack of them, while he was with these women. And when I did the math in my head, I felt sick. One woman, per week or two, for over 150 years. That was a lot! But he assured me that that way of life was over for him.

It took me almost a good month to not be repulsed just by looking at Nahuel. We took a small break while I thought about things, Jake seemed happy about that. But eventually I realized that Nahuel was not that same person, he was not even the same person I had met last year. This was a completely different Nahuel. One who had not had wanted or needed blood, or woman, to survive. Now all he wanted was me.

But I was also happy we were moving slow. I had not kissed Nahuel yet, not even once. We had been dating, well my version of dating, now for just over two months. It was what my father had called "courting". He had suggested it when I talked to him about not being sure how to decide between Jake and Nahuel. He said it was like dating, but more conservative - just getting to know someone before things got too serious. I thought it was the perfect idea, for now.

Nahuel did not seem too enthralled but agreed, well relented, anyway. Especially when my father and mother had made it perfectly clear that it was this or nothing, for the time being at least. That part, changing the dynamics of our relationship part, if and when it happened, my father assured me, would be my decision. But I needed to be 100% certain first, before taking things further. He seemed to cave, on the whole marriage idea. He could see in my mind how certain and unmoving I was on the subject. There was no use in arguing about it.

It was, Sunday January 3, 2010 and Jake and I were headed back to school tomorrow after the winter break. And Nahuel wanted to tag along.

 **"** You don't mind do you? He is just curious about it. You saw how I was talking about the whole college experience with him, and I think he would like to see for himself."

"Sure, he can come with us, I guess. I am not too sure how interesting it is going to be for him though." Jake replied before I quickly exited our room for the bathroom to change into my pink tank and grey pant pajamas as he stripped down to his tee shirt and "Alice" shorts and got into bed.

"The plants he is growing at the Doc and Esme's house are nice." Jake mentioned when I walked back into the room and hopped into bed with him.

"Yeah, they are really pretty. He had his Aunt send the seeds up in the mail, and he was able to turn the corner dining room over there, that gets the most sun, into a makeshift greenhouse. Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper were able to help him replace the walls with large windows. Grandma and Grandpa said they were fine with him cranking up the heat too, he preferred it that way anyway, he said it reminded him of home, and the plants seem to be flourishing in it. He thinks they will start flowering soon."

"Really? Is he missing home that much?" Jake actually sounded a little too hopeful. I know this was hard for him, but he was the one who brought it up.

"No," I sighed. "He wanted to give me a bouquet of flowers, native to where he's from. And this is what he came up with when he could not find any at the local flower shops. It's nice of him to go through all of that effort, just to give me some flowers."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that is kinda thoughtful." Jacob mumbled as he fell asleep.

The next day Nahuel, Jake and I drove to school in Jake's Volvo. We only had the one class today so Nahuel planned on staying the entire time. I was not sure how interesting he would find our Intro to Engineering class, but he insisted that it was not the subject but the experience he was interested in. Maybe if things worked out between us, he might want to enroll in some classes himself next year.

The class was not full last semester, and people would stop by to audit it now and then so Nahuel's presence there should not be too much of a problem, he also had promised to sit in the back to observe.

Nahuel had been off human blood now for awhile so I didn't see any need to be concerned. But as we got closer to the room where the class was being held he seemed apprehensive. Not wanting any of the humans to hear, I used my gift to ask him if he needed to leave, but he assured me he was fine, yet he still did not seem comfortable. Whatever was wrong he was not telling me. As Jake entered the classroom, I grabbed tighter onto Nahuel's hand and dragged him in after, as I passed through the doorway I saw that Andy and Rob were already there.

"Hey Jake, who's that? Friend of yours?" Rob questioned him, looking directly at Nahuel.

Jake slumped down in the empty seat next to Andy, and farthest away from Rob, he was still pretty upset at him, even though I had told him time after time that I did not care, but to little effect. At least they were talking to each other again, sort of. Since they were both the same major they did see each other a lot. It was hard to pretend the other did not exist.

"That's Nahuel," Jake scowled, "Nessie's _boyfriend_."

"Her boyfriend? But dude? What happened? I thought you and her were . . . you know, hooking up and stuff?" Rob looked shocked but at least tried talking quietly, of course that did nothing to stop us from hearing him perfectly. I hoped Nahuel didn't get upset, but a quick glance over to Nahuel's face did not reveal any anger, hurt, shock or surprise on it. He seemed to be in a daze or was concentrating very hard on some interesting tree outside the window. I was starting to worry if he was going to be okay here.

Of course I felt worse for Jacob. I should have assumed Rob would be in this class with us again and brought Nahuel to French or some other elective Rob was unlikely to take. But Jake's face had cooled to resemble Nahuel's. I was glad he no longer seemed upset. But he didn't seem happy either. In fact it revealed nothing at all, it was a perfect mask of calm. I wonder if he was even paying attention?

"Yeah, well you went blabbing about things that were none of your business." Jake sneered. No, I guess he was just trying to control his anger at Rob.

"Hey, come on, don't be like that, can't you drop this whole thing and forget about it? Its old news anyway. No one even cares. Friends?" Rob actually held out his hand waiting for Jake to shake it. This should be interesting.

"Friends? Seriously? I don't think so."

"Jacky, come on," Andy pleaded grabbing his hand, "Rob just doesn't think sometimes. He says dumb things all the time. Stupidity isn't a good reason to end a friendship. It's not like he killed someone. Pleeeesssse, I want us all to be friends. I can't have my two best friends being mad at each other." She said wrapping them both up into a hug.

Jacob was looking over to me, like he was asking ME what he should do. I knew it was good for him to have friends and he really seemed to enjoy spending time with both of them, from the stories he told me last year. He knows that Rob didn't bother me, in truth Andy's behavior was more upsetting than Robs. But I knew Jake didn't notice her attempts to flirt with him. So I guess it did not matter. I nodded slightly over to him, too small for them to see, but he would clearly be able to pick up my approval, not that he really needed it. But I knew he did not want to upset me, even in something as insignificant as this.

"Fine, friends," Jake acquiesced, shaking Rob's hand, probably a bit too hard, judging by the grimace on his face as Jake released his hand. "But if you ever say anything about Nessie, good or bad, to anyone, every again, you will be sorry." He threw in as a warning.


	40. A Dream and a Wedding

**Year Five, Chapter 40**

 **A Dream and a Wedding**

Jacob's Point of View

She looked so beautiful, sleeping there with a huge smile on her face. I knew I shouldnt, it was an invasion of her privacy, but I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to know what made her so happy so I picked up her hand and placed it on my cheek . . . "Oh!"

In one motion I dropped her hand and tried as gently as I could to climb out of bed without waking her but I was not even halfway to the door when I heard her.

"Jacob, where are you going? Is something wrong"

Yes something was wrong. I was wrong. I had broken her trust and invaded her privacy.

"Nessie, I'm sorry. I peeked into your dream and saw. I should go. You obviously don't want me in your bed with you right now. Do you want me to go get . . . him?" I didn't really want too, but if it was what she wanted, and by the looks of her dream I would guess it was.

"What are you talking about Jacob? You always sleep in bed with me?" She looked confused.

Was she really going to make me say it? Yeah, I guess I deserved a little humiliation. Okay here goes. . . "Yeah, but in your dream you were not with me. You were with him. . . Nahuel, in bed, you know, being . . . intimate . . . with him."

She sighed. "I'm sorry my Jacob, I can't control my dreams. It seems my subconscious is working though a lot. If I wanted to be having sex with Nahuel right now I would be. But I'm here with you. A lot of things happened recently, and there are a lot of things I need to think about, and I am sure some of those thing are going to work into my subconscious while I'm asleep. But I promise you nothing will change between the two of us."

Great, that's not exactly what I wanted to hear. I love her, I imprinted on her, and will be anything for her, even if that means just being her best friend for all of eternity, but I was still hoping for more.

"Besides," she added coyly with a giant smile plastered to her face, "you seemed to have missed the beginning of the dream."

Huh? What did that mean? I just stood there, probably looking dumbfounded until she pulled me back to bed, snuggling herself into my side as she went back to sleep.

….

Renesmee's Point of View

Jake and I were sitting, in the church, on the Makah Reservation for Colleen and Henry's wedding. Nahuel was a bit perturbed that I would not be with him for our first Valentine's Day, but there was nothing I could do. The invitation was just for Jacob and myself. It was a small wedding and no additional guests were allowed, but I had assured him, before I left, that I would more than make up for it when I returned. His mood had elevated dramatically, but Jake, who was in the corner of the room, growled to himself and broke the cup he was holding in his hand.

What was wrong now?

Okay, if I was being honest with myself, I knew what was wrong, I just didn't know how to fix it. I wish I could make this easier for Jake in some way.

After this was over I promised myself I would sit down with Jake and discuss things. I didn't want him suffering. But for now I had a wedding to get through. Another long boring, pointless wedding.

For this wedding I decided it might be better if I dressed myself instead of letting Aunt Alice take over like she had when I was younger. I checked with Jacob beforehand for what he thought would be appropriate, but brought a few different accessories, to dress my choice up or down, just in case. In the end I wore a simple, yet elegant lavender dress, it had a knee length flared skirt with a halter top. I was glad I choose it because when we arrived at the ceremony it seemed to fit in perfectly with everyone else's wardrobe. I went easy on the jewelry and paired everything with some strappy sandals. Everything fit in perfectly. At least I wouldn't make a fashion blunder this time. Alice would be so proud. Not that I really cared, but it would make her happy.

Jacob, of course looked amazing in his charcoal grey suit, accented with a slightly deeper shade of purple for his tie, to match my dress. He was braver than me and actually agreed to let Aunt Alice dress him. I don't think, at the time though, that he realized what a production it would be. She actually custom made the suit for him. While it did not take her that long to sew it, he did not particularly like having to stand so still while she took his measurements. Not that it took long either, he just did not like it. He could be such a baby sometimes I chuckled to myself, thinking back to it.

"What's so funny honey?" Jacob looked at me with a smile.

I had not seen him so relaxed in a while. It was nice. I had not realized how much I missed it being just us.

"Oh, was I laughing out loud? Sorry. I was just thinking about when Aunt Alice was measuring you for that suit."

"Oh yeah, that was hilarious." He said rolling his eyes.

Jacob seemed so happy to see his and Sam's Packs again. All the imprints were here with their wolves, even Claire. But I didn't see any of the un-imprinted wolves, except for Leah. They were probably back at La Push protecting the reservation. But where was Embry? Probably with Colleen.

Jacob and I were chatting with everyone for awhile when I suddenly realized the time.

"So, when is the wedding suppose to start?" We had been sitting in the church pews for almost an hour now. I know we arrived a bit early, but I thought the invitation said noon, and it was 12:43 now.

"I think most weddings begin whenever the bride is ready, honey. These things normally tend to start a little late, I wouldn't worry. This is perfectly normal. My sister, Rebecca was over an hour and a half late for her wedding. Apparently her hair took longer than expected to style."

 _I guess things take more time when you don't have vampire speed._ I thought to Jacob while holding his hand.

"Definitely." He agreed, chuckling some more.

Almost eight minutes later I, and every wolf in the church heard it. Yelling! Screaming really. Coming from the back. A room in a separate alcove where Colleen was supposedly getting ready. Even though I had never heard him before I knew who the voice must have belonged to. Henry! He was Furious. What could have happened? It was his wedding day. He should have been happier than anyone on the planet right now. I guess. Or at least that's what everyone kept telling me about weddings, and marriage, and everything. So why was he screaming? I started to listen closer, paying attention to the words not just the sound.

Oh! Crap!

Most likely the humans in the church were unable to hear what was being said and by the looks of things they couldn't even hear the yelling. They looked impatient, not worried, confused, or panicked. I guess that was good.

"Jacob should we go back there? Should we do something?" I whispered to him.

"Nessie why don't you stay here. I think it would be better if I just go alone."

"No Jacob I want to come with you, Colleen might need a girl to talk to."

As we got up the other wolves gave Jake a look but he returned his own, signaling to them to all stay put, for now anyway.

When we got to Colleen's door Jake knocked and then yelled loudly so everyone inside could hear "Hey guys, how's everything going back there?"

"Jake were fine, go away." Embry yelled back.

Henry obviously disagreed. "Like hell everything is fine! How could you?"

"We're coming in." Jake announced before opening the door.

When I looked around the room I saw Colleen crying in a chair, she was still in her bathrobe, and had never even made it into her dress. Embry was crouching over her protectively. Henry was on the far side of the room and you looked like he had bruised his hands. I wonder if he had tried hitting Embry? Colleen looked unharmed so he obviously didn't try to hit her, at least he wasn't successful if he did. Even though he was just standing there Henry still looked like he wanted to kill Embry. I guess that was understandable not many people would be too happy if there fiancé slept with someone else the night before their wedding.

"Embry can I see you in the hallway for a minute." Jake said more as an order than a request.

"No I'm not leaving her. Look at him, he's too upset right now. I don't trust what he'll do."

"I'll stay with her." I volunteered and I quietly swept across the room over to Colleen. Embry knew that I would be able to take care of her, not only emotionally but also be able to protect her, if needed, from Henry. Once Jake and Embry were outside I turned to Colleen. "So do you want to talk about what happened guys?" I asked.

"I don't know really," Colleen started, "it's just . . . with the wedding, and moving next week . . ." she said between sobs, "I don't know. Just the thought of never seeing Embry again . . . I don't know what happened."

"You were leaving? Moving away? Without Embry? You know that would never work right?" I wanted to mention the imprint but Henry was in the room and I knew I couldn't.

"Yes." Colleen replied. "Henry got a new job."

"Yeah, what else was I supposed to do? The two of them are just too close. I thought a little distance would help, so when this job transfer was offered to me at work I jumped at it. We're moving to Texas next week. Well we were. Now I guess I'll be moving alone." Henry seethed. "But before I go, just tell me one thing. How long? How long has it been going on between the two of you?"

"It was just the one time." Colleen hiccupped, barely loud enough for him to hear. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah right. I see the way you two look at each other. I'm out of here." Then he turned and left, slamming the door behind him with such anger and force it bounced back open. As he left he did not even stop or slow down as he passed Jake and Embry further down the hall.

"Are you okay?" I questioned her once he was out of sight.

"I just feel so foolish. I guess there really was no point trying to fight the imprint. Honestly I'm not sure how it even happened though. I was beginning to think Embry was a eunuch or something." She whispered to me. I wonder if she didn't realize Embry could hear her in the hallway. Jacob swiftly closed the gap between where he was and our location and closed the door, I knew they could still hear everything we were saying, but it gave Colleen the illusion of privacy.

"Hmmm," I huffed, "well, in a way he _was_ kind of . . . impotent. You know he only wants what you want. So since you had no desire for him sexually before, neither did he for you. It must have taken a lot mentally, or at least emotionally, on your part to have made something happen last night. He can only give you what you want and need. So you must have wanted it to happen more than you realized and more that you are admitting now, and probably for a lot longer than just last night." I told her, and also revealed to Jacob just exactly how much I knew.

"You shouldn't feel so bad. It's better Henry found out now before you married him." I continued after a moment to let her take things in. "Then it would have been too late. Not that it would have made much difference, Embry will always be with you. If you had gotten married and moved to Texas he would have followed you. Now at least you have a chance to move forward, with Embry, and see what happens. You'll probably be very happy with him. All of the rest of the wolves and imprints are."

"No, last night was a mistake." She said, seemingly changing her mind out of nowhere. "A huge one. It was just wedding jitters. I don't think of that Embry that way. I love Henry. How could I have let this happen? What is wrong with me? I need to go find him and apologize." She blabbered.

What? I thought she wanted to be with Embry. Doesn't she realize Embry will always be in her life, in some way. After she saw how Henry reacted didn't she understand that he would never accept the three of them as a . . . couple?

Of course Jake and Embry chose that moment to walk back into the room. How devastated could one other person look? Actually they both wore equal masks of horror and sadness.

Colleen ran over and started crying into Embry's shirt. "I'm sorry . . . I just . . . can't."

"Come on Nessie, let's give them some space." Jacob sighed as he held out his hand for me. We quietly exited the room, and walked to the other end of the hallway, as they sobbed in each other's arms.

"What should we do now Jake?" I questioned. How were we going to fix this?

"I don't know honey. There might not be anything we can do. It is really up to Embry and Colleen. And Henry I suppose. Their relationship just seemed doomed from the start."

"Yeah, it is beginning to seem that way. But who knows maybe they can turn things around, eventually. We're okay though, right?" I wondered out loud.

He huffed before speaking and looked down at his feet. Not a good sign. "I don't know Nessie. It seems that you think I'm a _eunuch_?" He smirked, looking back up at me with a twinkle in his eye.

"Of course you heard that. Then you know I was not the one who said that right? And besides I know that you are not. Don't forget I _have_ seen you naked." I joked back.

Jake just stood there looking dumbfounded. But I continued, tapping my forehead, "Perfect memory and recall remember, vampire brain." A second later I could tell he remembered his flaming shorts fiasco.

"So it seems Edward didn't cover your eyes as quickly as I thought he did, huh?"

"Sorry Jacob, I guess my _eyes_ aren't as innocent as you thought they were. You're not embarrassed are you? Because I don't think you have anything to be embarrassed about." I smirked.

"Nessie . . . I . . . um, I'm sorry, you were still a child. You should not have been subjected to something like that. I thought Edward was quicker and protected you while I was . . . unable to."

"Don't be silly. I'm fine, really. I saw much more in Grandpa's medical books. You're not that upset are you?"

"No, not exactly, just more shocked at the moment," he replied coming out of his daze. "So I guess you also heard more than you let on that day in the garage with Rose and Emmett back in October?"

I was about to apologize, not wanting to embarrass him more when Colleen's parents and two bridesmaids effectively ended our conversation as they rushed down the hallway towards Colleens dressing, room from . . . somewhere. (Where _had_ they been during all of this?)

Henry had apparently gone to the church and _informed_ everyone that the wedding was off, before leaving, straight for Texas. I could only imagine everyone's reactions. The wolves and imprints joined us shortly afterwards, but we stayed gathered in the hallway.

After listening in on a long discussion between Embry, Colleen and her parents, we heard that Colleen decided that she would indeed go to Texas so she could try to patch things up with Henry. And Embry insisted on accompanying Colleen. I wasn't sure it was going to work but she sounded determined to try. And of course Embry was determined to go with her.

Apparently he was going to try to stay out of sight as much as possible. He thought he would _hopefully_ be able to stay in his wolf form most of the time. Jake told me that things would be easier for him to deal with that way. I wasn't sure where Colleen was planning on living in Texas but a city or heavily populated area would be very inconvenient for Embry. A nice rural location would be best if Embry was hoping to stay concealed as a wolf.

Eventually we all joined Embry and the others in the little dressing room. Everyone was a bit squished in, but once Colleen made her decision we jumped onboard and were determined to help. They planned on leaving late tomorrow afternoon, on the earliest available flight. I had called my parents and they were good enough to arrange for the tickets.

Jacob and I were currently headed back to Embry's mother's house in La Push, since he had refused to leave Colleen while she was so upset, to explain everything to her and pack some things for him. Of course if he was going to be living mostly as a wolf, he wouldn't need much; but just to be on the safe side we threw all of his clothes, what little there were, in a single suitcase. Of course since the move to Texas had been a surprise to him, once he got down there, things would get a little bit tricky. He had no place to live, no job, no money. But he refused to leave Colleen. She didn't have much either, though she had lined up a job. I think she assumed, well more likely _hoped_ that Henry would take her back and they would move into the apartment they had already found together. Embry would probably have to find a job eventually as well. But then again how much money does a wolf really need? I guess it all really depended on where he was going to be living – a City or Rural area. An apartment or the forest, grocery shopping or hunting, clothes or fur?

Embry promised Jake that he would check in at least once a month and would take the laptop Jake got him, so he could continue to Skype. Of course that meant he would occasionally need somewhere to plug it in, but Embry assured Jake he would figure it out.

Of course now that we were in La Push we stopped in to visit Billy before leaving. We would have anyway but this way we were actually able to spend a bit more time with him, which I know Jake appreciated. We also bought Quil a replacement laptop before our flight back to New Hampshire.

….

My parents met us at the airport and greeted me with hugs and kisses. We were only gone for four days, but they were acting like it had been a month. They knew about everything that had happened with the wedding and I guess assumed I would be upset. But I don't think I was affected as they seemed to think I would be. Maybe whatever they were thinking just had not hit me yet. I don't know.

The flight from Washington to New Hampshire was always long. I was as deadly tired as I usually felt from the trip, when we finally arrived back at the house, but I was still planning to make a special dinner for Nahuel to make up for missing Valentine's day. But when Jake and I walked through the door I saw that Nahuel had the same idea. I guess he had spoken to my parents about his plan, because they had retired to their bedroom as soon as we entered the house.

I heard Jake mumble under his breath how it would have been nice for my mother or father to have given him some warning at least before we walked in. It was a nice surprise though. And my parents mentioning it to him would have ruined the surprise for me. But he was right, a little warning would have been nice.

Nahuel had placed candles and the flowers he had been growing, on every available surface in the living room and dining room. And dining room table had been set for two. I wonder if Alice had helped him? This seemed like her type of overboard.

Jacob grumbled something else, I couldn't make out, under his breath, before giving me a hug and heading off . . . somewhere.

"But Jake? Aren't you hungry?" I called. We had been traveling all day and he had only eaten a hurried breakfast at Billy's and the pathetic airplane food for lunch. I know Nahuel planned a romantic dinner for just the two of us, but I didn't want my Jacob to go hungry.

"Um, I think I am going to go for a run, Nessie, I'll eat something out there." He said before briefly returning to give me a hug while kissing the top of my head, and rushing out the back door.

I felt so bad. I know this was hard for him, but he saw how well Nahuel was treating me and how nicely we were getting along. I know he was worried about me being with Nahuel, but I think he would be worried with anyone that was not him. It was just the protector in him. I wished, once again that there was some way to make this easier for him.


	41. Talks with Bella and Jacob

**Year Five, Chapter Forty-One**

 **Talks with Bella and Jacob**

Jacob's Point of View

 **"** Mom, can I talk to you, quickly before you leave?" I heard Nessie call to Bella as I phased back onto two legs and walked up to the back door of the house.

Bella and Edward were going on a fifth wedding anniversary / second honeymoon, to Isle Esme for at least a month. It was perfect timing, for them anyway, even though it was not even close to their anniversary anymore. Actually, since it was June it was closer to their sixth wedding anniversary by now, but I guess when you have forever together, time goes by differently.

It was the beginning of the summer break at Dartmouth so they would not miss any classes. Bella, being Bella, didn't want to go earlier and miss any school so they had waited. This way they could be gone for one week or three months and not have to worry. Bella had not felt comfortable going last August, so close after the Volturi's visit. Nessie was still a wreck back then, not that she was completely back to normal, now.

Bella and Edward were supposed to leave soon. I had just finished up an errand of my own and returned earlier than expected. I needed to go buy a new phone, having just broken my last one. It somehow fell out of my pocket this morning while Nessie and I were hunting and I smashed it with my paw. I wonder if Alice could add a zipper so this won't happen again? Bella and Edward did not feel comfortable leaving without being able to reach me, so I had to go get a new one "immediately". I risked running in wolf form instead of driving since it was faster, not wanting to miss them and my chance to say goodbye before they left.

Carlisle offered to drive them to the airport on his way to work, _interning_ at the local hospital. Edward was just out, picking up some surprise present for Bella, not that he waited till the last minute to get her something, but was due back any minute. He had, whatever it was, custom made and it took longer than expected to come in. It was actually funny hearing him screaming to whomever he was on the phone with the other day, while Bella was finishing up her very last class, ensuring that, whatever it was, would be ready _this morning_ for him to pick up.

But why would Nessie need to talk to Bella now?

"So you have made your choice?" Bella was asking Nessie. I wonder what choice she was referring to? It seemed private so I decided to not to go into the living room where they were. But there was little I could do about listening. My ears would hear them whether I wanted to listen or not. At least I could try to give them some privacy and stay out of sight, outside.

"Yes, I think so."

"Are you completely sure?" I heard Bella ask her. They didn't seem to notice I was out here.

"No, not completely, mostly." Nessie replied.

"Well, you need to be one hundred percent certain. This is not a decision you should make lightly." Hmmm this sounded serious. Maybe I should listen more closely if it affected Nessie.

"I know that. I just don't want to break either of their hearts. I care for both of them, and I think they both love me." She must be talking about me and Nahuel.

"So what is the problem? Things seemed to be going so well between the two of you. You got along just fine as friends for years."

"Yes, I know. It's just . . . I don't think I want him in my life, like this, anymore. I don't think I want to spend eternity with him." Him? Him who? Nahuel or me?

"Have you told him this yet?"

"No, but . . . well, now that I am coming to realize it can never work out between the two of us romantically, I don't know what to do. I want to let him down gently, but I am not sure if that is the best approach."

"And why is that?" Bella asked her.

"He keeps telling me how we are destined to be together. That he will always be with me, no matter what. How I am the only one for him. But I don't think I want him. And I don't want to be with him that way. I have let this go on for too long without telling him how I feel. I just don't love him that way." Why did I have a bad feeling I knew where this was going?

"You should try talking to Jacob about this." Crap! It's _me_ she's talking about! Nessie doesn't want me.

"Why? What would that do? I don't think he really wants me to be with Nahuel, he never did. He was fine with me dating him just because he wants me to be happy. But what could he do now? I don't want to hurt him even more that I already have."

"There has to be a way to get rid of him." Now Bella wants to get rid of me too? I thought we were friends? Just because her daughter is in love with someone else, she doesn't want me around either?

"How, he would just come back if I told him to leave, you know he would."

"What about . . ."

"What? You know what he thinks, there is no one else on the planet for him but me. And you know this is true as much as I do. It is not like he is going to just give up when he has no other options. I feel like I am trapped, and he is trapped too. I feel bad for him. This is not his fault. It's like he is trying to make the best of it, but he is going about it in the wrong way. He is going to make both of us miserable if this continues."

"If he is truly making you that unhappy and refuses to leave then there may be little that we can do short of physical violence." What? No Bella would never seriously suggest that, would she?

"Mom, how can you say that? We cannot kill him. Think of all he has done for me? For you? He has saved our lives, he's still my friend, and he loves me. Just because I don't love him like that does not mean he deserves to die."

"No, of course not. You know I was joking, just trying to lighten some of the tension. I guess humor is still not my strong suit. Besides I didn't mean to imply that we would kill him. And I don't want to hurt him either. He is my friend too. But we have to do something and if it comes down to a choice between my friend and my family, my family always wins. No matter who the other person is."

"Good because I don't want to hurt him, even emotionally. I know it is inevitable. But there has to be a has to at least lessen it." Then I think I heard one of them sigh, before Nessie continued. "What am I going to do? I am not sure how this is going to work out between the two of us."

"There is not a lot you can do about that. You are going to break his heart. But it has to be done. Talk to Jacob about this. He will help you through it. He always knows what you need and only wants what is best for you. It will make things easier." Bella answered her. Me? How can I help? I guess I could help her by leaving like she asked and . . . _never_ return. I would try, if that was truly what she wanted. No matter how much it hurt me. But even Nessie seemed to understand that would be difficult. She pulled me to her, like gravity.

"No. I need to figure things out without Jacob. I don't want him hurt more. I just need to find a way to make him see that we are not going to happen, ever."

"Nessie, I'm sure if you told Nahuel he would understand." Nahuel? What would telling Nahuel do? Did she think he might force me to leave? Or was Bella referring to him trying to _tolerate_ my continued presence in Nessie's life. Was I missing something?

"How? It's not like the three of us can be a couple. Just look at what is happening between Colleen, Embry and Henry. And I don't think that would help. He knows Jake has been with me my entire life. He knows he's my protector. And we even talked about how Nahuel was worried about the two of us being so close. It won't work." Nessie got quiet for a moment. What was she thinking? "I believe I have an idea on how to end things between us forever, romantically at least."

"What is it?"

"I am just going to tell him the truth, sort of. That the three of us will have be together. I am going to insist it has to be that way. That if he wants me, he has to take him as well. I could never have it any other way. It's the truth, so it is perfect. I don't think he would stand for it. Jake and Nahuel have never gotten along. He'll leave on his own."

What? Did that mean that I could stay if I started getting along better with Nahuel? She would let me stay as her friend? I hoped so. I would do anything for her. She seemed to be doubting that I could do it, but I would prove her wrong. I loved her so much.

"Make sure you talk to him soon, both of them actually. If this is what you want you need to be clear."

….

Renesmee's Point of View

"Jake?" I called. "Jake?" Where was he? Possibly in the garage with Aunt Rose? He had been spending so much time in their recently.

"Nessie? Did you need something?" He asked coming out of the kitchen. Of course. One of the only other places he seemed to ever be, if he was not already by my side.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." This was it, I was going to tell him about my plans regarding me, Nahuel, and him, just like my mother suggested.

"Oh," he looked like he was upset, I wonder if something happened that I did not know about. "Alright, um . . . let's go for a walk. Okay?"

We walked to our favorite spot in the woods and I was about to tell him everything when he surprised me by speaking first.

"Nessie, I should apologize to you. I think I know what you are going to tell me. I overheard your conversation with Bella yesterday. I know what you want. The compromise you settled on between Nahuel and me," he confessed.

"You heard? Are you mad?"

"Mad? Why would you think I would be mad? You're giving me the opportunity to stay with you forever." He answered. "If that is what you really want, I mean. I would never presume to . . ."

"Yes," I cut him off. "Of course I want you, I love you Jake. And I want you to be happy, too."

"I love you too, honey."

"And you think it will work?"

"I'll do my best to make it work Nessie. You know I will do anything to make you happy."

"Alright then." I needed to take a deep breath before beginning again. This was going better than I hoped. "I just have to do this with Nahuel, and then we can be together, forever.

He still seemed off, maybe we could go do something fun to brighten his mood. There was a new movie out that we were looking forward to seeing. Now seemed as good of a time as any.

I was about to ask if he wanted to go when he pulled his new phone out of his pocket, as it beeped from someone sending sent him a text. He managed to get the newer version of the same one he broke and kept his old number. I could not believe my parents were checking up on me already.

After he finished texting them back, I asked him, "Did you let me parents know that I was able to survive one entire day without them?"

"It was actually Andy, she wants to set up some study sessions over the summer, to, sort of, review everything we learned this year. I replied that we could and would call her back after I talked to you and found a good time. Is that okay?"

"Jake, I don't think she really needs help studying. She has one of the best grasps of the material in the class. Of course, we can help her go over everything if she really wants, but I don't think she is actually interested in seeing me."

"Of course she is. You know the material better than me, she probably only texted me because she doesn't have your number."

"I don't think that has anything to do with it, Jacky." I smirked using her nickname for him. "Have you noticed how she is with you at school . . . at all?" Most likely not.

"What are you about? We see her in class and hang out a little, before and after. You know that. But she is always with Rob, and I don't really like him very much anymore after the things he said, no matter if he apologized or not. It was too little, too late. I only really hung out with them last year, so that I had someone to talk to, about you."

"Oh, right. Well, I was just wondering because of the crush she has on you." I was hoping, well wishing, he would find the news as amusing as I thought. But I also knew he probably had no clue what I was talking about, he never noticed other girls looking at him. Andy was very pretty, for a human, and if it was not for the imprint, Jake might have actually liked her. They did have a lot in common.

When I first met her she kept calling him "Jacky" and touching him, well she actually never stopped. They were friendly touches, she did the same to Rob, just not as much, but more with Jake than I was comfortable with. I could not figure out why I was getting so upset, at the time, never having experienced jealousy before. But it is not like I had anything to worry about, so I never mentioned it to Jake. Sure she was female, but in all the times he talked about her, Jacob never even mentioned it, and I had been picturing a guy, before I met her. But it was understandable. He did not see other girls faces.

"Huh? Really? I had no idea."

"I figured. I thought I should mention it though, because she seems to be getting very upset that you keep blowing her off. If you don't say something to her after this . . ." It was getting out of hand, really. And I thought it was about time I brought it up, before she did something drastic.

"Sure, sure. I guess that would be upsetting. But I just texted her that WE both could help her study. I probably already hurt her feelings."

"Yeah, but she knows that I am . . . um, dating Nahuel, and _we_ are just friends. She won't think much of that, you and I are always together. She knows we are like a packaged set."

"Sure, sure. But what am I going to tell her then?" He asked more to himself than to me.

"I don't know." I replied anyway. "Not the truth, of course, but if you don't want to have a relationship with her, you should be as honest as you can be, right?

"I guess you're right, and you're sure she likes me like that?" Jake questioned. Why was he finding it so hard to believe that someone could like him? He was wonderful.

Wait, what if I was wrong? What if he did like her? What if imprinting on a half-vampire was different for him than the other wolves who imprinted on humans? They were all together romantically. But Jacob had rejected me when I tried to make our relationship physical. Sure he said it was because I appeared too young at the time, but what if he just didn't think of me that way and never would? Just because the imprint would not allow him to be able to tell if she liked him, maybe that didn't necessarily mean he didn't like her. They got along great and had so much in common.

"Yeah, she definitely likes you. Um, did you want to go out with her?" I hoped and prayed the answer would be "no" but I just thought I should check first, just in case. I know he only sees me but maybe . . . I don't know. . .

"No, Nessie I don't. You know I don't see other women, I only see and love you, but . . . um . . . _you_ didn't want me go out with her, did you?" He gave me a look that looked somewhere in between skeptical and dismayed.

"I just want you to be happy, Jacob. I wanted to make sure. I know you don't have a lot of choices. Well just one actually. And since I am . . . um, currently unavailable, I just thought that if you wanted to try to be with someone else, I didn't want to stand in your way."

"Thanks honey. That's very sweet of you but that's not how this whole imprinting thing works. I love you and only you. I could never be with somebody else. Back when Sam's first imprinted on Emily, she was horrified he would just leave her cousin. She tried to force him to go back to Leah and we all know how well that turned out. It made the heartbreak even worse."

"So I guess I'll just have to let her know that I'm not interested. It's not like we've ever gone out, and I have never given her any indication that I returned her feelings, I am sure she won't be that upset."

"Yeah,' I joined in his verbal thought process, "maybe if you mention to her how much Rob likes her, something might happen between the two of them. They probably have just as much in common as the two of you. And they already get along so well, I think she's just been so blinded by you all year, she never even noticed him that way."

"Perfect, so how about I call her and arrange for us to go over next Monday morning around 10am. We'll both "help" her study and I can break the news to her, gently, while also casually mentioning Rob's interest in her. But for now how about the two of us go watch that new movie we've been dying to see?"

"My thoughts exactly." I beamed at him. I loved how in tune we were.


	42. A Very Long Night

**Year Five, Chapter Forty-Two**

 **A Very Long Night**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and Nahuel had been "dating" for eight months now. I was worried at first, and had followed them at the beginning to make sure she was safe with HIM. I could never be too careful. But it was all very innocent and I soon relaxed, a bit. She showed me, with her gift, everything that happened after she returned from each date. I know she understood I was nervous because of the imprinting bond, but I would never stop her if it was what she wanted. I had no reason to believe tonight's date would be any different than the others.

It was the beginning of August and Bella and Edward were _still_ on vacation. I know school didn't start back up till September and they didn't _need_ to come back yet, but at some point it's not a vacation, it's more like moving, being gone for that long.

The Doc and Esme had left to go hunting yesterday and were not back yet. Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett had all come over to keep me company until Nessie came back. We were currently gathered in the movie room, watching some rather uninteresting Civil War documentary Jasper had picked. It was so boring I was about to fall asleep.

That's when I heard Nessie arrive home, with Nahuel. We had left the door to the room open for that very reason.

"Thank you Nahuel, I had a lovely night." We all heard Nessie say.

"It's still early, we don't have to end it so soon, do we." Nahuel countered.

"No, I suppose not."

"Would you . . . show me your room?"

Just as the bedroom door closed, Blondie had leapt from her chair and was halfway down the stairs before Emmett and I caught her.

I had seen their dates, I knew nothing bad was going to happen. From what Nessie had shown me, _nothing_ ever happened between them. Rosalie did not have as much faith in men. I understood why though. Nessie would probably just show him some of her pictures and books and then he would leave.

"Guys why don't you take Rose hunting, _in Canada_. Jasper and I can stay here and make sure Nessie stays in one piece." Alice suggested.

Emmett and I had to practically drag Rose out the door and into his Jeep.

We didn't return until early the next morning. But I wasn't worried, Alice said she would call my cell if anything happened and we made sure to stay where we had a signal.

Alice did call once, just after we got on the highway, but just to let us, well Rose mostly, know that she had looked into the future, and everything would be fine. Although she couldn't see Nessie or Nahuel she was able to see around them. She told us the family looked like they were not upset about anything tragic happening tonight. Jasper also reassured us, adding that he would monitor Nahuel and make sure he didn't get too "excited" or overwhelmed.

Unfortunately as soon as we walked into the front door the next morning my world crumbled. There HE was, _leaving_ the bedroom. He had been with her all night. To make it worse he was just now pulling a shirt on, and I was pretty sure it was my shirt. I could only imagine what happened to his. No wait, I don't want to do that.

Was she still alive, did he lose control? I started to panic. No, Alice and Jasper would have stopped him. I tried listening for her heartbeat, which was not easy with Rose screaming about how he had ruined everything. Yes, there it was, her heartbeat, steady and strong. She was still alive. He hadn't fed from her, at least not this time. I guess Edward was right, he had changed.

Emmett was eventually able to grab Rose and drag her out the door. That was good. I didn't need her hurting Nahuel, that would only hurt my Nessie. But, now she wasn't my Nessie anymore, I guess she never really was.

But then a horrible thought occurred to me. What if he had coerced her, or . . . forced her? No, Jasper would have felt it. Nessie must have wanted it to happen too. Where were Alice and Jasper anyway?

I was just staring, dazed really, when Nahuel walked over to me and asked to talk to me in the living room. What? Why? This should be . . . _interesting_.

"Jacob, I feel like I should apologize to you. I have taken what was yours without your permission.

"It s'okay, not really mine." Was all I managed to mumble.

"Anyway, you must be angry with me for borrowing your . . . um, bed last night."

Was he kidding?

"No, I am not . . . upset . All I care about is Nessie's happiness. As long as she is happy. . . and _Safe_ ," I stressed that last word for him, "then what I want doesn't really matter."

"Ah, yes she explained that about the imprinting. I had not initially realized that it extended beyond you merely being her protector."

"Yeah, I'm whatever Nessie wants me to be. I love her." I may as well be completely honest with him, he would find out eventually anyway, if he and Nessie were going to be together, permanently. Which I guess they were.

Part of my heart was breaking, even more now that it was really sinking in. I would be happy for her if she was happy, but I really thought , well hoped, she was going to eventually choose me. Except she didn't and I had lost her forever. Hopefully she would at least still want to be friends with me. I couldn't lose her completely, but would she still want me, would she still need me? She had Nahuel. I was not sure I could live without her, maybe I would go wolf, permanently, like Embry, just watching over her, or them, from a distance.

"Yes, well, we seem to be in a complicated situation." Nahuel continued, dragging me out of my mild stupor. "In any event, I am sorry. I believe there are many things that we need to discuss."

"You seem to make her . . . happy. And like I said, as long as Nessie is happy, then I am happy."

"That may be good enough for you, but I'm not sure if I can handle a relationship between the three of us!"

"Well that is really up to Nessie isn't it? If she wants to spend eternity with both of us or not," I growled. Was he really telling me I couldn't stay friends with Nessie.

"Perhaps, but I believe I have a say in my life as well." Nahuel countered. "We have all had a long night, and I am not sure about you, but I did not get any sleep, perhaps we should continue this conversation at a later time?" He looked a little creeped out. I am not sure why. If I'd had the night he just had with Nessie, no one would be able to wipe the grin from my face for about a month. "I assume you will want to reclaim your normal spot with Renesmee . . . in bed. I shall retire to my guest room." With that he took off towards Carlisle and Esme's house. Seriously? He couldn't get far enough away from me right now. Jerk!

Aaarg. I was tired though, but it's not like I was going to listen to Nahuel and join Nessie in her bed. Why would he even suggest that? It wasn't my bed anymore than she was mine. Should I go in there though and make sure she was okay? I know it's painful for girls to lose their virginity, but I just couldn't. I could feel the pull of the imprint but it wouldn't be right. And then there would probably be a sex smell still in the air, no I definitely did not want to go in there, I thought with a shrug.

I made my way to my _own_ room, I had actually only spent about six months in there when we first moved to Haverhill, NH. I guess I should start getting use to it, again. As I crawled into the bed I realized it seemed so big, cold, and empty which in any other circumstances would have been funny. The last time I was stuck sleeping in this bed I had not really noticed that, of course back then I believed it would only be temporary. This time I knew it was permanent.

…

Renesmee's Point of View

Nahuel had left the door open just a sliver, but it was just enough for me to be able to hear the conversation between him and my Jacob, even with the extra soundproofing Grandma Esme had put in. I couldn't wait to talk to Jacob about my night, but then I heard him go into the other bedroom. What was going on? I know I heard Nahuel mention for him to come in here with me. I wonder if Jacob found Nahuel's scent as disturbing as a full vampires, I know he liked my smell, but maybe that was just because of the imprinting. Our room did smell a bit like Nahuel now, I could understand how Jacob wouldn't want to breath that in while he slept. It was really inconsiderate of me, but I would have to deal with that later. For now I got up and made my way to the other bedroom, and slid into the bed beside him.

"Renesmee? What are you doing?" Why did he seem so surprised to see me? He must be pretty mad that our room now smelled like a vampire.

"I am sorry, my Jacob. I know you are probably upset. I wasn't thinking how this would impact you. I'll wash the sheets and pillows tomorrow to try and get Nahuel's scent out."

Jacob just looked stunned, Nahuel's smell must be worse for him than I realized.

"Oh, um . . . it's okay, Renesmee. It's your, um . . . room. You can do whatever you want in it," he said, looking anywhere but my eyes. He seemed . . . embarrassed? Why?

"Here," I went to touch his face, "let me show you my date."

"No, Renesmee! I don't think I can watch that." He jerked away from my hand before I could place it on him. He looked a bit queasy now, was he sick? And why was he not calling me Nessie?

"But you always want to see my dates with Nahuel."

"Renesmee, I don't think that is appropriate anymore. You are clearly old enough now to make your own decisions and I some things should be kept private, even from me. And honestly, I don't think I can watch anymore." He looked so sad and he still wouldn't look at me.

"Did I do something wrong, Jacob? I already told you I would wash the sh. . . "

"No, of course not, you did absolutely nothing wrong. It's me, this is my issue, that I just need to deal with." After a moment he added, "Um, how are you doing, are you in any pain?"

Huh? I know he mentioned that, because of the imprinting, he would be in pain whenever he was away from me. But I never told him I did as well. He must have already known, but we were only apart for the one night. It wasn't that bad. But it was sweet of him to care. I love him so much.

"I will be alright, my Jacob. Being without you is the only thing that can cause me real pain, you know that, and you're back now anyway." I whispered with a small smile.

He still looked off, maybe he was just tired.

"Can we go to sleep now? Scoot over," I added with an ever bigger smile.

"You still want to sleep in the same bed as me?" Why did he looked so surprised?

"But we always sleep together." I was hurt now and could feel the tears start building up. "Did I ruin things, between us, that badly?"

"No, I just thought that now that . . . _things_ had . . . progressed between you and Nahuel, you wouldn't want to be with me anymore. I would stay with you forever if you would let me."

"Jacob, I will always want you with me. It's Nahuel that actually needs some convincing."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Jacob huffed. "But we still have tonight, well this morning, I guess."

"Everything will work out, don't worry my Jacob." I said as I laid down on the bed to finally get some sleep. "I love you."

"I love you too Nessie, forever."

….

Jacob's Point of View

When I woke, Nessie was still asleep in my arms. It was almost noon and I had formed a plan sometime during my restless sleep. Nessie wanted me to stay with her. But she also wanted to be with Nahuel. He was the one I guess I needed to convince to let me stay in their lives. Maybe if I was really nice to him, and useful, and stayed out of the way during their personal time I could show him I wouldn't be a hindrance. All I wanted was Nessie, in any way I could have her, and at this point I was not above groveling and begging.

Oh, what I wouldn't do for that girl! But she was my imprint and she was worth it. It was weird though. I was supposed to be an Alpha. I was supposed to be the leader, the one everyone looked to, and looked up to.

What happened to me? NAHUEL, that was my answer. Humph! Oh well, I needed to get up, so I could start sucking up to him.

After I managed to get out of bed without waking Nessie, I headed to the Kitchen to make lunch. I was just about done when HE walked in.

"Good afternoon," I began with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I don't know how convincing I was though. I would rather deal with a situation a could fight my way through. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Um, sure. Thank you, Jacob. Is now a good time to talk?"

Nahuel was not one to put things off it seemed. "Sure, sure. Would you like to go somewhere more private?"

"There is no need to be concerned. The house is currently empty, with the exception of the three of us. Carlisle and Esme are at their house. Alice and Jasper went shopping, I think, and Rose and Emmett have not returned yet. We may talk freely."

"Okay. Um, so . . . how did you sleep?"

"Well enough. But I would have preferred to have traded places with you," he admitted. "Were is Renesmee currently?"

"Well, um . . . she was still asleep, in my bed, when I got up." I replied.

"Your bed? I thought you shared a bedroom?"

"We do. Technically you were in her room last night, but I have a bedroom right next to hers. I've barely ever slept in it actually. It didn't seem right to stay in her room last night after the two of you . . . um . . . occupied it." This was possibly the most awkward conversation of my life. How do I keep getting myself into situations like this?

"Jacob, I am very sorry about last night. If I had known . . . I never would have . . ." he trailed off. What did he mean by that?

"I'm sure our places will be reversed soon enough." Why hadn't he stayed with Nessie? It was weird, well he was weird, but I guess I would just need to get use to him. Hopefully. Maybe it would be best if I went with the assumption that he was going to let me stay. "So it looks like the three of us are going to be together for the foreseeable future. Why don't you tell me some of your favorite foods so can make them for you later." Yup, show him that I can make myself useful, give him a reason to keep me around.

"Jacob, I think you are getting ahead of yourself."

My heart sank. Did he already make up his mind to get rid of me?

"I am not the type of man who is capable of sharing a woman." Nahuel went on.

Crap! He did.

"Please, Nahuel, can't you at least give it a try? Think of Nessie, having us all together is what would make her happy. And try to imagine what a life without her would be like, where she is the only person on the entire planet you were capable of being with in any real way. Wouldn't it be better to be with her, even if it wasn't exactly how you pictured it would be, than not have her at all?"

"I admit I would not look forward to living a life without her." Nahuel agreed. "I am willing to give it a try, when you put it that way."

"Thank you, you have no idea what this means to her . . . and me." I said as I let out a sigh of relief.

"So how exactly is this . . . going to work?" He was asking me?

"I think that would be up to Nessie, don't you?" I said as she walked into the kitchen. I was so involved in the conversation between Nahuel and myself I did not even hear her.

"Jacob, did you make lunch for everyone? That was so nice of you," she exclaimed placing a kiss on my cheek. Nahuel did not seem happy with it, but what really surprised me was that she didn't kiss him at all. Maybe she was just embarrassed to around me.

"Here," I handed them the plates of food I made, "why don't I get out of your way, I can go eat somewhere else."

"Don't be ridiculous, my Jacob. We can all eat together, and I think it might be nice if you and Nahuel got to know each other better."

With that she grabbed both our hands and dragged us to the kitchen table. I assumed she would sit next to Nahuel, or at least between the two of us but she sat next to me, and across from him. What was she up to? I'm probably just overthinking things, she probably just wants make it easier to look in his eyes, or something.

As we ate we ended up making a schedule to divide Nessie's time between the two of us, at Nahuel's suggestion. But it was Nessie who actually set the schedule.

She still wanted me with her every night, which I found a little strange, but then again I was not complaining. Nahuel seemed upset by this, but didn't object, much to my surprise and delight. I wonder if she was worried her nightmares would return if she was asleep next to anyone besides me?

On Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays, Nahuel and Nessie would continue to go on their dates. I didn't even want to imagine what they would involve now. I would get to hang out with her on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights.

Nessie and I of course would continue to be in school together, (Nahuel choose not to enroll after all) when it started up again next month, but until then we would switch off mornings and afternoons. When school started again he would spend the day with her in the morning and I would do homework and study with her after class.

Every weekend she would hunt with me on Sundays and spend Saturday mornings with me, and the afternoon with him, until nighttime when I got her back again.

We would also ALL "eat" breakfast and dinner together every day, except Sunday of course when we hunted. Of course Nessie didn't need to eat as much food as a human would, since she filled up mostly on blood. She normally ate only one _human_ meal a day, but she thought we could all use the time together. Nessie called it our "get to know each other time".

I hoped this would work. At least this way Nahuel and I would be interacting as little as possibly, leaving me with little possibility of offending or upsetting him. It also, however left little time for me to suck up to him and convince him to let me stay.

….

Where were they?

Nessie and Nahuel left on their date over five hours ago. They were normally back by now. I was worried. No I passed worried 20 minutes ago. If there were not back in a half an hour I was going to go out and look for them. I had been pacing around the house for the past two hours. What could have happened? Was she hurt? Did they get in a car accident? Did they run into a vampire? Nahuel promised he could protect her, well technically he said something like "the two of them could handle any dangers they came across". But just because he _thought_ that didn't mean it was true. What if he were wrong?

I checked my phone again, not only to see the time, but see if I had missed a call from her. Nope, nothing. I mean there was little chance I would miss a call since my phone was in my pocket, with the ringer set as loud as it could go, just in case. But I wanted to double check.

Nothing. Damn!

After who knows how many laps around the house, I ended up back in the bedroom where I spotted the carvings Nessie's had made for me. She had really gotten into the woodcarving I showed her how to do, and had made several small trinkets for everyone in the family. But what she made me was unbelievable. She carved individual relief portraits of my father and sisters, and another of the two of us together, on pine panels that were now hanging on the bedroom walls. They were so thoughtful and beautiful. Just like her.

But where was she?

Just as the 30 minutes were up, she and Nahuel waltzes back into the house, smiling and laughing.

I let out a deep sigh of relief and wrapped her in a huge hug as she came over to me.

"Are you okay?" She asked me, probably noticing the worry in my eyes.

"Just missed you," I lied.

"Well I'm back and I'm all yours, almost," she said, holding up her index finger, before going to give Nahuel his goodnight kiss.

It was more than a little strange and awkward the nights Nessie and Nahuel would come back from their dates. We had fallen into a strange routine these past two weeks. He would walk her to our bedroom door where I would be waiting. I would look away awkwardly as she gave him a good night kiss. I mean I tried not to stare, but it was still strange, me just standing there. Eventually, she would end the kiss, always before him, then take my hand and we walk into our room, leaving him standing alone in the hallway. As soon as she grabbed me, every time, a huge smile appeared on my face, she was back with where she belonged. My heart was back.

Sometimes I would glance back at Nahuel, he always looked annoyed, sad, or frustrated. Why? He just finished being on a date with Nessie. Doing god knows what with her. Why wasn't he happier?

Of course I could guess. Their date was over, and he had to hand her back to me. But he was the one who got her really. He got to kiss her, touch her, love her, the way she deserved to be. I was just her friend and protector, no matter how much I loved her.

* * *

What do you think? Please review and let me know. I am sure, judging by previous reviews, that many of you are not going to be happy with me, but just remember this is a Jake and Nessie story, and they will get there happy ending . . . eventually.


	43. Jennifer

**Year Six (Part One)**

Chapter 43, Jennifer

Chapter 44, Uncomfortable Reality

Chapter 45, Oops

Chapter 46, Found Bodies

Chapter 47, Where Is He?

Chapter 48, Finally

Chapter 49, Christmas Morning

Chapter 50, Reconciliation

* * *

 **Year Six, Chapter Forty-Three**

 **Jennifer**

Renesmee's Point of View

"Alright Nessie, finish up. Bella and Edward will be home any minute now. Carlisle was meeting them at the airport almost an hour ago. We need to get going so we will be back in time to meet them." Jacob said to me.

It was Sunday, September 4th, my scheduled hunting day. We had just been hunting in the usual place, the White Mountain National Forest. I was just finishing draining a dear after first drinking a Black Bear, they were Uncle Emmett's favorites. He was probably going to be so jealous when he heard about it, if and when he ever returned home with Aunt Rose. I'll have to be sure I mention how delicious it was to him. This was longer than they had ever left, well . . . without warning anyway. But they were vampires so they could take care of themselves. It's not like I was worried, I just missed them. And Alice assured me they were fine, they were just off doing their own thing.

"All right, Jake. I'm all done, we can head back if you are ready."

I had a feeling once I saw my parents again I would not want to lose any time with them. After being gone for so long I would not want to leave them to go hunt later tonight. So that meant that I needed to go this morning before meeting Rob and Andy, and a few others from our Engineering class, tomorrow. Classes at Dartmouth didn't start up again for another week but we were just meeting to catch up and review some material after the long summer break.

After Jacob had told Andy he was not interested in her, in no uncertain terms, and I mentioned how I thought Rob was attracted to her, she went and called him, right there in front of us, asking him out on the spot. Which, of course he was more than happy to accept. Jake and I could hear every word he spoke on the other end of the phone, so we knew they set up a date for later that very night. I believe they are still together and fairly happy. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

My parents had been gone for almost three months, it was the longest I've ever been apart from them. They ended up staying on Isle Esme, to celebrate not only their fifth but also their sixth wedding anniversaries. I know they deserved some alone time together and had little since I was born. They checked in frequently with me and Jake, actually calling around once a week to see if I was alright with them staying away so long. I had told them it was fine, but I just missed them so much. Sometimes I really felt like the four year old that I was. So much had happened since they left, between Nahuel and I . . . and Jacob, for that matter.

I could not understand Jacob though. He said he was fine with my decision, and how I wanted to handle things. But no matter how many times I reassured him that we'd always be together, he just seemed to look so worried sometimes. He always tried to mask it quickly with a smile, but he couldn't fool me. I don't know what else I could say to him though. Maybe I needed to talk to my mother and father now that they would be back, and see if they could help.

"Nessie before we go back I think you need to prepare yourself for Edward's reaction. He is not going to be too happy with you, and what transpired between you and Nahuel."

"You don't think my mother would have warned him?"

"You told Bella about what you did?" There was shock coming through into his voice.

"No, but she knew the general plan I had in mind before she left."

"Oh," He seemed puzzled then irritated, just for a second before regaining his composure. "Nessie I think if she told Edward he would have called, or come home early . . . to stop you."

"You think he is going to disapprove that much?"

"Yes! Edward is very old fashioned when it comes to _that_ sort of thing."

Really? "Well then what am I going to do?"

"I don't know. We can't stop him from finding out. If he is home by now, he probably already heard from someone else. Maybe just keep your mind focused on the reasons behind your actions, and not dwell on the specific events . . . or your emotions. And stay behind me." He added with apologies and worry in his eyes. Was my father really going to be _that_ upset? I doubt it, Jake was just being his normal overprotective self. I guess I would find out soon enough, though.

My parents were indeed waiting for us at the house when we returned. I guess we should have left a little earlier, like Jake wanted. I probably didn't need the bear, I was reasonably full after the first deer.

Carlisle was nowhere in sight. Had he left? Actually the entire house was empty, besides the four of us. I would have thought the whole family would have come over to welcome my parents' home.

By the look on my father's face I could see that he was not too happy. Maybe I was being too hopeful to assume it was just because we, along with everyone else, were not here for their return. But we probably arrived only a few minutes after them. He would not be this upset from that. And everyone else would be right next door.

Maybe it was that Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett were still missing? No probably not. He would have read in Aunt Alice's mind where they went by now.

More likely, Jake was right and he heard in my mind, or Jacob's, or Nahuel's, or my aunt and uncle's for that matter, all of the events that had transpired since their departure. Did he send everyone else away? My father's face now looked a little similar to Jacob's. It wasn't that bad was it?

"Hi mom, how was your trip?" I asked ignoring my father's glare, and Jacob's request, running over to her and wrapping her into a huge hug. I missed them more than I realized.

Jake grew even more anxious with each step I took away from him. I know leaving his side when there was any type of tension always made him uneasy and he had asked me to stay behind him. But these were my parents.

"We had a wonderful time. I'll tell you all about it later."

"Nessie, your mother and I need to go hunting, why don't you join us?" I could tell by their golden eyes that that was a blatant lie from my father.

"I'll come too. I can always eat." Jacob offered, moving over to stand next to me.

"I actually just finished hunting with Jacob. I'm good." I replied, disregarding Jakes remarks while at the same time fanning ignorance to my father's true intentions.

"Renesmee," he seemed annoyed now, "your mother and I actually need to have a word with you ALONE _, in private_." He said looking at Jake, instead of me. "Let's go." In less than a fraction of a second he slipped between Jacob and I, grabbed my hand and practically carried me out the back door, my mother following close behind, leaving Jake alone in the house.

When we were far enough away, six or seven miles, so that no one in the family would be able to hear us, from whichever house they were in, my father began. Well, that is, he began after having a quick whispered conversation with my mother, that was so soft, I was unable to hear it, even with my half-vampire hearing.

"Nessie what has gone on here while we were away? I'm getting conflicting accounts in everybody's minds, of what transpired between you and Nahuel, over the past few weeks. I am trying not to jump to conclusions like last time, so I would like you to please explain to me what happened.

"Thanks dad, but I don't know what you mean." I quickly thought through the events of the past month, for my father in my head, so he would know exactly what happened. I don't know where any confusion would have come from.

"Hmmm." He shot my mother a reassuring look, I think. "Emmett and Rose seemed to have been mistaken." Whatever she had been thinking my mother seemed slightly less tense now.

"What?" I was so confused. So many questions were going through my mind. When did my father talk to them? Did he see them? Are they coming home? What did they say to him? What is . . .

"Nessie," my father cut me off mid thought, "Rose called me a couple of days ago, that is why we came home, now. We had been planning on staying another week. She is very worried about you being with Nahuel, and couldn't keep quiet any longer."

"Actually I was surprised she lasted as long as she did," my mother added.

"Why was she so upset? Nothing _bad_ happened while you were gone. Didn't you see the same things I just showed you, in Nahuel's mind?" I asked my father.

"He was not at the house when we returned. I did glimpse in Carlisle's mind that he saw Nahuel take off rather early to go pick up something having to do with you. But he did not mention what it was."

"Probably something for another gift for me." I responded. He's been a bit overwhelming with them, lately." They were all so generous, but nothing too extravagant. Of course Alice had given him a copy of the family credit card, under his name, to use for anything he wanted or needed. However she already supplied him with a full wardrobe on his visit after my first birthday, and updated it yearly. But beyond a few meals, he paid for during some of our dates and gas for the car, periodically, he never seem to use the thing. His gifts for me were more personal, homemade ones, similar to the chess set that Jacob made me. Those two were really very alike in some ways.

"So you ignored Bella's advise to talk to Jake and went with this plan instead?" My father asked.

"Yes, I thought it would be the easiest way, having him decide to leave me, or at least stop trying to pursue a romantic relationship, instead of me trying in vain to get him to leave. It also seemed kinder this way, and I don't see him letting me go any other way, he's too connected to me as it is. His life is so different now than before . . . me . . . us, but I don't want a future with him, like _that_. It is just so hard. His life is so intertwined with mine already. He gave up everything to be with me, his old life, his home, his family . . . everything."

"He may be able to adapt." My father said after letting out a long, yet unnecessary sigh. "Do you have any idea what this is doing to Jacob? He loves you. He deserves better than to be treated like this."

"What IS wrong with Jake? It seemed like there was something more than just all of the over-protectiveness." My mother wondered.

"Jake is strong. He can handle this. I've told him, more than once, that we will be together forever. He knows that."

"I think you need to have another talk with him." My father countered. "He is very confused by everything that has happened, and he doesn't understand what is going on."

"What is he confused about? I thought I was clear about everything with him."

Instead of answering me, my father yelled into the forest "Jacob, I am NOT going to harm my own daughter."

"He's here?" I didn't see or smell him.

"He is still about a mile away, he should be here any moment. I assumed he would come after you but I thought we would have a bit longer to talk first."

"Why would Jake think you would hurt Nessie," my mother seemed as confused as I was. I guess my father didn't explain everything to her during their hurried whispers.

"He is acting on misinformation, Bella." Then he looked directly into my eyes. "You need to tell him the truth and soon Renesmee, or I will."

The truth? Jake already knows everything. Doesn't he?

"Almost, he has some things backwards." My father corrected me.

Backwards?

Just then, just like my father had said, Jake appeared. He came up behind me and protectively wrapped his arms around my shoulders, giving me a hug and sighing.

"Jake, I'm fine."

"Uh, huh." He just mumbled into my hair, after confirming for himself that I was unharmed.

"I guess we should head back, now. I believe everyone is waiting for us at Esme and Carlisle's house." My mother suggested.

Since I was not going to be able to continue this conversation with my father, with Jacob here, I guess I would need to wait to find out what was going on.

….

Jacob's Point of View

As Nessie and I ran back to Carlisle and Esme's house, right behind Bella and Edward, I could see that everyone was there, well everyone except Rose and Emmett, they were still missing.

I could understand why, the realization of Nessie and Nahuel being together has been more than a shock to Rose, but I was hoping that at least after she saw how Nessie had lived through the night, she would have eventually calmed down and returned. But that was a month ago.

Stepping through the doorway I spotted Nahuel. He was back, and he had a human woman with him. It looked like he was fawning all over her in the far corner of the living room. Whoever she was, she was tall, and beautiful, reminding me a little of Nessie.

What the hell was going on? Nothing good. Why would he bring a woman here? Was she some new conquest for him? Was he off his revised human diet? Was he planning on just parading her around, in front of Nessie, until he got hungry for a snack later?

I had been feeling, for months now, that Nessie's feelings for Nahuel had seemed off. If I had not known better I would have thought her feelings for him were waning, but more recent events seemed to prove otherwise. I doubt that Nessie would have slept with him, if she was planning on ending things. But maybe it was him. Was it his feelings for her that had dwindled? Is that why he brought that woman here?

Whoever she was, why ever she was here, she seemed more than a bit nervous. I could understand why. Humans could sense the danger in vampires, even if they didn't know what it was to be worried about. But something else was off. Her heart was racing. But . . wait! That was what was off. It was beating too fast, even if she was nervous. A human heart could not go that fast. Then it dawned on me. I had heard Nessie's heart beating that fast after some of her nightmares. This had to be one of Nahuel's sisters.

I knew Nahuel didn't get to see his sister often. I had heard how they were normally with their father, that sicko, Joham. I wonder which sister this was and why would he bring her here? Were they all here? Was he introducing Nessie to his family, sort of. Was their relationships that serious?

Yeah, I guess it was. Damn.

But this was good, in at least one way, that his sister(s) was here now. Nahuel would be distracted . . . occupied, and most importantly not clinging to Nessie, because I was not letting her out of my sight, or my arms, for one minute tonight. I could only imagine what Edward was thinking now that he could hear Nahuel's thoughts. I hope he wasn't currently thinking back to his memories of his time together with Nessie.

I didn't need Edward going into a rage and attacking Nahuel. Well maybe not that much, a few broken bones here and there, I couldn't care about, but I didn't want to see Nessie being collateral damage.

No, I wouldn't want Nahuel hurt, either. Hurting him was almost the same as hurting Nessie. I never wanted anything to hurt my Nessie.

"Renesmee," Nahuel called from across the room, once he noticed she arrived, and waved her to come over. "Can you join me over here? I have someone I would like you to meet, please."

Nessie started to move towards him but I grabbed her hand tighter and give her a look to tell her I was not letting her go. Luckily she just smiled back at me and we walked over together.

Nahuel seemed to sigh, seeing me with her but let it go. "Renesmee and Jacob, may I introduce you to my sister, Jennifer."

"Renesmee, Jacob, it is nice to meet you. Nahuel mentioned he had entered into a . . . _relationship_ with you. It seems quite unconventional." she chuckled, a little uneasily.

"Well it works for us." I interjected.

"For NOW," Nahuel countered rather gruffly. Is that why Jennifer was here? To help him convince Nessie to get rid of me?

That night after dinner, when I was sure Edward was not going to go postal, I asked Nahuel to talk privately. Edward actually seemed to be talking things much better that I thought would be possible and I soon calmed down about him at least.

I was worried about the comment Nahuel made early in the day to his sister. Had he had enough of me? Did he want me gone? I needed to find out so I could prepare, or strategize, or . . . something.

I led him on short walk into the woods, not by the birch trees, that was Nessie's and my spot. I didn't want him tainting it. I took him somewhere else, still secluded yet enough room to move around if needed.

For once he didn't look so smug when we stopped. He almost looked a bit nervous. I wonder if he thought I was going to attack him? That was an amusing thought.

"Have you changed your mind back there about things? Nessie? Or me? Do you want me gone?" I asked him point blank.

"Yes, I want you gone." He admitted. "But it is not like it would be that easy to get rid of you. As if I could just tell you to leave and you would."

"No, I would need to hear it from, Nessie." Please don't tell Nessie to order me to leave, I prayed to myself.

"Well, I guess the two of us are stuck with each other for a while longer," he huffed.

Really? "You won't regret this, Nessie is going to be so happy to have us both."

I wanted to talk to him more but he just grunted, before returning back to the house. It was amazing, though. Nahuel was more willing to put up with me than I thought. I guess he truly loved Nessie, enough to tolerate me, as much as he seemed to dislike the idea. I think I needed to try harder with him. Or else I suppose I would be gone. And I don't even want to think about what I would do then.

"Jake, there you are." Nessie said bouncing up to me as I emerged from the woods soon after Nahuel. I saw he went off with his sister into the Doc and Esme's house. She was probably tired after her journey.

"Hey, sweetheart. What's up?"

"Where were you and Nahuel just now?"

"I just had to talk to him in private, but we're good. Did you need me?"

"Mmmm, Jake. I definitely need you. I want you right now," she smirked tugging on my arm, and I gulped. "Come on. Let's go to bed."

"Huh?" If she wasn't with Nahuel those would be the sweetest words on the planet. Why was I even thinking like this though? That is not what she wants, she does not want me. She is with him. What was wrong with me? The imprint? Was it screwed up because Nessie was not fully human? Was that why I was so confused right now? Embry was able to be Colleens friend, and was fine with their relationship, until she panicked and changed the rules the night before her wedding. But the same was not true with Nessie and Nahuel. I need to stop thinking about her like this.

"It's after midnight. I'm tired and want to go to sleep. Did you want to stay up longer?"

"Oh, no." I chuckled, rather uncomfortably, trying in vain to hide my true feelings. I hope she didn't notice. She didn't think of me like that. I needed to get a handle on my emotions. "Come on, I'll race you." I jeered over to her, but before I could even finish she had already taken off.

The next day Nahuel and Nessie were gone on one of their dates. I had decided to camp out on the living room couch to wait for their return. I was in the middle of some doodle of a new carving I was planning on making, for Nessie.

"Hey Jake." Bella said as she wandered over to me.

"Hey Bells, where's your other half?" Huh, it had been awhile since the two of us had just hung out. She was always with Edward and I had been spending most of my time with Nessie and anytime I wasn't, I usually could be found in the garage with Rose. It was strange, I spent more time with Rosalie now than anyone else in the family, besides Nessie, of course. It was amazing how much had changed in five years.

"He's wrapped in some theoretical discussion with Carlisle. Once the two of them get started it can go on for hours, sometimes days, if neither of them have to go to work or school.

"Gee, that sounds like fun." I jeered as she sat down next to me. I might be over Bella, so some of the tension was gone between Edward and I, but I still didn't see what she saw in him.

"Jake I wanted to talk to you. How are you doing. I noticed your sort of in a funk, what's wrong?

"What are you talking about, Bella? Everything's fine."

"You know I can tell when you are lying to me. Jake, I've never seen you this sad. We were only gone for three months. What the hell happened?"

"I lost her, Bella." I said slumping my head down on her shoulder.

"No you haven't. You need to man up, and start fighting for Nessie." She started running her fingers through my hair. Ah, that felt nice.

"Jake, have you looked at yourself lately? You look horrible," she chuckled as she grabbed my hair and used it to shake my head.

"Hey," I lightly chuckled back, and threw in an elbow to her side, that I knew would not hurt her.

"Was this what I was like when Edward left me?"

"No, you were far worse, trust me."

"Edward said that you have been avoiding Nessie, that even though you are still there physically, you've mentally checked out. According to him, and what he's seen in everyone's mind he says you barely even touch her anymore, other than holding her while she sleeps."

"He told you that? That's really weird, Bella."

"But is it true?"

"No! . . . Maybe." I amended.

"What's going on? Even I have seen how hurt Nessie looks every time you pull away."

"Really, I never meant to hurt her."

"I know that, but why are you doing it?"

"I don't want to cause problems between her and Nahuel."

"Why not?"

What? I didn't respond. I just ended up giving her a look of disbelief.

"Fine don't answer me. But you are causing problems between you and my daughter, and I can't stand to see either of you so upset. Snap out of it Jake. She loves you."

"And I love her, you know that Bells. I'm just so confused. It's like the imprint is telling me one thing - that she wants to be with me, and I want to be with her, because of it. But she's not with me, she's with HIM. I shouldn't feel like this. If she wants him, I should only want to be her friend."

"Well, maybe that is you answer, Jake."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

I'm sure you'll figure it out Jake. Just think about what I said."

I was about to ask her more when I heard Nessie and Nahuel arrive home.

Huh. Bella had given me plenty to think about. Why was I distancing myself from Nessie. The imprint was pulling me to her. I think I just needed to stop fighting and go with it more. I had been going against my instincts to touch her, nothing inappropriate, just a hug here, a peck on the cheek there, a backrub now and then, cuddling on the couch. Things we use to do all the time, that I had been avoiding lately. Things that I needed to start doing again.

* * *

I'm sorry it took me an extra week to get this posted. As i was trying to break this year up into chapters i noticed i needed to fill in some gaps here and there. And this year is a long one. It is pretty much the one where everything happens. If you noticed up top the list of chapters in only part one. (don't worry too much there are only two parts) but i hope people are happy to see that we begin to see the end of Nessie and Nahuel's relationship.


	44. Uncomfortable Reality

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Four**

 **Uncomfortable Reality**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were currently camped out on the giant couch in the movie room. We were just finishing up an all night movie marathon. It was a couple of days before school was set to start again on the 14th of September, and it was our last chance to just hang out like this before classes, tests, homework, and everything else began again.

"Well, I guess that's it," she said with a yawn, as the credits started to roll. "I can't believe we managed to stay awake all night long. Do you want to go to our bedroom or just stay here, Jake?" Nessie asked me as she held my left cheek and planted a kiss on my right. I loved her little kisses. I wished I could have more of them but Nahuel was the one who got to _really_ kiss her.

"Whatever you want, honey. Love you." I said as I settled on placing one of my own on her forehead. I was so glad I had listened to Bella. This was so much better than fighting my natural instincts and the pull of the Imprint. Even if it was not exactly what I wanted it was better than nothing. And Nessie and I both seemed a lot happier, now.

"I love you too, my Jacob." she beamed while practically jumping on top of me to wrap me and a hug, which I gladly reciprocated. Just then we heard the door to the movie room slam.

The volume have been pretty loud coming from the speakers so I guess we missed Nahuel coming in. He must have returned from accompanying his sister back home. She had stayed just over a week, long enough to help celebrate Nessie's birthday party yesterday. He must have just witnessed our little display of affection, not that he had anything to be worried about, he knew I loved Nessie, but would never do anything about it because he was with her now. Everything we did was perfectly innocent, he must have known that.

"Nahuel?" Nessie called as she got off the couch and raced after him, and I of course followed after her. I hoped I hadn't ruin or even strained things between them. I couldn't hurt her like that.

Nahuel didn't stop though, he kept running and running through the woods, behind the house, banging into and knocking over several trees along the way. If I was in wolf form I could have easily caught up to him and stopped him earlier, but I didn't want to leave Nessie's side. After around thirty miles he finally stopped. I guess he was tired, or realized Nessie wasn't going to give up chasing after him.

"Renesmee," Nahuel screamed, "I can't take this anymore. I cannot be in a relationship with you AND him!" he screeched pointing at me. "I don't think I can stand to be the other man anymore. I don't want to share you. Your _lapdog_ might be brainwashed into thinking that this is acceptable, but I do not!"

I could care less about what he said about me, but even if he was currently only screaming, I still stepped protectively in front of Nessie, I didn't want this turning violent. Even though he loves her, I didn't want her to accidentally get hurt - physically or emotionally.

And this was my fault. I was wrong before. I should have continued to keep my distance. My staying seemed to be hurting him, or at least Nessie's chances with him, which was now going to hurt her. Would my leaving hurt her too? Possibly. I needed to fix things between them, without getting sent away.

"Please don't take it like that, I'm sorry about what you saw in there. We can make this work." I pleaded. "You just have to get used to how things are now. I know they are different but they could still be good."

It was probably a lot for him to take in, though. Even though Nessie and I were back to being close, hugging, touching, kissing, whenever Nahuel and I were both around Nessie I tried to back away from her, giving the two of them their space and time together. This was one of the few times he had seen us together, just interacting as the good friends we were. Okay so maybe slightly _more_ than good friends but what did he expect, she was my imprint, and even if I wasn't holding back completely anymore, it was still innocent and platonic. It's not like he had anything to worry about.

" _Jacob stop!"_ Nessie practically screamed to me with her gift. " _If Nahuel does not want the three of us to be a couple anymore then that is his choice. We need to respect it."_

What, was that it? I lost her? "Nessie, please!" I begged, as I turned to look at her. I just needed one more chance. I could make this work.

" _If he wants to leave that's his choice._ _We shouldn't stop him."_ She continued.

Wait, if HE wants to leave? Not me? She was letting him go? Was she serious?

"Nahuel, I'm sorry. I thought this would work . . ." she began dryly before he cut her off.

"I am DONE trying to make this work. I'm sorry. I realize that you were upfront with me regarding the two of you, but I just cannot do it anymore. Just the thought of it is more than I can tolerate. It is one thing to know something, but it is another to have it shoved in my face."

"Nahuel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm Jake's imprint. This is the way it has to be with us." Nessie shrugged. "I love him, and he loves me. That is never going to change. If you cannot deal with that then I don't see us having a future together."

"I need to think about some things. I need to take a break from us for awhile." Nahuel said, calming down. Well at least he stopped yelling, anyway.

"Oh, alright." she sighed. "If that is how you feel. I'm sorry about all of this. I know you have been through so much. And you changed so much, giving up blood and um . . . _women,_ moving here, away from your family just to be with me. I never meant to hurt you." She said as she attempted to grab his arm.

"Yes, well," he flung her hand off of him, "I have a lot of thinking to do. I need some time alone, excuse me." Nahuel said as he ran off, somewhere.

Nessie then turned to me. I could tell she was upset and annoyed. Her relationship with Nahuel was left a bit up in the air. And it was my fault. She was probably mad at me.

"Jacob, um, can we go to bed?"

What? She wants to sleep? Now? I guess that made sense, sort of. We had just stayed up all night watching movies.

"Are you sure, honey? Do you want to talk about what just happened, first?"

"No. I want you . . . I need you to hold me. Please." She looked so . . . sad? No. What was it? Frustrated? Yes. Exasperated? Maybe.

But whatever it was she was pleading with me. I knew this must have been traumatic for her; Nahuel practically breaking up with her. Breaking her heart. She needed to be comforted.

"Alright sweetheart. Let's go to bed." I said as we ran back home. As we entered our bedroom and crawled into bed I took her in my arms and held her tightly to me.

As we cuddled under the sheets I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a different future for the two of us. One where I was the one who got to kiss her. Who got to hold her and love her the way she deserved. I know I did that at night, when she went to sleep, but it was different. That was what I was doing now. Keeping her nightmares away. I wanted more. I wanted to love her the way she deserved to be loved. The way Nahuel was throwing away his chance to be with her. She, who was perfection, herself.

What was wrong with him? I could not see how putting up with me was somehow too much, when in return he got Nessie. Did he not understand how much he was getting? Was I so much a negative that I outweighed such a positive as Renesmee to him? What was wrong with him? Clearly he did not deserve her. But if he was what she wanted I would need to find a way to fix this. But not tonight. I needed to take care of her right now.

…...

Renesmee's Point of View

"Jacob?," no answer.

"Jake are you awake?" still no answer. Had he really fallen asleep?

As I listened I heard a light snore emanated from his chest.

I guess so.

Humph!

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"Nessie, have you seen my journal?" I had started keeping one a couple of years ago. Edward had gotten it for me for my 18th birthday. It was the last one I had actually celebrated since moving in with the Cullens. Nessie gave me a gift every year but the rest of them didn't seem to celebrate birthdays for anyone except Nessie. I didn't mind. It was not like I was getting older. But I did think the journal was a good idea.

I had seen the stack Edward kept for himself, but couldn't understand why he bothered though. Vampires didn't forgot anything, their minds were like their bodies, frozen and unchanging. Once knowledge entered it was never going to be released. I did not have a vampire brain, with perfect recall and memory, and I did not want to forget things about my life. I actually needed a way to remember things. 100 years from now who knows what I would remember. Would I recall anything of my human, pre-wolf life? My Mom and Dad, my sisters, my life in Forks, my Pack? Nessie as a baby, a little girl, any of her life growing up? Would I remember anything? Writing it down seemed as good of an idea as any.

"I think I saw it in the bedside drawer." I heard Nessie call from somewhere in the house. I could tell she was upstairs somewhere. Probably in the reading room from the sound of it. I checked my bedside table drawer, like she suggested – nothing. I didn't think I had put it in hers, but I guess it was worth a look. I saw a few sheets of paper that I moved aside and looked underneath. Besides a few trinkets: some hair ties, a few pens, the odd pink bouncy ball, and some other random items, the drawer was empty. No journal. As I was about to put the papers back I spotted Nahuel's name scrawled across the top. What was this?

The first line said "Nahuel – Pro". Was Nessie trying to decide if she should continue her relationship with him when he returned? I probably shouldn't be looking at this but I could not help myself. As I looked over the sheet I was dismayed by what I saw.

It was indeed a Nahuel Pro / Con list.

 **Nahuel – Pro**

He helped save me from the Volturi, even though he did not know me - shows selflessness

He is the same half vampire species as me, the only other one on the planet

change **d** his diet after 150 years  & gave up women

Good looking

Smell isn't offensive

Moved to be with me

Getting better at chess (for me)

His sister is nice

 **Nahuel – Con**

Aunt Lives in South America

Sometimes doesn't think too far into the future

Previously hunted humans

 _Only 5'7" ? (I don't care)_

Uncomfortable/uninterested in most modern technology

 _Past experiences with thousands of women_

 ** _Possessive_** _and Arrogant_

 **Not Sure a Pro or Con?** _  
150 years older than me_

From the look of it I could tell she had made some alterations since she first made the list. Things were written in a few different pens, some things were crossed out, others were squeezed in, and some lines were added altogether. But what really bothered me the most was not that his Con's list seems to have shrunk and his Pros list had grown to twice its original size. It was the fact that he had been with thousands of women. I had never bothered to do the math, but now that I thought of it, I guess it made sense. And Nessie seemed to be willing to put up with it, or at least overlook it. I guess it was in his past but it was still just gross. I also was not too happy that she felt the need to write that she thought he was possessive.

"Did you find your journal?" Nessie asked from the doorway.

Crap! My body was blocking her view so I knew she could not see her list in my hands.

"Um, no Nessie . . ." I started to say while trying to replace the papers back in her drawer, but she was at my side in a fraction of a second and saw them still in my hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read this. I was just looking for my jou. . ." I tried immediately to apologize.

"Don't be silly, Jake," she said, cutting me off. "I don't want to have any secrets from you. You can read it."

"Sure, sure." I mumbled as I put the list back in the drawer. "I should keep looking for my journal."

"Well, let me help you look."

We, well, she rather, ended up finding it tucked between one of the couch cushions in the living room. But all the while I was looking for it I could not help but think of the list she made and what it could mean. There was not a lot I could do about some things, besides maybe have a chat with Nahuel later, when he came back regarding his "Possessive and Arrogant" behavior.

But that part on Nessie's list about Nahuel's smell not being "offensive", did that mean that she thought mine was? Nessie didn't like the way I smelt? I knew her family could not stand the way I or any of the other wolves _stank_ , but I didn't know Nessie had a problem with it. She never said anything. And I loved the way she smelled. What was I going to do? She obviously wanted to stay with me, but I needed to make things easier on her. I was going fix things, at least as much as I could.

Nessie went back to the reading room to give me some space so I could write in my now found journal, but that could wait until later. For now I started washing the bed sheets and pillows, and would keep doing so every day. Then while the machine was running I ran to the store. I knew I could not change my natural wolf smell, but I guess I could try to cover it up a bit. I grabbed the strongest smelling body washes, shampoos, lotions, and colognes I could find. How many times a day would I need to shower though? Once in the morning, another before bed and maybe another two or three during the day seemed like it would be a good start. I would have to keep an eye on her more closely and see if I could pick up any uncomfort, to my smell, on her part. I hadn't noticed any before, but I wasn't actually looking.

When I returned home I switched the wash to the dryer before showering and applying a generous layer of lotion and cologne.

After a quick entry into my journal, the dryer dinged and I remade the bed, trying to touch the sheets as little as possible. Hmmm, maybe I should have gotten rubber gloves. I didn't want to re-infect the fabric. Of course that would happen eventually anyway when we went to sleep tonight.

"Renesmee, I thought you were going to talk to Jacob?" I heard Edward call to her from somewhere in the house. I guess he and Bella were back from their "hike".

What was his problem now? I was doing the best I could. Maybe if he had told me earlier Nessie was bothered by my scent I could have done something about it years ago.

"I did, dad."

"Clearly you did not. Go fix this NOW. He's in your room. Go talk to him and clear this up."

Huh? What was Edward talking about? I guess I was about to find out because a second later she was in front of me.

"Jake, what is that smell?" She grinned with her hand over her mouth and nose. Did I use too much? Maybe she just didn't like this particular fragrance.

"Oh, um, mostly Axe products. I thought you might like it. But I could get something else if you don't."

"Why? I love your natural scent. I don't need something fake on top of it."

"Nessie you don't need to lie to me. I saw your list, remember? Nahuel's Pro's and Con's. I saw how you wrote that his scent isn't offensive, I may not be as smart as a vampire but even I could figure out that that had to mean that you think mine is."

"What? Jake didn't you see the other page?" She saw the confusion on my face and retrieved the list out of her nightstand. When she gave them to me, I saw the same page as before; Nahuel's Pro's and Con's list, but then she flipped to the page underneath it to reveal her page of Pros and Cons with my name on it. I had one too?

 **Jacob – Pro**

 **I love him**

He loves me

He imprinted on me

He's my soulmate

It's painful when we're apart

He keeps my nightmares away

He helped save me from the Volturi

Saved my "human" mom more than once

Made me a beautiful chess set & is learn **ed** to play, just for me

His "Job" is to protect humans and Me

He already lives with me and my family

We love working on cars together, and doing everything together

He is my perfect hunting partner

He would give his life for me, and I him

We have the same taste in music, movies, sports, books, etc... everything

He is my best friend

He has always been there for me and always will

He is extremely handsome, muscular, & very tall, 6'7"

I loved his wolf self too

He is always warm

He smells amazing

 **Jacob - Con**

He already rejected me once due to my age -

Will he ever see me as an adult?

My family doesn't like his scent

He doesn't like their scents

He had a "relationship" with my mother but I'm over it

Wolves are natural enemies to vampires

He exist to destroy vampires

He's a different "species"

 **Not Sure a Pro or Con?**

Imprints to create stronger wolves? Maybe

"See right there," she said pointing to the appropriate spot on the paper, "it says how I love the way you smell. Well it says that I think your smell is amazing, but you get the idea."

"Oh," was all I was able to mutter while looking over the list. It was longer than Nahuel's, much longer. Especially the Pro's list.

"Well, what do you think?" Nessie looked at me expectantly. I didn't know what to say. What did this mean?

"You made a list for me too?" I stupidly asked.

"You're not mad are you?" She looked a bit nervous now.

"No, honey, you know I could never be mad at you. But why did you make them in the first place?"

"I'm sorry, Jake. I just thought making the lists would help me decide between the two of you." She said a bit nervously.

So after everything - my life, my happiness, my world, came down to a few lines written on a piece of paper? And I still lost her?

"But as I made the list," Nessie continued, it seemed whatever she was trying to say was hard for her or she didn't want me to know, "I realized that I couldn't make an informed decision without getting to know Nahuel better. That is why, as you know, I wanted to try and date him. But, you also saw how much of a disaster that turned into."

She did want him. And I had ruined it for her. I did need to leave. "I'm sorry Renesmee, I should leave. You can be with Nahuel without me getting in the way anymore."

"Jacob, what are you talking about? Why would you think I would ever want you to leave? I love you. The two of us will always be together. Haven't you been listening to me all these months? Or years, rather? I kept telling you," as she continued, tears started building in her eyes, "trying to reassure you, that we would always be together. I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Don't you remember me telling you that? Over and over."

Her voice was getting louder and louder, as she spoke. As if the louder she talked the more she wanted me to believe her.

"I only began dating him to see if we all could possibly have a future together. Like Colleen, Embry and Henry tried to do. One platonic love, one romantic. But before I figured out if that was something that I really wanted, he got overly attached. Actually I think he became too attached when he changed his diet for me last year, possibly even before that, from the first year he visited me for my birthday. I have thought for awhile now that things were probably not going to work out between us." Her voice now had a level of agitation that I had never heard in it before. "But every time I thought he was resigned to leave, you talked him back in."

So was it me that she wanted to keep forever and would get rid of Nahuel? Or was she just tired of dealing with all of this hostility between the three of us? Was she just giving up on him or was she really choosing me?

….

Renesmee's Point of View

I needed to take a few breaths and regain my composure. Falling apart now was not going to help. When I was ready I began again. "Can you forgive me?" I asked rather nervously.

"Forgive you? Nessie, trying to figure out who you want to spend eternity with is a serious decision. I am glad that you wanted to take the time to make an informed choice. I would never stand in your way, if it meant that you would be happy. But I am not sure that this was the best way to go about it." he said waving my list in the air.

"You should want to be with someone you enjoy spending time with," he continued, "someone you have a lot in common with. It should be someone who makes you happy, and who you make happy; the person who cheers you up when you are feeling sad. They are someone you respect and trust and who feels the same about you. You should want to spend your life, or existence, with the person you love, Nessie. Not the one who makes the most sense on a piece of paper."

"But Jacob, don't you see, both of those people are you. I love you. I enjoy spending all of my time with you, I never want you to be away from me. We have everything in common, because you are my soulmate. You make me completely happy and have always been the one to cheer me up, always. I do respect you, more than anyone, even my parents, and I trust you with my life, you know that. I love you so much my Jacob. Here, just look at the list. It was the first thing I wrote under your name."

"Really? But Nahuel? Don't you love him?"

"It's not even a question of if I love him or not. He can't live with both of us, so it does not matter." I chuckled dryly. "Actually, now though, I'm more than a little confused and irritated. Jake, why did you keep trying to get him to change his mind all the time? He was so against the three of us being together, but he kept telling me how you would continually try to get him to alter his decision and give us one more try, and you did it again right before he left me, yesterday. Why?" I was pissed now. I don't think I have ever been mad at him before, ever. And I wasn't really now either, but I was confused.

"I just thought it was what you wanted. I just want you to be happy Nessie."

Did Jacob want Nahuel and I to be together, after all? But didn't he want me? My father said Jacob had some things mixed up. Was this it?

"Jacob, was my dad right when he said you had things backwards."

"I guess so. I'm sorry Nessie. I should have just come and talked to you."

"Oh." He doesn't want me. I guess his imprinting on a half-vampire really was different.

"Renesmee? Why are you crying?" He really had to ask? I guess I can't force him to love me like I love him though.

"I'm sorry. I just thought . . . and someday we would . . . but I was wrong."

"Huh? Nessie you lost me. Take a few breaths. Calm down and just tell me what it is you want. You know you can talk to me about anything. You know I love you right?"

"I love you too. Just not in the way that you love me, it seems."

"Nessie, what are you talking about? You know I love you more than anyone on the planet, you're my soulmate."

"What do you mean, Jake? Don't you want me to be with Nahuel? Don't you just want to stay being my friend and protector?"

"Only if that is what you want, but I thought **I** made it clear to **you** over the years that when you were older and ready, I would love to be with you romantically . . . if that was also what you wanted."

"Really Jacob? I wasn't sure if you were just humoring me at the time, or something." Of course he still had to throw in that bit about still waiting until I was older. Was he really still not ready for me yet?

"Nothing would make me happier honey." He smiled for the first time since we began talking and I returned it with my own. I was so happy, even if I still had to wait a bit for him to be ready. Just knowing that we would be together someday filled me with joy.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"I'm not sure. I think you need to have a conversation with Nahuel." Jake said to me. And he was right. I technically was still with Nahuel, sort of. He wanted to take a break, but I assumed he would be back to let me know of his decision. I needed him to make a complete break with me before I could be with Jake anyway. It wouldn't be right otherwise.

"I know, I'll talk with him as soon as he returns. And then, someday," I acquiesced, "we can be together. Right?"

"Yes, honey. Someday."

"Alright, But for now would you mind taking another shower and washing that stuff off of you?" I asked with a smirk. I didn't want to upset my Jacob anymore than he already was, but luckily he just chuckled before heading off to the bathroom.


	45. Oops

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Five**

 **Oops**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was mid October. School had been back in session for a month. Yet, five weeks after he left, there still was no word from Nahuel.

He made no move to contact me. He was gone and apparently not coming back. I guess we were through. He left me. He had said he just needed some time. But that time had long past. If he did not feel the need to formally end things then I assumed I was free to move on.

My family knew he was close by though. He had not returned to South America with his Aunt, and her mate, Roberto, like originally thought, when no one heard from him for over a week.

But Uncle Jasper had found out he had been using the family credit card, Aunt Alice had given him, to rent a room at a motel a couple of towns away.

My father became very uneasy upon hearing of the rundown nature of the motel, mumbling something to my mother, about him hoping Nahuel was not reverting back to his old ways. While not knowing what he was referring to, I did wish Nahuel had felt comfortable enough to have picked a better, more upscale accommodation. I didn't want him living somewhere that was unpleasant or make things uncomfortable for him. It was partially my fault for his current living conditions, and it is not like my family couldn't have afforded a nice hotel room for him.

At least my family was all back together. Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose return last month, actually an hour before Jake and I left for our first class of the school year.

I was so glad they were back. Aunt Rose was just the person I needed to talk to about Jake. I loved him so much and wanted to be with him on a deeper level. But nothing was happening between us.

Aunt Rose suggested I take some initiative and try to start something with him, myself. She said that guys are just dense sometimes. She knew Jacob loved me and might just need a little push in the right direction to get things started.

"Playful" and "suggestive", that was her advice to me. Nothing too direct. I didn't want to scare him away. I would try her idea the next chance I got.

I just hoped I was not rushing him. He couldn't really still think I was too young, could he? He knew how I felt about him, that I loved him and wanted him. And he said he loved me too, I don't see how he could have been confused about anything this time, not that I was completely understanding what he was mistaken about last time.

….

Jacob's Point of View

"What's that Jake?" Nessie pointing to the piece of wood I was currently carving. I was sitting under a tree, not far from the back door of the house when she found me.

"Oh this, nothing." Well nothing I wanted to show her, yet. In reality it was something for her, but I had just started working on it and didn't want her to see it until it was done. Or at least much further along.

"Can I see it?" she asked as she mischievously yanked it out of my hands. I could tell she was in a playful mood. I loved this fun carefree side of her, it rarely came out though.

"Hey, give that back." I chuckled as I got up and unsuccessfully tried to grab it from her. Man, she had gotten fast.

"Come and get it then." She called as she took off into the forest.

I wonder what was up with her today? I ran in after her, but she was slightly faster than me now, when I was not in my wolf form. I was following her scent for a few miles into the woods when I lost her. Where did she go? I couldn't see her anywhere, but her scent seemed to ascend upwards. Then I heard laughter coming from high up in one of the trees to my left.

"Nessie, what are you doing up there?"

"Playing. Don't you want to play with me?"

Playing? I chuckled to myself, we hadn't play-played like this in years. It was nice, I missed it.

"Sure honey, I'd love to play with you. But first can I have my wood back?" I called up to her after jogging over to the tree she was hiding on.

"Maybe. Can you find it?" Find it? If she hid it somewhere in the forest, I would never be able to find a specific piece of wood out here.

"Care to give me a hint?"

"Um?" She got that look like she was pretending to think about it, but I could see the twinkle in her eye. "It's definitely closer than you think."

Was that why she was up there? To hide it in the tree? Going with that assumption I started climbing up to her. When I was halfway up she leapt down, landing on top of me, knocking us both to the forest floor. Luckily I was only about 15 feet from the ground at the time, so neither of us were injured by her silly little stunt.

"Congratulations, now you're even closer to your wood than before," she smirked over me.

Hmmm. Did she put it in one of her pockets? Nessie was wearing a fashionable but completely unnecessary jacket, since she stayed as warm as I did, and some baggy cargo pants that had tons of pockets on them. She could have hidden my piece of wood in any of them. I was going to have to check them all. In one move I flipped us over, reversing our positions, so I was now straddled on top of her. But as I began searching her jacket pockets, she kept trying to playfully yet mischievously hinder my progress. She was grabbing bits of pine cones, dirt, acorns, sticks, anything she could get her hands on and was throwing them at me while laughing.

"Nessie, cut it out. That's not funny." I snickered back.

"Try and stop me." She challenged as she chucked another stick at me before I grabbed her hands with one of mine and pinned them above her head.

Now that I didn't have to duck her projectiles I could concentrate and moved on to searching her pants pockets. She was wiggling around while still smiling and chuckling but I suddenly realized how closely I was touching her . . . and where.

Oops!

I was straddled on top of her and my hand was down her pants; well her pants pocket, the one nearest to her empty left belt loop, but that was almost just as bad.

I immediately jumped up, off of her. What was I thinking, how could I have done that? Of course that was the problem, I wasn't thinking.

If Nessie had not been with Nahuel, even if they were on a break right now, this probably would not have been a big deal. It might have even led to something more between us. God knows I would have loved for that to happen. But . . .

"Jacob, what's wrong?" Nessie asked me, raising herself up on her elbows. She didn't seem upset, as if she didn't even notice how inappropriate my actions were.

"Nothing, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have . . . um, can I have the piece of wood back now." I asked, lowering my eyes to the forest floor. I couldn't even look at her. I didn't deserve to.

"Oh," she sighed. "Here you go," Nessie took the wood from somewhere behind her back and handed it to me. I could feel the disappointment emanating off of her. She was right to feel that way, I was disappointed in my actions as well. I had pretty much groped her. She deserved to be treated better.

"Nessie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . ."

"Jacob, it's fine. I'm fine. Let's just go back home." She sighed again as she got up and took off running back to the house.

Damn it! What was wrong with me?

After I slowly walked home alone, I saw Jasper and Edward through the front window. Perfect. But, seeing as Edward had not attacked me for what I had just done to his daughter, it meant that he had either suddenly grown exponentially more tolerant, or Bella was nearby and had her shield over him. And since I could see that he and Jasper were playing a game of chess, Bella must be around somewhere, to prevent Edward from reading Jasper's mind and cheating.

At least something was going right for me today.

Jasper let out a sigh as I stepped through the front door, probably sensing whatever emotion I was giving off. I don't know what it was exactly, nothing pleasant though; I was too wound up to tell exactly. Regret, worry, fear, dismay, embarrassment, frustration, all of the above.

". . . never going to get it. We need to intervene . . ." I partially heard Jasper whisper over to Edward as I walked past them, straight into the kitchen, to grab a snack. Maybe some food would help me feel better. Without even thinking I grabbed a bag of chips and turned around to head back into the living room with them.

"What did you have in mind." Edward murmured back.

Why did they even feel the need to lower their voices? I didn't care about whatever they were talking about, and they knew I could hear them anyway. But it probably made sense if they wanted to keep, whatever it was, a secret from someone else in the family.

"Perhaps we can take a cue from Choderlos de Laclos." Jasper continued. It looked like Edward almost took his head off for whatever Jasper was suggesting. "I was simply referring to the idea of putting obstacles in front of . . . err . . . _Danceny_ , to get things moving, not all the other stuff."

"I think they have already had to deal with enough hindrances. Clearly that did not work."

"What about Rosalie's approach with Emmett," Jasper suggested. They were talking about Emmett? "Do we have any large metal objects lying around we can smack him over the head with?" He chuckled to himself while Edward calmed down a bit, just shy of laughing himself.

"I don't think she would be too happy with us if we did that. Besides I'm not really in a rush for this to happen." Edward responded.

"Time is running out. You know that."

"We can give them one more year. If they don't figure it out by then I'll tell them."

"How about a little nudge in the meantime?"

"Jasper, don't you dare mess with their emotions." Edward warned.

"That's not what I was thinking, but it might come to that if this doesn't work." I saw him smirk back.

"Hello Jacob," Jasper said to me as I plopped myself down in front of the TV, chips in hand.

"Hey guys. Did you need something?"

"You are taking French in school right." I nodded. "Have you ever read _Les Liaisons dangereuses_?" Jasper asked me from where they were playing, across the room.

"Jasper!" Edward seemed to throw him a warning look. Why?

"Um, no."

"You should, it's very good. I think there is a copy in the reading room, upstairs. It might help you and improve your mood."

"Yeah, sure. Maybe later." I huffed, mostly under my breath as I began flipping through the channels on the TV. I was not in the mood for a reading assignment right now. Nessie had probably read it, I could just ask her to tell me about it. Where was she anyway? She probably only arrived home about fifteen minutes before me, since she ran, but I wasn't sure exactly where she went. "Hey have you guys seen Nessie?" I called from the couch.

"She seemed upset when she came home, so Alice and Bella took her shopping with them, as soon as she walked through the door." Jasper said back.

"What? Bella's not here?" I questioned, suddenly alarmed. Did Edward know? Of course he did, I was just thinking about what I had done. Stupid. But he wasn't attacking me. Yet.

"Nope." Edward said. "Alice had a vision that, for _some_ reason, a lot of the furniture and decorations in this room suddenly needed to be replaced. You wouldn't know why would you Jacob?" Edward grinned towards me.

Oh crap! Why did Nessie have to make me promise not to hit him ever again? Did that include defending myself?

"Jacob why don't you go upstairs and start reading that book." suggested Jasper. "And perhaps it might be best if you don't come back down until you're done."

I ran up the stairs as he suggested. Jasper must have been using his gift to calm Edward down. But that would not last forever. Sooner or later I would need to deal with Edward. But later, after he had cooled down on his own, without some supernatural help. Nessie would not want us fighting. I would wait until Bella and Nessie came back. Maybe one of them could reason with him. I promised Nessie I would not fight him ever again and I needed to keep my word. She trusted me, and I didn't want to upset or hurt her.

….

I watched in horror as Seth fell. He was gone. I was all alone, now. The last wolf standing. Edward had taken him and everyone else from me. Leah, Quil, Embry . . . everyone. My entire Pack was all gone, not to mention Sam, Paul and Jared.

HIS family was still standing, he had not lost anyone. Rose, Emmett, Alice, the Doc, and all the others. They were still standing; fighting with Edward. Even Nessie was over on his side now. I had lost her too. I was alone.

Sure, I had a few pawns left, but the chess game was pretty much over. How had this happened? How did I lose so badly? And so quickly?

Where did the Nessie chess piece even come from? She had been carved into the king piece, of sorts, for the chess set I made. But I did not make that piece. Also Bella and Edward were now joined together as a unified queen piece. I had chosen to play the wolf side, naturally, but had lost my guys all too easily.

Well, Edward could read my mind. He knew what I would do. Bella wasn't here to shield my thoughts. They were a mess anyway, all I could think about was how I screwed up with Nessie.

"So what are you going to do? Are you really going to still try and go for the CheckMATE?" He stressed the _last_ part of the word.

"Edward, I'm sorry . . ." I tried apologizing again, but he cut me off as if he didn't even hear me.

"Or are you finally going to lie down like the dog you are, and give up? Like you should have done long ago?"

Suddenly I jerked up. I was covered in sweat and breathing heavy.

When I looked around I realized that I was in bed, in my room. It was just a dream. Nessie was curled up beside me as always. Luckily, I hadn't woken her.

Tap, tap, tap.

Looking over to where the offensive noise was coming from, I saw Edward standing in the doorway. Really, he wanted to do this now? I guess I did have it coming.

I was suppose to defend Nessie and I didn't, If he killed me now, I knew I had it coming. I had five wonderful years with her, that was clearly more than I deserved.

Nessie was sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to wake her. And I didn't want her to see this. After kissing Nessie on the forehead, I got out of bed as smoothly and quietly as I could, as not to waken my angel, and followed Edward.

But I guess I deserved whatever I had coming from him. Bella had rightfully punched me years ago, before she became a vampire, when I tried to kiss her, and this was so much worse. I had practically molested Nessie, yesterday in the woods, but for some reason she hadn't even complained or objected to what I did. Why hadn't she? Didn't she realize that what I had done was completely inappropriate?

But it was not like I was just going to stand there if Edward tried to kill me though, not that there was much I could do, since Nessie made it clear she did not want me fighting him, and I could never hurt her by hurting her father, again. Not that I actually hurt him the last time I hit him.

But where did this leave me? Ducking, evading, and running, I guess. It wasn't like he was going to get tired of beating me if I was unsuccessful in evading him, not that I particularly enjoyed the idea of hiding. It seemed so cowardly, but what else could I do. I couldn't kill him, I wouldn't even fight him. That would hurt Nessie more.

Of course he would do this now, Bella and Alice left again, and took Esme and Jasper with them, this time for at least a few days to search for more furniture. The Doc was at work, well school, and Emmett and Rose were off hunting. There was no one here to stop him. I should have known. And I should have talked to him earlier, when some of the family was still here, but I foolishly thought it would be better to wait until he calmed down another day. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I thought he would have kept walking out into the woods, give him more room to attack, but he surprised me by sitting down on the living room couch. What was he up to?

"I am sorry Jacob, I was just joking with you yesterday, Alice just wants to redecorate in here."

What?

"I didn't have you come out here to fight. I just want to talk to you. Since Renesmee is asleep it seemed like a good time. And I need to clear some things up." He grew quiet for a moment and it looked like he was thinking about what he wanted to say next.

"I'm sorry if I have given you the wrong impression, over the past few years. I think you and my daughter would make each other very happy together. And all I want is Renesmee's happiness. She is not a child anymore, I know that and I know that you know that too."

"So you're not upset about what I did in the woods?" I could not believe that would be true.

"Jacob, I think you are making a bigger deal out of it than you need to. You didn't actually do anything, after all. Nothing really happened. And even if something did happen, I would not kill you over it. Well I might be unhappy with you if it transpired in the woods and where I could hear you both," he winced, "but I know you would never hurt her."

It was still wrong, even if nothing happened. She is with Nahuel. She's dating him, not me.

"Jacob, she's not with him anymore." Edward responded to my thoughts.

"They're just on a break." He'll be back, eventually, and it wouldn't be right to do anything until they officially end things, Nessie is still waiting for him to return. Then and only then, after she has mentally and emotionally moved on and Nessie decides she is ready for me, can I even begin to think about doing something.

Arrrg! Yet again I was left wondering why was I even having romantic feelings for Nessie already. Nessie and I both assumed our imprint was different since she was a half-vampire. Everything was just so screwed up with us.

"Jacob, have you ever thought about getting out of your own way?" Edward huffed at me before disappearing, off to wherever he went, on the few times Bella wasn't here.

Huh? Why was he always being so cryptic with me?


	46. Found Bodies

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Six**

 **Found Bodies**

Jacob's Point of View

I was heading out to the front yard to put the finishing touches on the new bracelet I was making for Nessie. It was similar in concept to the bookmark I carved her years ago, of course this one was circular to go around her wrist. It was strong and sturdy yet delicate looking and lacy, with another Quileute saying carved into it. And this time she would be able to read it herself, having learned the language when she lived with Billy and me.

"It was just the one body, from what I could determine." I heard Carlisle tell someone inside his house.

"And you were able to positively identify it as one of our kinds handiwork?" Edward asked.

Was there a vampire attack? Nearby?

"Jacob, why don't you join us," Edward called. "You should hear this too."

"What's going on?" I asked as I entered the Doc's living room.

"As you know I am in the middle of my medical internship," the Doc started to explain to catch me up. "Today, I was in class at the local hospital, we were working on dissecting bodies, and determining causes of death, on said bodies that had been donated, for student use. One of the bodies had the faint aroma of venom in her system. The body had been drained of blood and the bite marks had been cut away to appear as various other types of wounds."

"There was more than one?" I asked. "Why would they bite someone more than once?"

"That is not something that can be ascertained simply by examining her remains. Her body had also been severely beaten. Some of our kind are more sadistic than others. I'm afraid many of our kind enjoy playing with their food," he responded and I felt like I was going to be sick. Isn't it enough to kill someone, you have to torture them, too?

"Who would have done this? Anyone we know?" Emmett asked.

It better not be.

"Unfortunately I was not able to determine who it was. Bodies that are donated are sometimes rigorously cleaned before given to students to work on. This one was as well. I could not pick up any lingering scent of the vampire who was responsible. Also all of the bodies paperwork seemed to be in order. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."

"Do you think they knew you were working there, that _you_ would discover the body?" Jasper wondered.

"I doubt it. Everything about the young woman's appearance there seemed to look like whoever did this had no intention of the body to be discovered, ever. It would have been the perfect dump job, had I not been there."

"We should ask Alice what she can see about this when she returns." Jasper added.

Alice had taken Nessie, Bella, Esme, and Rose shopping for some more new clothes. Nessie still had a couple of years left before she stopped aging, but I had thought she stopped growing. But then again, Alice would use any excuse for shopping. And today was too sunny for anyone in the family to go to school, (well Nessie and I had the day off anyway) so all the ladies decided, well Alice decided for them, to take an extended road trip down to Boston, MA where Alice was sure it was cloudy.

When the ladies finally returned late that evening Alice had already seen what we were going to ask her but did not have any answers either.

"I'll start checking the hospital daily to see if any more bodies show up," the Doc suggested.

"Jacob, I think it is best for the time being if one of us went with you and Nessie when she hunted. Just to be on the safe side, for now at least," Edward suggested and I completely agreed. I knew I could protect Nessie but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Guys, aren't you over reacting just a bit? It was just one body after all." Nessie didn't seem to be as concerned as everyone else. But we were dealing with an unknown body and mystery vampire – that Alice couldn't see. That was enough to concern me.

"You are right Renesmee, it may be nothing. It may be just a nomad passing through. But the sophisticated nature with which they chose to dispose of the body, and the rough handling of it before consumption worries me. It leads me to believe that we could be dealing with someone who might have been in the area for some time and has gone undetected for awhile."

"Or it could indeed be a nomad, and this is how they always get rid of their meals." Esme offered. I could not believe what I was hearing from her. She was the most loving, motherly one in the house. How could she be so callous about such a thing?

"Victim! She was a Human Victim who was murdered, not just a meal." I seethed. I had gotten so used to living with the Cullens over the years, sometimes it was easy to forget I lived in a house full of vampires. They seemed so normal sometimes, well if you didn't count the smell. But all of this talk, the casualness with which they were referring to the dead body, as nothing more than clumsily disposed of trash or something that might inconvenience them, was too much.

"Jacob, no one has forgotten that a woman has died." Edward tried to reassure me.

A slight growl escaped my throat before Nessie grabbed my hand to calm me down.

"Well, putting aside the dead woman for a moment," Bella began casually, looking over at me, when I gave no reaction, (Nessie, still holding my hand, was a wonderful calming influence, and Jasper was probably working on me as well) she continued, "I don't see what the big deal is. Whoever is doing this is not drawing attention to themselves. So the Vo . . ." Bella managed to stop herself before saying the Volturi, knowing how upset Nessie would get, "there is no need for concern."

"Right now we don't have enough to go on. Bella's right, it could be nothing." Jasper added. "We'll have to wait and see what happens next. Alice, can you try again? See if you can find anything unusual happening in the near future."

"Hmmm," Alice hummed as her eyes glazed over for a few seconds before returning to normal. "I still don't see anything, but I will keep looking. For now I think we should continue going to school and live life fairly normally."

"Agreed." Carlisle, Edward and Rose said in unison. I wonder how often this happened that they were in such sync like that? Well, I guess after a century that would tend to happen.

Once everything was settled, sort of, since there was little we could actually do right now, Edward turned his attention to the pile of bags, the ladies had piled up at the front door.

"It seems shopping was a success," he rolled his eyes casually.

"Yes, we went up and down Newbury Street to all of the fine clothing stores and even a few art galleries. In addition to all of the clothes we found this one painters artwork that was just amazing. Her name is L. Lowe. And guess what?" Alice squealed. "She lives in Washington. Actually less than an hour's drive from where we used to live, in Hoodsport. She was there all that time and we never even knew about her. We will have to look her up if we ever go back."

Ever? I scowled to myself. What did that mean? Wasn't Washington home? As in - our real home?

"So should we be afraid to ask what is in that box? It doesn't look like a shopping bag." Emmett questioned Alice.

"Don't tell me you bought more art." Jasper seemed a little upset. I had never actually seen him angry at Alice before, not that he was now, but this was closer than I had ever seen. I knew she had a problem buying clothes, but art too? Really?

Was it another thing for the living room? I thought she finished redecorating our house last week.

"Hey, don't look at me," Alice said raising her hands up and backing away from the offensive package. "It was Esme this time."

"Yes, and I bought it because it's a wonderful piece that we ALL fell in love with."

"It is a beautiful painting and there's a lovely poem scratched into the surface." Bella added. She liked it too?

"And the mathematical equations written on the surface next to the painted image are actually correct. Figuring out the circumference and convex properties of the bowl she painted is not that hard but it is impressive to see a human do it just for a painting." Rosalie added seemingly genuinely impressed. I knew how good at math she was so the fact that she was impressed by this was really saying something.

"And even putting that all aside, just wait until you see it. It's truly astonishing." Esme added. "I think it will look lovely in the hallway outside our bedroom," she told the Doc.

"And how, may I ask, did you get the gallery to agree to give it to you? Don't galleries normally keep paintings up for the entire length of a show?" Carlisle asked her.

"Oh, you guys are so silly." Alice chirped. "You can get a gallery owner to do whatever you want for the right price."

"And just exactly what was the right price, Alice?" Jasper wondered. Well, maybe not wondered, debated, was more like it.

"Not a penny more than what was necessary. I assure you. And why does that even matter?" Alice speculated out loud, but more to herself than anyone else. "It's art, which almost always goes up in value, so no matter how much we paid it was worth it. You know I handle the finances for the family and I've never made a wrong decision yet. Have I? Don't you trust me? This piece is going to be worth 10 times what it is today, in a few decades."

"I thought you said Esme bought it?" Jasper questioned her.

"She did, I just helped a bit."

"Okay, so let's see this piece." I suggested. As she opened the box, we could all see why the ladies had been so impressed - it was amazing.

But that still didn't change a fact that there was a vampire, possibly still in the area, that had killed a human. And my temporary good mood quickly soured.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

Going to college was so much fun. Not the majority of the classes themselves, they were simplistic and mundane. I mean, I enjoyed learning about engineering with Jacob, everything was fun with him, but I could have learned all of the material taught over the past year and a half on my own in a couple of months at home. But at least this way we got to be together, well we got to spend time together.

"Oh, my Jacob," I sighed to myself, "when would you be ready for us?"

At least school gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of humans, while hanging out with my Jacob, all day long. And there was one class I really was enjoying - the woodworking class Jake and I signed up for this semester. I'm so glad he suggested it as our elective. He's so wonderful.

I had become more and more interested in wood and its possibilities when Jacob first taught me how to carve a simple heart, over a year ago. Since then we had been carving various small things together, at least once a week. I had gotten pretty good, I think. At least that's what he tells me. I still don't think I was anywhere near as good as him. But everyone in the family seemed to like the various trinkets I gave them.

So far we had just gone over the basics in class, beginning with learning how to use each machine in the woodshop. Next everyone had to take turns and, one at a time, saw a piece of wood in half by hand, while everyone else watched. That seemed like a complete waste of time, and some people took forever. One girl had to stop halfway through to rest! Jake and I had the opposite problem and had to slow down and not make it look too easy.

Next everyone needed to make a plain rectangular box, with a lid. We used the table saw to cut the wood to size, then used a router to notch out the corners and a floating bottom, and finally glued everything together with wood glue and brads.

There were a handful of other required projects that Jake and I completed easily, but now, finally, we got to make something I had actually been looking forward to. It was the reason we were taking this class as our elective.

The project was to design, cut, and assemble a wooden chair, table, or coat rack.

I decided to make a chair to go with the table Jake was planning on building. We had the complementary designs all worked out. Both being perfect counterparts to one another. A matched set, sort of; together but different, just like us.

Once Jake had suggested us _elaborately_ carving the table and chair, I began looking for ideas to come up with an appropriate design that would harmonize with the two pieces. I had been looking at some of Grandma Esme's design and decorating books, along with the art history books my mother and Uncle Jasper brought home from school.

He seemed a bit bored by school, but that might have been because he had gone through college already, at least six or seven timed now. But I was not there for any of his previous experiences, so I could not really determine if this was how Uncle Jasper always was or if he was just not enjoying Art History as much as he thought he would.

Nevertheless I found the furniture in these books wonderful. Everything shown was so ornate, especially when compared to the streamlined, more minimalist pieces that seemed to dominate the market today. The family had a few antique pieces here and there scattered throughout the three houses, but most things we currently had were more mass produced stuff Grandma Esme had ordered from a catalog somewhere.

Once the basic table and chair were built, we didn't think there would be any harm in carving them. But when we showed our ideas to the teacher, she seemed a bit skeptical that we would be able to accomplish it. However she told us that she just needed to see the finished table and chair before we started the carving so she could grade them, then we were free to do with them as we pleased. She did offer me some suggestions, like not go so deep with my carving in some areas as to not compromise the structural integrity of the supports on the chair. If I did that, it might look nice for awhile but would collapse when someone went to sit in it. After making the needed adjustments to my design I went to work.

* * *

I know I had only just begun working on it last week, but I think my chair was coming along nicely. Of course it paled in comparison to Jake's table. It was so beautiful, just like him. And he had not even begun to carve his yet.

"Once these are done, how about we work together on making a new king size bed for us, next?"

"Don't you think that's a little . . . um, big for school, honey?"

"We could just make the head and foot boards, I could take one and you the other? Or how about a twin bed?" If we ever have a child we can have something personal for them.

"A twin bed?" Jake looked at me skeptically, "But we don't even know anybody who has kids around here, to give the bed too when we are done."

Humph! I guess he wasn't ready to start thinking about us together, like that yet. "Yeah, okay. We can think of something else," I breezed, not wanting to appear too upset. But inside I felt like crumbling.

I didn't know what to do. I love him so much and wanted us to be together romantically. Nahuel was finally gone, I was just waiting for him. I tried to be patient, but I knew this was my fault. Clearly I had hurt him more than I realized and now I just had to give him time. He needed it, apparently, and I could give it to him. Lord knows he waited long enough for me. Now I could wait for him.

I just hope he didn't take too much time, if we were going to have a child together. But if I had waited too long, and lost our chance . . . I don't know. I didn't want to hurt Jacob like that; taking away his only opportunity to have a child if things didn't progressed shortly. I guess, I will have to take matters into my own hands; even more.

When Jake and I returned home, after class, we could tell something was wrong, seriously wrong. What was it?

The first thing that jumped to my mind was that the unknown vampire, that hid the woman's body among the ones donated to the teaching hospital, had left another body. But that could not be it.

Vampires needed to hunt at least once every 1 to 2 weeks. Almost Four weeks had passed since the body was discovered and no new unexplained bodies had shown up at the morgue or the teaching hospital. No unexplained murders or missing persons were mentioned on the news or in the papers either. My family had calmed down and began to relax assuming it must have been a passing nomad. But did we indeed let out guard down too soon?

"No that is not it, Renesmee," my father assured me. But then what was it that had everyone so upset? "It is Nahuel. We believe he has killed a young woman."

What? No! "He would not do that. He changed. You told me he changed."

No one had seen or heard from him in months. As far as anyone in the family knew he had been staying at the same motel we first discovered among the credit card charges two months ago.

"That is why we think it was Nahuel honey. That is where the body was found. Not just at the same motel he has been staying at . . . but in his own room. It's been all over the news today." My father responded.

"There has to be some mistake. There is no way Nahuel would ever do that."

"He has in the past. That is how he preferred to have his meals. Nessie. You know that. I told you he was too dangerous and you should have never been with him." Rose growled towards me. I knew she was just concerned for me, and the growl was not out of anger, and not really directed at me either.

"So this woman was . . ." no I didn't even to think it let alone say it.

"Yes, just like he used to do." My father answered.

"Hold on! I thought you told me he had changed his ways, permanently. I trusted Nessie with him because I believed you. What happened." Jake demanded of my father.

"I don't know. When vampires change it is permanent. Like you worried back then, since he is only a half-vampire, it apparently was not such a concrete change for him as I had thought."

"Gee, you think?" Jacob mocked him. He looked pissed, but he shouldn't be so upset. I'm fine and was never in any danger with Nahuel. He would never do anything like that to me or anyone else, anymore. I know he truly had changed. There had to be some mistake.

"What does he have to say about all of this? Did you even ask him?" I asked. My father could just read his mind and know he did not do this. Then everything would be cleared up.

"We have not been able to track him down yet. And currently the police are also trying to locate him. Luckily, the motel he was staying at was so cheap that there were no security cameras that captured his face, so they just have his name to go on. But it seems he was interrupted in the middle of . . . what he was doing, by a fire at some other part of the building. The authorities only found the woman's body in his room because they were checking on the motel's guests. According to the News her body was badly beaten and found crumpled on the bed," my father answered.

"But there was no mention of bite marks or open wounds, so he might not have gotten around to feeding. If that is the case he will still be hungry and another body may turn up soon," Uncle Jasper added in.

Uncle Emmett thought differently though, "Or they could have just left that out of the news report. Its kinda gross, for live TV, you know."

"The police are probably going to turn up here soon, if they trace the Credit Card account back to the Cullens." Jake at least looked like he had calmed down enough that he was no longer in danger of phasing right in the middle of the living room.

"I already took care of it," Uncle Jasper assured everyone. "No one will be linking the card to us." In times like this it was a good thing my family were experts at computers and hiding their tracks. And if there was anything that they were unable to do on their own, that was what we had J. Jenks for.

"But you don't know for certain it was him, do you? It could have been someone else, maybe he let a friend stay with him, or . . ." I could not believe he really did this.

"Renesmee, it's okay," my father gently assured me. "You don't need to worry. Nahuel is a vampire and most vampires drink human blood. What he did is nothing that is so horrible that we would need to take action. I can see that you think we might hunt him down and destroy him, for what he did, but that would be extreme at this time. We just want to find him to remind him to do this sort of thing further away from us."

"Alice I know you can't see him, but do you see anything that can help us locate Nahuel?" My mother's voice held little signs of hope, though.

"Hey, is this why we go to France?" Uncle Emmett wondered.

Aunt Alice looked for a few seconds, before coming back to the present. "Nope, this is not why we leave, I still see us here over the next few months, at least. But I think Nahuel kept the credit card. I see Jasper checking the statements online, he must still be using them, or at least will be soon."

Jasper disappeared for a second before reappearing with his laptop in hand. "There is no new activity on the card, yet. But I will monitor it until we get a hit. We will find him. Don't worry."

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Two weeks had past, and there was no word yet on Nahuel. Alice still saw Jasper finding something out by tracking his credit card, but nothing had turned up yet. It seemed to me like he might have changed his mind about using them, but Alice said her vision had not changed. We just needed to be more patient. But where was he living then?

The TV News channels and Newspapers seemed to drop the story of the dead woman, found in his motel room shortly after no additional information turned up and no new bodies were discovered. And thank goodness, Jasper was right and the police never showed up at our door. I wonder how he did that? They should have easily been able to track the credit card back to the Cullens bank account. But they didn't and there was no use in worrying over something that would never, most likely, happen.

I was worried about how all of this was affecting Nessie. I know she cared for, possibly even still loved him. And he had betrayed her. He left her. And murdered a woman, probably more than one. And who knows what he did to them before he killed them.

Nessie never seemed to want to talk to me about it. She just insisted, over and over again that it was not him, that he would not, could not, do something like that anymore. She had such blind faith in him. He did not deserve her. He didn't deserve her love, trust, or respect. He was a monster just like I thought. Just like I tried to warn her. And Edward. And Bella. Why wouldn't they listen to me? Well they do now, everyone besides the only one who really needed to - my Nessie.

Without even thinking I craned my neck forward and kissed the forehead of the sweet, too-trusting angel laying on my lap.

Nessie, Edward, and I all had the afternoon free and were just relaxing watching some old movie Edward picked. Well they were relaxing, I was worried about what would happen to Nessie when it was proved that Nahuel was the responsible party. It would crush her. She was such a loving, trusting soul. It was the reason I loved her, the reason I imprinted on her. But it was also the reason her life was put in danger. And I had been a _willing_ participant, letting her go off with him on their _dates_. Did I need to concentrate on protecting her - more, and trying to make her happy - less? Was I failing her?

Edward's head snapped up from the screen. "Finally!" he exclaimed.

What was going on? Before I could ask out loud he was already out the door.

"Come on Jake," Nessie said as she started pulling on my arm. "Let's go see what is going on."

We ended up abandoning the movie and since Edward disappeared so fast, and we didn't see where he went, we had to follow his scent to Nessie's Aunts' and Uncles' house. When we arrived Jasper was hunched over his laptop giving Edward an address.

"So should we bring some firewood or just break up whatever furniture we find there?" Emmett asked before seeing Nessie and I enter when he suddenly turned apologetic.

Apparently Nahuel had finally used his credit card and the Cullens now knew where he was.

"I think that is a bit extreme Emmett," Carlisle rejected his idea. "We need only to talk to him and remind him to hunt at a location further from our own."

"That wasn't the reason behind my suggestion. He left and hurt my Niece's feelings. I don't want him getting off too easy."

"You don't need firewood if all you are planning is to rough him up a bit." Edward admonished him and Nessie scowled.

"Uncle Emmett, don't you dare hurt him." Then she looked at the floor before she spoke again. "I'm actually glad he left me. He did me a favor. It wasn't working out between us anyway."

"Yeah, well, you should be the one to dump him, not the other way around."

"He didn't actually break up with her. Technically they are just taking some time apart." I reminded everyone.

"That is just a coward's way of ending things without having to actually go through an actual break up with someone." Emmett's words were apparently a revelation to Nessie.

"Really?" She genuinely seemed shocked. I guess she thought he was going to come back to her someday. I sort of did too after learning how possessive she thought he was of her. Perhaps it was just that Emmett called Nahuel a coward, but maybe he was right. But Nahuel _was_ still here, well in the area. "Then why has he not returned home to South America with his Aunt?" She questioned, echoing my thoughts.

"We don't know the reason he is staying around here, but we soon will. Don't worry Renesmee. We are only going to go and talk to him. Would you and Jacob like to come with us?"

"Actually, would you mind if Jake and I went by ourselves?"

Edward seemed to think about it for a few seconds before agreeing to Nessie's request. Actually she probably went over her reasons for just the two of us to go, in her mind.

"Jake," she turned to talk to me now, "is that okay?" Would you mind going with me? You don't have to, but I need talk to him and to officially end things between us. I could go with someone else if you didn't want to come."

Was she crazy? Like I would ever let her get within ten miles of him now, after learning he was back to his old ways, without me there. "Just let me know when you want to leave."

The crappy motel Nahuel had picked was more disgusting than I could believe actually existed in New Hampshire. There was trash and bugs lying everywhere, and I think I even saw a few rodents running around the building. The brick on the exterior was crumbling, and giant cracks ran from the roof down to the foundation.

But nothing prepared us for what awaited us when we knocked on the door to his room.

When Nahuel opened the door, his face turned to shock as he saw both of us standing there. Obviously, he hadn't realized we would track his credit card activity.

"Renesmee, what are you doing here, with . . ."

"Darling, could you hand me my bag to freshen up a bit first." We heard a female voice call from somewhere in the back, probably the bathroom.

HE WAS NOT ALONE!

Of course he wasn't. That was probably why he got the room in the first place. But the woman, whoever she was, was currently still alive, and in one piece. She must have just arrived shortly before us. Not that we stayed long enough to find out. As soon as Nessie heard the woman, she ran from the room and into the nearby woods. I ran after her after being sure to give Nahuel a warning growl, not to follow us. There was little point in attempting to save the woman. If he didn't kill her today it would just be someone else tomorrow. And Nessie wouldn't be happy with me killing him. Well maybe after this, she might. I could always go back later.

"Nessie." I called once I got to the woods, but she kept running.

"Renesmee, stop. Please." I called again. I could understand her not wanting to stay, but we drove here. The car was back at the motel. Was she really planning on running the entire way home?

After, my third attempt she finally slowed down enough that I was at least able to catch up with her. Eventually I got a bit in front of her and grabbed her in my arms, bringing us both to a stop.

She was sobbing into my arms, not saying anything. I pulled her up, so that I was holding her in my arms, just like I did when she was a baby. As I sat down right on the forest floor I just let her continue to cry. After about twenty minutes she finally stopped enough to talk, between tears.

"You were right," . . . sob, . . . "he's back to his old ways," . . . sob, . . . "I thought he had actually changed," . . . sob, . . . "I'm so stupid."

"Nessie, you're not stupid. You trusted him, and he betrayed that trust. You did not do anything wrong. He is not worth you crying over him. You're so much better than him."

"Well, at least he seems to have gotten over me and moved on." I could tell she was trying to joke, but I could also see how upset she still was.

"No, you are way too good for him. If he was smart and deserved you, he would never have been able to get over you, or let you go in the first place."

She just chuckled, into my shoulder, at my comment. Even if she didn't say anything, at least she wasn't crying anymore.

"How are you feeling? Do you think you're ready to go home?" I asked, to which she simply nodded.

"Come on, let's go then." I said, standing both of us up.

"Oh, I . . . crap! We need to go back to the motel to get the car." She huffed.

"Hmmm, do you want to wait at the edge of the forest and I can bring the car to you?"

"Jake . . . thanks." She nodded placing a kiss on my cheek.

After we drove home, and she had calmed down a bit more that all signs of her tears were gone, we walked through the front door. Edward came over to greet us.

"Nessie, Nahuel called. He said you were upset when you arrived at his room, but you didn't say anything before running off. He called to make sure you arrived home safely."

"Really? Did he happen to mention to you what he was doing, or about to do, that caused Nessie to run off?" I questioned, rather gruffly.

"No." He responded, ignoring my attitude. "His only purpose for calling was to make sure Nessie arrived home in one piece." He then turned to address Nessie. "So, what happened? What made you so upset?"

She didn't say a word, maybe she just thought about what she saw to him, but I gave him a run down in my mind of what we witnessed too.

"Well that is _unfortunate_. " He seethed through his teeth. A moment later it appeared like he had calmed down to talk again. "Are you alright?" After Nessie nodded Edward went on. "Nahuel also asked for you to call him," Edward said handing Nessie a small piece of paper, which I assume contained Nahuel's new phone number. "He is planning on remaining at his current accommodations at least for the next few weeks, but while I would advise against that now, it is entirely up to you. At least we can assume that he will be cleaning up after himself this time, if he plans on staying there."

"No, thanks," Nessie snipped, crumpling the paper in her hands and throwing it into a nearby trash can. She didn't say anything else just gave both of us a hug, before going into her room. A few seconds later I heard the shower turn on. I guess she needed some alone time.

"Look, I know it not my money and you can use it however you want, but have you ever thought of, oh, I don't know, Cancelling his credit card? Maybe he would leave then, without access to all of your unlimited funds."

"Jacob, if he is using the card it means we can keep tabs on him, and find him if needed. None of us are trackers and Alice can't see him. We need to know where he is, so we can have an idea of what he is up to. And if he wants to return home, he can buy a plane ticket."

Stupid, logical vampire thinking.


	47. Where Is He?

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Seven**

 **Where Is He?**

Renesmee's Point of View

Two Italian subs, heavy on the peppers, a tub of coleslaw, and another filled with potato salad, two bags of chips, a couple waters, one container of strawberries, and a blanket, all fit nicely into the picnic basket. Would Jake want anything else to eat, if he got hungry, while we were flying kites today? Just to be on the safe side I squeezed in a few candy bars.

Jake should be back from the store any minute now. I could not believe that with all of the sports equipment and camping gear, most if which was purely just to keep up the families cover, no one had ever bought a single kite.

"Okay, Nessie, I've got the kites, is the basket all packed?" Jake asked as he walked through the door a few minutes later.

"All set," this was a great idea. Jake and I could get away and do something new. I thought maybe things weren't progressing between the two of us because we were just doing the same old things we always did, over and over again. How was he ever going to see me differently if he only saw me doing the same old things we did day after day?

That and I needed to make up for what it must have done to him seeing me crying over Nahuel. Not that I was actually crying for him, or us. I was crying at myself, for my own stupidity. It was that I was so stupid to think he had really changed. It's not like I wanted Nahuel back, I was glad he was finally gone. I tried explaining all of this to Jacob that night, but I don't know how convincing I was. Hopefully today would be better; a new start.

After a short run in the woods we found an open clearing that would be perfect. I laid out the blanket, then we both started setting out the food we had prepared together last night, during my apology / break down.

Even though it was the beginning of December the cold didn't bother us, there was barely a light dusting of snow on the ground and the wind was perfect to get the kites high up into the air. Well, that was what Aunt Alice said, when she suggested we should go today.

After hearing Jakes stomach growl, I suggested eating first, to which he happily agreed. The food was pretty much for him anyways. I don't know how Nahuel could live off of this stuff. I tried and tried over the years and had found a few human foods I liked. The strawberries were acceptable, and I liked eggs and some other things but most human food was just inedible to me. I mean, I could eat it, but it just wasn't appetizing, at all.

I was snacking on the strawberries, while Jake happily devoured the rest of the food, when I got an idea. It was something stupid I had seen in a movie, one time, but it seemed to work for the actors. I quickly forced down all of the strawberries in the container, save one.

While popping the last one into my mouth I asked, "Hey Jake, do you want a strawberry?"

"Yeah sure, honey," he answered. Then looked at the empty container. "Err, why'd you ask if there's none left?"

I then gave him a huge smile so he could see the strawberry in my mouth and crawled over to where he was sitting. I pushed it with my tongue just enough so it was sticking half out, for him to bite.

He just looked at me and started chuckling before pinching the strawberry between his fingers and pulling it out of my mouth to eat it.

"Gross, Nessie slobber." He chuckled, while chewing it.

"Humph." I mumbled under my breath, probably too low for even him to hear.

"So are you ready to fly some kites, Nessie?" he asked me after swallowing the now pointless berry.

"Sure."

We had been at it for about 20 minutes. It was so much fun, I almost forgot about my failed strawberry kiss attempt when Jake's kite got snagged on a tree.

"I'll get it," he called as he began climbing the trunk. But I could see that the kite was up too high and the branches were too thin at the top, where the kite was stuck. There's no way they would support his weight.

"You know Jake," I called back, "maybe I should get it, I'm a lot lighter than you."

"Don't worry. I'll get it and be down in a minute." Just as I feared, twenty-three seconds later, there was a large cracking sound and the branch he was standing on snapped in half. The branch, the kite, and my Jacob all simultaneously fell 127.4 feet to the ground.

"Jacob!" I screamed, as I ran over to him. Was he hurt? Did he need an ambulance? Should I call 911? Did I even remember to bring my cell phone?

"Ouch," Jacob moaned as he slowly got up.

Oh, thank goodness. "Where are you hurt?"

"Don't worry, it's just my arm, but I think it's broken. We should run home quickly and find the Doc so he can reset it."

As soon as we got home, my father was in front of us. I'm sure he heard enough in both of our minds, that he knew what happened.

"Carlisle is at the hospital, but don't worry Jake. I can take care of this just as easily as he could. Come over here," he said, motioning Jake towards the couch.

He momentarily disappeared and then reappeared with some splints and something to wrap Jake's arm in. After a quick examination my father informed Jake that unfortunately, he would need to re-break his arm to set it correctly.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that," Jake winced.

I knew it must have been excruciatingly painful as my father worked, but Jake never made a sound. It looked like he wanted to scream out in agony. I could see it written all over his face, but using his other hand, he just gripped onto the back of the couch as tightly as he could.

And then I heard it. A snap! I worried that he had broken his hand, but soon realized that he had just snapped the back of the couch's support in half.

We would just need a new couch. That was easy enough to replace but I was not too sure how Aunt Alice or Grandma Esme will feel about it. After all they had just replaced this one a couple months ago.

"How exactly did this happen?" my father asked us after he finished resetting Jacob's arm. I mentally went through the events of the day, starting at the very beginning. When I got to the part about the strawberry, I could see my father pinching the bridge of his nose, but I'm pretty sure it was either to hide the grin that was forming on his mouth or to muffle the chuckle that was threatening to escape his lips. Weird. I thought he would have been upset.

"Well," my father said, as he regained his composure, "your arm should be fine in a few days, Jacob. But, perhaps you should leave the kite flying alone for a little while. I'll get some morphine for the pain."

….

Two weeks later, after his arm fully healed Jake and I went back to working on his '62 Ferrari that he and Aunt Rose rebuilt. Well, I had helped, but they did most of the work. It was almost done and looked amazing. He painted it red, just like the Rabbit, but this was shinny and looked just like it would have when it was brand new; it was incredible. Jake was an artist not only with wood and engines, but bodywork, and paint, and leather, too.

While we were still in the garage, putting some finishing touches on his car . . . Nahuel returned. He apparently just strolled into the house, no advanced warning, no phone call, no e-mail, nothing. My father nearly bit his head off, literally, before he even got to our front door. Not that I was there to see it, but Aunt Rose was and she seemed to enjoy telling me, just a little too much.

She came to the garage and told Jake and me the news shortly after Nahuel's arrival. She mentioned how my father had, of course, heard him coming a few miles before he even got close to the house. But he didn't want to lose track of Nahuel again (or scare him off). It had been weeks since any of us last talked to him, or had even seen him, for that matter.

We had heard on the news last week that another body had been found. It was a young woman, of course, but this time Nahuel had at least attempted to get rid of her body in the dumpster behind the motel. He might have been successful, had the garbage truck, that was suppose to empty the dumpster that morning, not been so overloaded that half of the trash, including the woman's body, had fallen out. The discovery was really a freak accident, but Uncle Jasper discovered that Nahuel checked out and went back on the run soon after. He had not checked into a new motel yet, so we weren't sure where he was, until he showed up at the house today.

No one, well except Jacob and me, were really mad that he was not sticking to his human diet, or even the families vegetarian diet, for that matter. Yes the loss of life was upsetting, but he was a half-vampire after all, it was not so much inevitable, but understandable to them. It was the risk he was putting himself, and us in, that really bothered everyone.

"So what is he doing here?" I asked my aunt.

"Does he have a death wish?" Jacob chuckled. I didn't think that was very funny.

"Don't know, maybe." She laughed back. "I didn't stay long. He pissed me off, trying to convince Edward that the bodies that keep turning up at his motels weren't his. He claims he is being set up. Like anyone would believe that. He actually came here looking for our help."

"What?" Really? I knew it.

"Nessie, he's lying." Jake said, responding to the hopeful look on my face. "He's been lying to us this entire time. He never changed. I don't know how he fooled your father into believing he had, but he did."

"But why would he lie? It's not like we didn't know what his preferred diet was."

"It's not just his diet honey, remember." Like I would ever forget what he would do with . . . _to_ the women beforehand. "It was the only way to get you. He knew there was no way I, or anyone in the family, would ever let him get close to you if he didn't." Jacob growled.

"He only ate human food when he was with us. He didn't even hunt animals." This didn't make sense.

"You weren't with him 24/7. He could have been sneaking out, feeding on humans all along."

"Then why didn't any other bodies turn up before?"

"He's just had some bad luck recently. You saw how he had a woman at the motel a few weeks ago." Jake argued, but I wasn't buying it.

"I don't know. I'm going to go talk to him. Something is not right."

Jacob moved in front of me, placing his arms on my shoulders, while trying to talk me out of going. "Renesmee, he's not worth distressing yourself over."

"I need to know the truth. Either come with me or get out of my way, Jake."

"Come on then." He said with a huff, releasing my shoulders but kept a protective arm around my waist, while moving slightly to the side, so he could walk next to me, back up to the house. It was not like he would ever really stand in my way.

"Renesmee!" Nahuel exclaimed as Jake and I entered the house. "I am so glad to see you, again. I was so worried after you ran off, at the motel. You never called me. I have talked to your father and it seems you all have been under the impression I have been recklessly feeding from humans once again. But I have assured Edward that this is untrue."

"It seems we jumped to conclusions and were wrong about him, Renesmee," my father agreed.

Aunt Rose had stayed in the garage, my mother and Uncle Jasper were at school and my grandfather was at the hospital, but Grandma Esme, Aunt Alice, and Uncle Emmett were in the room with us as well. They all looked like they believed him.

"Then who was the woman at the motel?" Jacob growled softly beside me.

"That was my sister."

His sister? But I had met Jennifer, I knew her voice, even if I did not see her, whoever was in the bathroom was not Jennifer.

"No it was not her," my father cleared up my confusion. "It was one of his other sisters, Maysun."

"Jennifer told her where I was staying. Normally she is the only sister I stay regularly in contact with, but I enjoy Maysun's company as well, from time to time. I am sorry if I caused you any confusion or undue stress, but you ran off before I could explain."

I knew it, I knew he really had changed. "I'm sorry. It was just a shock and I jumped to the wrong conclusions."

"It's alright, I understand how you may have thought that. Now that you are here, I was wondering if I may talk with you, in private?"

"Jacob, let her go," my father warned, as Jake's grip tighten around me. "She'll be alright."

"Come on, let's go for a walk in the woods, behind the house." I said to Nahuel, before reassuring Jake that I would meet up with him later. I needed to talk to Nahuel ALONE. He didn't seem happy, but I agreed to stay where my father could hear me and he assured me he would not to follow us.

Nahuel and I talked . . . and talked . . . and talked.

Hours later, when we were done, I went and found Jacob, like I had promised. He had made his way back into the garage and was continuing to work on his car. I didn't realize there was anything left to do on it. I thought we had finished it this morning, but he had taken apart the muffler and was doing _something_ with it.

"Jake?"

"Hey." He responded, but didn't look up from what he was doing. I knew he was upset, but he didn't need to be. "So . . . you and Nahuel are back together then. I heard the _good_ news about him. Esme stopped by to bring me some lunch, and she mentioned that he was moving back into the guest room." Jake seethed as he threw the wire brush he was using back into the toolbox. But he used to much force that not only the brush but many of the other tools flew out and across the room.

"Well, yes and no," I said cautiously.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Jake questioned with more anger than he had ever used when speaking to me before.

"Well . . . yes, Nahuel is moving back in, but no we are not back together. And we won't be, EVER," I tried to stress, while not seeming upset myself. How many times did I have to go through this with Jake? "I'll tell you all about it later, but for now we need to go to my Grandparents house. Another family meeting was called."

"Wait," Jacob said as he jumped up and grabbed my arm as I was turning to leave for my grandparents house, "Can we talk first, please." All hints of anger were now gone from his voice.

"Jake, they're waiting for us."

"Let them wait. It will only take a moment. What did you mean; you and Nahuel not being together anymore?"

"Well, after he apologized for not coming back earlier to let me know of his decision regarding the future of our relationship, it was agreed that we were not right for each other.

Jake just stood there, not saying a word. Mentally I promised myself that I would tell him everything . . . later.

"Come on, we have to go."

….

Jacob's Point of View

"What is this meeting about, exactly?" I questioned no one in particular. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go finish the conversation I started with Nessie. I hated these "family meetings". And the fact that Nahuel seems to be the one who called this one, or at least is the reason behind it, pissed me off even more.

Everyone was sitting around the dining room table, well the table. We were actually in the Doc and Esme's living room since Nahuel had turned the dining room into a greenhouse, and Esme liked the flowers so it was never switched back, but whatever. I still didn't want to be here. Looking around the table I didn't think anyone else really did either. At least I was not alone in my opinion of Nahuel. For now, anyway.

Bella, Jasper and Carlisle had returned from school and were not brought up to date on Nahuel's innocence claims yet. And Rose, like myself did not believe him anyway.

"As you know there have been several bodies found in the area close to the Motels I have been staying at." Nahuel began. "I need you to know that I am not responsible for them. I was not the one who caused their deaths."

"Wait? What do you mean _several_? We only heard about two on the news." Esme questioned.

"There were three others. Two additional bodies were placed in my room sometime while I was out and another I located at the edge of the woods by the Motel. Those I was able to dispose of without anyone finding out."

"How are there three victims out there that we know nothing about? Wouldn't someone have reported them missing?" Bella asked.

"They were. They just were not from around here. They were from all along the east coast, from here down to Florida." Edward answered.

"Before getting rid of the bodies I found their wallets and did a bit of research," Nahuel added. "As far as I can tell they all disappeared over the past eight months."

"So you are trying to make us believe that a vampire abducted these women and held them for months, before finally deciding to feed from them and then dumping them on your doorstep. Who would even be capable of doing such a thing, and why?" Bella questioned. It appeared he had not convinced her as easily as he had her husband.

"The 'why' I am not certain, exactly, but the 'who' I believe I can answer. I believe it was Joham, my father."

"Why do you believe he was behind this?" the Doc asked.

"He was careful not to leave his scent on the bodies, but I could still detected the faintest hint of it on the last body. It was so soft I could not place it at first and I probably would not have made the connection with him if Maysun had not visited me earlier. She is not as devious as Joham, or my oldest sister, Serena, but she never visits without some ulterior motive from my father. While she never mentioned him, the timing just seems too coincidental.

There is one other thing, but I am less certain of it. I believe I glimpsed Serena across the main lawn at Dartmouth the day I visited there with Renesmee and Jacob. I only saw her from across the main yard, and I didn't catch her scent, or my father's, or any other of my sisters'. I was not sure at the time, but I am almost positive now."

So that was what was wrong with him that day. I knew he seemed out of it. At the time I thought he was overwhelmed by all of the humans, or the largeness of the university. Back then I was worried about him overhearing Rob's comments about Nessie and me, but he never reacted back then. I guess this explains it at least.

"Whatever he is up to, it seems he has been planning it for months, and nothing he does is ever good." Nahuel actually seemed nervous. "He might be trying to send the Volturi after me, possibly as payback for me doing it to him first five years ago."

"But you don't really know it was him, or what he is actually up too. It's just your stupid theory, and not a very good one at that. You have no actual evidence to back this claim up? You could have made all this up to cover up your incompetence" Rose snipped.

"I am afraid I can only give you my word that it was not me. But please believe me I could really use your help."

"Of course, you came to our aid we needed it." The doc said, referring to the _incident_ with the Volturi I assumed. "We will do what we can. I am not sure how effective we will be," he sighed. "Alice I am assuming you cannot see Joham, if he is with his daughters?"

It looked like Alice tried to see . . . something, but came up empty.

"Sorry. I'll keep checking, maybe he will make some decision when he is alone."

"Well, at least, with all of us around, no more bodies should turn up here. Nahuel, do you think you can contact one of your sisters and ask them if they will meet with us? It would be nice to at least try and get some answers as to why he is doing this to you."

"You really think they are going to agree to come here?" I asked. What if Joham came here too? I didn't really like the idea of him anywhere near Nessie. Not that she would ever be left alone.

"They have nothing to fear from us. And Jennifer has already been here once and can attest to that. Nahuel are they aware of Edward's gift?" Jasper would want to suss out any weak spots on our part.

"Yes, Jennifer and I would often talk about all of you. I was not trying to compromise any of you, I just wanted to help her get to know you all, when Renesmee and I became . . ." He trailed off and actually gave me an apologetic look.

"Yes, well . . . why don't we start with her." Jasper offered. "She has already been here, she knows us, and Nahuel, you are most comfortable with her out of all your sisters. If Joham is behind this, she might know something."

"I doubt it. If she knew what he was doing she would have warned me."

"He may not have told her his plan, but she may be aware of something that can help us, that she is not even aware she knows." Carlisle theorized.

"Does he even have some devious plan, like you seem to assume?" Emmett questioned. "Can't he just be feeding and leaving the bodies for you to deal with instead of him? Maybe he's just lazy."

"That's right." Alice joined in on his train of thought. "It's not like its dozens and dozens of bodies that are turning up. Those woman could have been up here for a number of reasons, going to school being one of them. It seems unlikely Joham held them for months on end. Let's not jump to crazy conclusions."

"Yeah, maybe he thought it would be funny leaving the bodies in your room." Emmett chuckled.

"Why not ask Maysun. If she just visited Nahuel a few weeks ago, she is possibly still in the area, especially if she is with Joham. And he trusts her more than Jennifer. She would be more likely to know his plan, if there is one, or if this is just some stupid joke." Nessie offered.

I had to admit, Emmett's theory made more sense that Nahuel's. Well not all of it. I doubt Joham was just lazy or a prankster. I am sure there was a reason, but it seemed highly unlikely it was as bad as Nahuel was making it out to be.

If Joham wanted Nahuel dead, like he assumed, he could just easily kill him, himself. I don't think he would need to draw the Volturi down on him. Or us. Maybe that was it?

Was Joham trying to take us out, like the Volturi had before? Was he trying to start a war between us? Get us so _offended_ by Nahuel's behavior that we try to kill him. And then Joham, and his family would come to defend their son and brother? But what could one Vampire and three half breeds do against all of us? That couldn't be it. I guess we did really need more answers.

Nahuel called Jennifer, but she was back home, and had been for over three months, ever since she left us. She did mention that Maysun was currently with Joham, but was not sure about their whereabouts, nor did she have any knowledge of any devious plans he had.

The phone number she had for her sister was no longer in service. And the place Jennifer thought her father and sister were staying at was empty and had not looked lived in for some time. Whatever was going on, things were starting to look more and more suspicious.

At least after the family meeting was over, Nessie and I went to our special place by the birch trees, in the woods, behind the house, to talk . . . finally.


	48. Finally

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Eight**

 **Finally**

Jacob's Point of View

It was Christmas eve and we were actually celebrating the holiday, this year. It was Nessie's idea. I don't think anyone in the family would suggest it, knowing how she reacted in the past. But she wanted to try. And I knew she would be fine. She was so much older now. Well . . . mentally older. I know I, and everyone else, had thought Nessie had the mental equivalence of an adult by the time she was one, and that was true when referring to book smarts. Esme had also tried to give her as much in the way of life experience as she could cram in. But some things just could not be taught, they needed to be lived. Granted five years was not the 18 to 20 most humans got to be considered an adult, but she looked like she was about 21, and was now dealing with the ups and downs of life much the way a human adult would. In the past she would take weeks to months to process unpleasant events or ideas. The incident with the Volturi took years for her nightmares to decimate. I think that her wanting to at least attempt to celebrate this holiday was a wonderful sign. And I was looking forward to celebrating it too. Everyone was.

Not only were we celebrating, but we were expecting guests. Charlie and Sue Swan were due to arrive soon. Along with Sue's children and my Pack mates, Leah and Seth. None of them had mentioned that they were coming until a day ago. Due to Leah and Seth hanging out with their mom and Charlie I amazingly found out on my last Skype call before Alice even saw anything.

It was actually funny watching Alice turn into _Scary Alice_ when I told the family something she did not already know. Well not the whole family. Nessie, Bella and Edward joined me on the call with Leah. Charlie had planned on calling Bella personally later that day but Leah beat him to the punch, not that he minded, so all was good.

Bella and Edward had taken a couple of cars and were at the airport right now picking them all up. Leah had also mentioned that they had some big news they needed to share in person. I couldn't imagine what it was that they could not tell us over the phone.

Emmett, being Emmett, of course had jumped to the least likely, most ridiculous possibility, that Sue was pregnant. Of course that made it almost impossible for Jasper to not jump at the chance to make a bet with him for some equally ridiculous scenario – that Leah was the one who was pregnant. I warned them that that was a touchy subject for her and not to even hint at the possibility when she got here. I hope they don't say anything. She didn't like the Cullens as it was, and couldn't imagine her coming here, if whatever Charlie and Sue were planning on telling us, wasn't extremely important. That being said, the four of them turned down our offer to stay in the guests rooms and had instead decided to book some rooms at one of the local hotels.

I guess that it was better this way, I mean everyone was more than willing to accommodate them, but Seth and Leah were werewolves. The Cullens had gotten use to my aroma over the years, but I mostly stayed in a few areas of the house: my room, the kitchen, living room, movie room, and of course the garage. I tried not to go "infect" more of the houses than I needed to. It just made it easier for everyone. No one ever said anything and it was not like there were places I wasn't allowed. And I wouldn't just walk into their bedrooms, but if I needed to go somewhere other than the places I frequented often, I would. And they did the same for me. None of them ever came into Nessie's and my bedroom, well Bella and Edward did on occasion, but even then they tried to just hover in the doorway - certain incidents excluded.

When everyone arrived from the airport I could tell by the slightly troubled looks on their faces that something was up. Not wrong, exactly. Just . . . I'm not sure what. I guess whatever the _big news_ was it wasn't happy news.

But regardless, I was happy to see Seth and Leah again. It had been too long.

"So anybody want to tell us what's going on?" I asked them point blank after some quick greetings, but before even letting them get settled. There is no point in sidestepping the issue. I was gonna find out eventually, may as well get it over with.

"Jacob, you and Nessie might want to sit down for this first. They have a lot to tell you." Bella said.

Did Edward pick it out of their brains or had they already told them, themselves?

"A little of both." Edward answered my thoughts.

Was it that important? I started to run through a list of worst case scenarios. Did something happen? Did someone die? Was the Vampire threat at La Push starting up again? Was something wrong with Billy? My mind was reeling. What could have happened? I had been gone for years. I know I Skyped at least once a week with them but I should have kept in contact more. I was there alpha, their leader. It was my job to protect them.

"Easy Jacob, it's nothing like that, why don't you just let them explain everything to you, before you start over reacting." Edward tried to reassure me.

"Okay guys what's going on?" I questioned again after a deep breath, as Seth, Leah, Nessie and myself settled down on the couch, in the living room. Charlie and Sue went off with Bella and Edward to some other part if the house. Whatever was going on, Charlie looked like he was working hard not to pass out. "We're sitting, start talking."

"Jake, man," Seth started, "it's nothing bad. It's actually awesome when you think about it."

"Think about what, Seth? You haven't told us anything yet."

"I finally imprinted." He said with a huge grin on his face.

Really? Who could it have been and why did that freak Charlie out? I know Seth met everyone from our tribe and the Makah tribe. Not another baby, I worried. Imprinting on Nessie was wonderful, but I knew it would be a lot easier for Seth if he found someone closer to his own age.

"Who's the lucky young lady?" Nessie questioned.

"Jake do you remember Carol Price?"

"Barely." I turned and asked Leah, "wasn't she one of your friends?"

"Yeah, sort of. She's actually a few years older than me. She's been away at college for years now. She left home, ages ago, to get her bachelor's degree and then her masters. This winter break was one of the first times she's been back to La Push since starting school. She's going for her PhD. in Sociology when the school year starts again in January."

Wow. Wait, how old was she? As if Seth was anticipating my question, probably from the look on my face, he answered, "She just turned 27. She's been away at school for almost ten years now. It's taken her awhile since she's been working her way through, trying to pay for it as she goes. But it's gonna be worth it. She is so smart and talented. She just transferred to the University of New Hampshire so I'm moving here with her. Isn't that great? We're gonna be neighbors again. And Leah is staying too."

"That is wonderful news." Nessie exclaimed. "Jake, won't it be great to have your Pack back together."

"Well, it will only be me," Leah said, "since Carol is already older than Seth, he is going to give up being a wolf so he can start aging with her."

Seth looked a bit nervous, probably about how I would react to the news, but there was no need. "That sounds like the right decision, I'm happy for you, Seth. But does this mean Quil is going to be all alone with Sam's pack?"

Embry was still in Texas, watching over Colleen, mostly as a wolf, just like I feared. He still checked in about once a month like I asked him to, but things didn't seem to be improving for him, or her, or any of them.

"Well, we kind of wanted to talk to you about that, Leah said. "Quil was thinking of joining _Jared's_ pack if you didn't have any objections."

"Jared's Pack?" Nessie seemed shocked at the news. I knew Sam and Paul were planning to retire, I guess it had finally happened, which Seth quickly confirmed.

I wondered how long that was going to last though. How long was Jared planning on staying a wolf? I mean he first passed, just like me, when he was 16, and then a few months later looked 25 just like the rest of us wolves. While he and Kim are technically the same age he probably still looked a few years older than her. Which wouldn't be a problem right now, but I heard she got into medical school, or something. We're they really going to wait another 8 or more years to get married and for him to stop phasing and start aging? It wasn't like it was my call, or anything. It was his life and could do whatever he wanted with it, just like Quil could.

"No, of course not; Quil can do whatever he wants." I know he needed to stay there for Claire. And he got along fine with Jared. "So does this mean we should start making room for you guys here?" I questioned. I know Seth didn't have a problem with the way the Cullen's smelt, but Leah was another matter entirely.

"No way. Carol, Seth and I are going to get a house by her school. I'd rather listen to the two of them humping all night, then have to put up with the smell here. Err . . . no offense, Nessie."

Humping? Seth? Really? It was a little strange to hear. I always thought of Seth as a little kid, but I guess he wasn't any more. He was 20 after all. So I guess it was possible, normal even. Where had the time gone though?

"So where is this _Carol?_ " Nessie asked, ignoring Leah's rudeness, I guess she was used to it by now. "Are we ever going to meet her?"

"Honestly guys, it might take some time. She was good enough with the whole wolf news, she was familiar with the tribal legends from when she was younger. The Vampire part kind of freaked her out and she didn't want to really come here. Sorry." Seth apologized looking down at his feet.

"No, that's okay. I completely understand. If you want you can bring her over when she is ready. And if she never is, then that's fine too. I wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable." Nessie said. She's always so forgiving. It was really sweet of her. But what Seth said next threw me for a loop, Nessie too.

"She kind of freaked out about the whole vampire thing and that you," he said looking over to Nessie, "were who our friends were, and who we were coming to visit. She was still freaking out when Charlie came home and he heard everything. So the secret is kinda out of the bag. I'm really sorry that he found out about the whole vampire, . . . family, . . . Bella, . . . thing."

"Seth, that was not your fault. He pretty much knew already. Just no one ever said the exact words to him." Nessie said trying to relieve some of his guilt. And I agreed. He did not need to deal with that. He found his imprint and they were together. This should be a happy time for him.

"How is he doing?" Nessie asked.

"Well . . . he just found out yesterday, and so far so good. I think. He's still a bit freaked out, but he's dealing."

"Um, so Jake, we actually have some things we need to talk to you about. Pack stuff, you know. Mind if we phase to get this done quickly?" Leah asked breaking the now slightly tense mood in the room.

"Nessie? Do you mind?" I asked her. I didn't want to just abandon her.

"No, yeah go, of course." She said almost pushing me out the back door. She knew how long it had been since I talked to anyone as a wolf and I was glad she understood. I wonder what they needed to talk to me about that it was so urgent that it could not wait though.

"I'm going to go find Grampy Charlie and Sue, and see how's he's handling everything," she said before taking off upstairs.

As we were undressing in the back yard, Seth said something right before he phased that confused me. "So, you and Nessie are finally together." But he didn't ask it as if it was a question. He said it as if it was a statement, like it was a fact.

Once we were phased, he could clearly see in my mind that he was mistaken, but why did he even think that?

" _Oh. They're not together."_ Seth thought to himself. But Leah and I could hear him, of course, with the shared wolf telepathy. But then I also saw, in her mind, that Leah had been thinking the same thing.

" _Wait, what was going on back in the house? You guys were all over each other."_ Leah wondered.

After Nahuel had returned, a few days ago, Nessie and I talked that night, about US. How she was no longer with him, and would not be ever again. She made it clear that she loved me, but I don't think it had turned into a romantic love yet.

I thought back to when she looked about 13, and we had the infamous movie night, kissing fiasco, but it was more of a school girl crush. She had gotten over it, and me back then, and moved on to Nahuel. As far as I could tell she went back to thinking of me just as her friend and protector.

" _What are you two talking about? We were just sitting on the couch like we always do. She just thinks of me as her big brother."_

" _Trust us Jake, no she doesn't. There's no way Seth and I would ever act like that."_ Leah responded.

" _Yeah dude, you were sitting on the couch, but she was sitting in your lap, and stroking your arm, and leg, the entire time. Didn't you even notice?"_ he asked while showing me a replay of everything he saw. _"And you were just as bad, you had your nose buried in her hair and you were rubbing her back the whole time we talked, never mind the way the two of you were gushingly looking at each other."_

" _Seriously, Jake, I was trying to hold back the vomit. Get your head out of your ass and do something. She's clearly waiting for you. And I don't know how much more obvious she can make it."_ Leah added.

" _Oh!"_

I think after their revelation, they must have given up on whatever they had planned on telling me, or else I was so out of it I didn't hear anything. I spent pretty much the remainder of the day in a daze, thinking over not only what Seth and Leah had shown me and everything that had happened between Nessie and myself over the past year, well longer than that actually. Had I really missed the signs? Was Nessie waiting for me to make some sort of first move?

When we went to our bedroom that night I asked Nessie if she would like me to brush her hair. It had been hours since my talk with Seth and Leah, but I still needed some time to think and with her hair being so long, lush, and curly that would give me the time I needed before getting into bed with her.

As she sat in front of the mirrored dressing table in our room, I went to grab her hair brush. Where was it? A second later I noticed it half hiding under the copy of _Les Liaisons dangereuses_ that Jasper had suggested I read.

As I brushed, I thought. And as I thought, Seth and Leah's assumptions slowly started to become understandable. Nahuel's jealousy even started to make sense. Actually everything did.

I was brushing Nessie's hair for . . . I don't know how long, just in a daze. Eventually . . . slowly . . . it dawned on me. This beautiful creature, who was sitting in front of me, patiently letting me brush her hair, loved me. Truly loved me, the way I loved her and on top of that, actually wanted ME. How could I have been so blind?

After a while, I don't know how long, I put the brush back down on the book. That book! Oh My God! Thinking back over it, right now, I didn't know if I loved or hated that book. Everyone in the family must have known. The whole, entire family. That must have been why Jasper suggested I read it in the first place.

At the time I wasn't sure what he had been thinking, I only had just begun learning French, I couldn't read an entire book in the language, it was taking me forever, and that was with a lot of help from Nessie. Luckily Esme had mentioned the 1988 Glen Close movie. After watching it, it made the book a little easier to understand. But it was a little awkward to watch and read with Nessie, It seemed an odd choice for Jasper to suggest back then. We had to have had other books in the house written in French.

But some of the parallels in it were just two close. That had to have been why Jasper gave it to me in the first place. Essentially a written smack across my head to knock some sense into me. And it explained Edwards comment he made to me later that night, about me "getting out of my own way". He was expecting this. Waiting for this, for me . . . me and Nessie.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

Jacob was currently brushing my hair, I loved when he did this. His thoughts appeared far away though. I wondered what he was thinking about? A lot was said today.

Seth imprinted, and was giving up his wolf, he and Leah were moving out here, Quil was joining Jared's Pack and my Grampy Charlie found out the family secret. Poor Charlie. He seemed so out of sorts when I went up to talk to him with Sue and my mother and father. I had walked into the middle of the conversation the four of them were in. From what I could gather it seemed like Seth, Leah, Sue and even Billy all had tried talking to him already, back in La Push. When he found out that all of his friends and family already knew about us he seemed more upset about that than anything, well almost. But he was the one who came up with the whole "need to know" rule that we were following. So he really couldn't be that upset, could he?

Maybe Uncle Jasper could come and calm him down a bit?

"That would not be a permanent solution Nessie." My father had answered me.

"Huh? What's not a solution?" my Grampy seemed confused.

"Nessie thought Jasper might be able to help you," he replied.

"Help me how? I didn't even hear her say anything."

"She didn't. Um, Charlie what I am about to tell you might sound a bit strange."

"Stranger than you turning my daughter into a Vampire?" Grampy seemed pissed. At least he wasn't scared, I guess.

"Well no, probably not, but it has to do with that, in a way. Some of us acquire special abilities, gifts we like to think of them, when we are transformed into what we are, now. I have one of those, such gifts. The ability to read minds. Your Daughter and Granddaughter have gifts as well. As well as Alice and Jasper. Jasper can sense and manipulate emotions. But only when he is in the vicinity of the person, so Nessie's idea to have him help you relax would only be a temporary solution. You have received life altering news and, in truth, need to deal with it on a more permanent level."

"Dad, don't be mad at Edward, I knew what I was getting myself into. Your knew that. Remember the first day you saw me after Edward's and my honeymoon, when you first met Renesmee, we went through all of this?"

"Yup, I know," he relented with a sigh, "it's just a bit different now that I _really_ know the truth."

"But you know I am truly happy, right?"

"I don't see how, isn't it weird having him read your mind all the time, I'm creeped out just thinking about it."

"Actually I cannot read your daughters mind. It is part of her gift, which she got from you. I am only able to get bits and pieces from your mind. More like impressions, and a few stray words here and there. No complete thoughts or sentences though."

That was a shock, apparently for everyone in the room. Well, my mom looked like she was working hard to remember if she had already known this, back when she was human. I knew she, and all vampires, had trouble remembering the majority of their human lives.

"I thought you said you got your freaky powers when you became a vampire, last time I checked I wasn't one."

"No, but our gifts are present when we are still human, just less intense. I was never able to read Bella's mind when she was human either, but now, she can do so much more than just block me. She is truly amazing," my father gushed with adoration in his eyes and voice as he looked over at my mother.

"Well, that's . . . interesting." My grandfather huffed. "So that's why this one," he said, gesturing to me, "grows so fast, then? How old are you now, anyway? Last time I saw you, it was at my and Sue's wedding, you looked like you were ten or eleven years old back then, and that was four years ago. I guess I never really noticed that much on those video call things. You're all grown up now."

"Renesmee is around twenty-one, dad," my mother answered for me.

"Twenty-one, huh? It's a little weird. She kinda looks older than you Bells, no offence," he said apologetically to me.

"Vampires stop aging at whatever age they were changed." My father answered him. "I will always look 17, while your daughter will forever appear as this beautiful 18 year old. Renesmee is only a half-vampire so she will continue to age quickly, until she has been alive for seven years. Then she will become frozen, like us. We believe she won't appear much older than she does now, at that time."

"Huh. I think I'm gonna need a beer. Sue you want one too? Hey there, since you're 21 now, you want one too, Nessie?"

I think he was being sarcastic, so I answered back with a chuckle, "I don't drink alcohol, Grampy. Just blood."

"Blood?" He turned white as a ghost. Hadn't Sue, Billy and the wolves told him that part about us?

"Apparently they glossed over it." My father answered my thoughts, before reassuring my grandfather. "We don't drink human blood, Charlie. Only that from animals."

"Just animals?"

"That's right, dad." My mother reassured him. "I would never want this life if it meant I had to kill humans."

After a while Grampy Charlie calmed down, we talked more about the families vegetarian lifestyle, the need for him never to tell anyone the truth about us, and _eventually_ we were able to discuss our plans for Christmas.

It had been such a long day though. I was so glad Jake suggested this. I needed a little time to decompress before going to sleep. And it looked like he did too.

He seemed to be moving the brush absentmindedly through my hair as he thought through things. I hope he was okay. After forty-two minutes Jacob seemed to unconsciously switched from brushing my hair to rubbing my shoulders. It felt amazing and I instantly relaxed. I had not even known I was so tense, but Jake must have. Our imprint was always leading him in things like that.

Seth's news had come as quite a shock, but I didn't realize it had affected him so much. Maybe it was something else, possibly whatever the Pack news was that the three of them talked about as wolves, but he didn't mention anything. Then again, he did seem different once he phased back.

"I'm so happy for Seth", I said with a smile, looking up at Jake through the mirror, and breaking the silence. Neither one of us had said anything since we came back to our bedroom for the night. Not that it was an uncomfortable silence, I just wanted to find out what Jake was thinking about, and needed to start the conversation somehow.

Seth was the nicest guy I knew, well besides my Jacob. He deserved all the happiness in the world.

"Yeah, me too." Jake sort of smiled back. But I could tell he still was not really here. His hands started moving up and down my arms, not really rubbing them, it was more like a caress. He rarely consciously touched me like this, not for long anyway. It felt so good.

I wonder? I wanted to try something.

"Too bad though, I kinda wished that if we had a little girl, he could imprint on her." I mused and then held my breath waiting for his response.

"Well, maybe we'll have a boy and Leah could. I know she can be a bit temperamental at times, but an imprints love can work magic."

Wow! He WAS different tonight. Almost like we were already together like a normal couple planning our future family together. I decided to press things even more. He hadn't stopped stroking my arms, or caught himself, as if what he said was inappropriate in any way. Every time in the past, I had tried something like this he had. Was he finally ready?

"So when are we having this little boy or girl?" I smirked, trying to hid my nerves.

"Huh?" I could see him come out of his daze, at the same time he realized what his hands were doing. He went to move them away, but I grabbed them and held them tight while turning myself around to look him in the eyes.

"Jacob?" I whispered before rising up and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. I had kissed him there, many times before, but this time it felt different. I think he was ready. I kissed his cheek again. Then slowly caressed it with my own, sliding down till my lips met his. I gave him a little peck. He didn't move away, but didn't kiss me back either. But, much to my delight, he also didn't freeze or back away, and I think I saw a small smile begin to form.

Hmmm? One more try.

"Jake?" I smiled, giving him one more peck on the lips. I was so nervous and excited, but just hoped I wasn't shaking too much, I needed to stay calm.

"Renesmee, I . . . um . . ." He didn't look upset, or embarrassed, like he had when I tried things in the past. He seemed . . . I'm not sure. Just a little more . . .

"Would you like to start right now?" I smirked raising my eyebrows to him. He actually started to chuckle at my suggestion, and not the kind he did when he thought something was farfetched and ridiculous. He sounded like he was enjoying the idea.

"Maybe, but not here. I don't think Edward would appreciate us doing that anywhere near where he could hear us." He chuckled again. He actually chuckled. It was soft, but it was there.

"Finally!" I exclaimed. "I love you so much, my Jacob." I jumped up and gave him a huge hug. Then I pulled back a bit, yet still embracing him, but I needed to check and make sure he was not freaking out or had changed his mind.

When I looked at him I saw he was still smiling. Thank goodness.

Our lips were inches apart, now. So close, yet not touching. I wanted to kiss him more, really kiss him, not just a tiny little peck. I wanted to truly kiss him, now, more than I have ever wanted anything in my entire life.

I inched my face forward, never taking my eyes off of his, closing the small gap and I pressed my lips to his. Part of me was terrified that I had moved too fast, that I was going to scare him away. But instead he started to kiss me back. Our lips and arms, our whole bodies actually, fit effortlessly together. This first real kiss was as magically as I dreamed it would be.

After a minute we broke apart and Jake smiled bigger than I had ever seen. "I love you too, sweetheart. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. Can you forgive me."

"Jake, I am the one who should be asking you to forgive me. I screwed everything up between us for so long. I . . . am . . . so . . . sorry."

"Renesmee you have nothing to be sorry about. We are fine, and can only be better . . . closer, moving forward."

"I have been waiting for so many years, I can't believe you are finally ready for US. I'm so glad tonight didn't end up like all the others" I sighed with relief.

"Huh? What do you mean honey?" his eyebrows shot up in bewilderment.

"Oh, well . . . I hope you don't get mad, but . . . um . . . I have been slipping in suggestive comments, or comments that could be taken a certain way, depending on how you looked at them, for the past couple of years. Along with watching your reactions to others, err . . . comments and observations, I have been trying to gauge whether or not you were ready for me, for us. Up until today you would freeze and back away, or simply not even notice, depending on who it was that said something. Sometimes it was as if you would become almost scared of being around me, and not wanting to touch me, things like that."

"Really?" He seemed shocked.

"Yes," I apologized. "But tonight, you were different. You are finally ready. We are equal now. Am I correct? Has your mind caught up with my body?"

I thought he still looked a bit confused so to help I held his hand and used my gift to show him some of the examples I was talking about –

 _\- When we were unpacking, moving into this house and I suggested we get our own place on our next move, you were so stunned you dropped the lamp you were holding._

 _\- After Embry's court hearing, when Sam suggested that we might be together, you actually growled at him._

 _\- At the birthday dinner that followed and Quil teased that we ran off and got married because our fake documents both had us listed as "Wolfe" for a surname, and you laughed at the mere possibility._

 _\- When I asked you to strip (and phase), to use your expandable shorts to carry the wood I gathered to carve a replacement chess piece and you practically became comatose._

 _\- You pointing out to me that I must have a soul, since I was your soulmate and I reminded you that that meant I would also have to be your mate, too and you just gave me a look that I was being ridiculous for even suggesting it._

 _\- You thinking I was silly for wanting to wear 6 inch heels to be closer to you, just as you wanted to take all of your college classes with me, to protect me from "dangerous" human males - like they could ever even touch me._

 _\- When I_ mistakenly _told Rob and Andy at school that we were sleeping together and you freaked out._

 _\- The end of a dream, you saw about Nahuel and I, when I just barely referred to you being in its beginning. (Hmmm, maybe I should not have reminded him of that one.)_

 _\- When I revealed that I liked what I had seen, when you shorts went up in flames, all those years ago, and you became apologetic, instead of the positive reaction I was hoping for._

 _-_ Needing _you in bed, time and again, including most recently after Jennifer's visit._

 _\- My suggestion of making a twin bed, for any future child we might have, that you could even imagine who it might be for._

 _\- The make-out session that never happened after our movie night, before Nahuel walked in and out, on us._

 _\- One of my favorites was your unthinking groping me in the forest after I hid your wood._

 _\- And most recently, my unsuccessfully strawberry kiss attempt._

But there were dozen other examples I had witnessed and initiated or, well . . . instigated.

"Nessie . . . um . . . weren't some of those examples from when you were with Nahuel?" I just nodded guiltily, knowing what he was thinking. "Why were you trying to start something with me, if you were with him?"

"Being with Nahuel was a huge mistake. Even though I had not succeeded yet, I had been trying to get him to leave me, it just took longer than I thought. You were there that day I talked to my mom, before she and my father left for their extended anniversary. You heard me tell her that I needed to find a way to get rid of Nahuel, that I only wanted a life with you."

"Oh. I . . . Nessie I thought . . . I thought you wanted him and were trying to find a way to get me to leave, if I could not get along with him."

"Of course not My Jacob, I love you." Oh! My father told me Jake had something "backwards" the night he and my mother returned from Isle Esme. At the time I thought he meant that Jake just wanted to be my friend, not my lover, but when I confronted Jake about it, he assured me he wanted a romantic relationship . . . eventually.

After giving both of us a minute to process everything I began again. "You have not seemed ready for us before. Are you really sure you are ready now?"

"Does this answer your question?" Jake asked as he placed a gentle kiss on my lips. His lips were soft, yet firm, perfect, really. It was like an electric spark passed between us when our lips met. This never happened with Nahuel, not that we kissed much. Kissing Jacob was magical.

I wanted more so I pressed mine back to his and deepened the kiss. I was so happy when he didn't stop me but intensified our kiss even more, himself. His hands began gently touching the tips of my hands, then traveled upwards, caressing my arms, up the insides of my elbows, to my shoulders, before weaving through my now (thanks to him) silky hair. I, in turn, wrapped my arms around his neck and scratched my nails into his head, then lightly down his neck. As I did this, I could tell he enjoyed it when he slightly opened his mouth and as I followed his lead, his tongue began dancing with mine. Just gently at first, but the more my nails dug through his hair the quicker our tongues danced.

Wow!

But like all good things, eventually we had to stop when I let out an involuntary yawn. It was so late, and I was so tired. I didn't mean to, but could not stop myself. I hope he didn't think that my kissing him was boring, because it was anything but.

Thank goodness he didn't seem upset, then I realized I had my hands were on his bare skin. Of course he must have heard me.

"I did, and it's fine. I would like to think I'm not that out of practice," he chuckled again. "I know it's been a few years, so maybe you could help me practice kissing you some more, if I was really putting you to sleep." He couldn't seem to stop smiling. I couldn't either. But he looked even more handsome when he smiled, if that were possible. His whole face lit up.

I was about to say something witty back when my body betrayed me again and another yawn escaped my mouth.

"Nessie, come on sweetheart, let's get some sleep." He said grabbing my hand and leading me over to our bed. "Hmmm?" Jake grumbled under his breath, but loudly enough that I could hear it.

"What's wrong?" He had paused just at the edge of the bed and was now standing almost as still as a vampire.

"Just waiting to see if your father is about to barge through the door."

After a minute, when nothing happened he must have decided that my parents were either not home or were fine with tonight's developments. But suddenly I was nervous again. Was Jake really ready? For this? For us?

"I've actually been ready for over a year now, honey," of course he heard me again, I was still holding his hand. I usually didn't have this much trouble controlling my gift. I guess I was more than a little distracted tonight. "But you were with Nahuel by the time my slow werewolf brain decided to finally start working." He murmured after he quickly kissed me again.

"I'm sorry." I said again as I climbed in next to him. I didn't want him making excuses. I was the one who kept us apart, not him. "I wish I could go back and never even give Nahuel a second thought."

"No, honey. In a way it was good that I didn't notice you had grown up right away. You needed to be with Nahuel in order to make an informed decision. I could never fault you for that. Most people date several people, or more, over the course of their lives before settling down. I would not want you spending the rest of eternity wondering if you were missing out on something. Please just don't worry about it. I'm fine. And now I am happier than I have ever been," he shrugged.

"I don't deserve you," I said out loud, and then added with my gift _"but am glad that I have you."_

I started to kiss him again. (Mmmm, heaven.) But stopped as I came to the realization that another yawn threatened to interrupt us once again. And Jake was probably still grappling with his realization about the two of us.

"Sleep?" He questioned with a smirk, just as I started half yawning, half laughing.

"Sleep." I agreed. More like "to be continued later" though.


	49. Christmas Morning

**Year Six, Chapter Forty-Nine**

 **Christmas Morning**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was Christmas morning and I was (almost) completely happy. Yesterday when I woke up my initial happiness was momentarily cut short when my parents asked to speak to me. I had a feeling that last night was too good to be true, what with Jacob finally returning my affections for him, and my parents not barging in to stop us, not that we did anything, really. We had just kissed a bit before going to sleep.

Now that I finally had Jacob, he was about to be ripped away from me, by my over protective parents, well mostly my father. They were here to take away our utopia.

No! I was determined. We belonged together. We were both adults. There was no reason to tear us apart, despite my father's obtuse, overly conservative, old fashioned, sense of morality, which I shared no such belief in.

"Renesmee, we are very happy for both of you, we just wanted to talk to you about a few things," my father said softly from the doorway. "Just come and talk with us for a minute."

"Alright," I replied, the suspicion creeping heavily into my voice, while trying my best to hide the anger building inside me.

When the three of us were in the living room, my father began. "It might be a good thing for the two of you to separate for a awhile, just at night, while you both are getting use to your knew status and go back to individual bedrooms for a while."

"Why? I know you slept together when you were dating." I knew he would try this.

"Technically, only Bella slept, I just . . ."

"That is not the point, and you know it. And I don't see the difference."

"This is a lot for Jake to take in. It is a big change for him . . . and you," my mother reasoned.

"Is this your way of telling me you don't want me to sleep with . . . or rather . . . to become intimate with him?" I could see both of my parents cringe slightly, but I needed to hear the truth.

"No, honey. We won't stop you, but want you BOTH to wait until you are truly ready. Please believe us when we say we think it would be best if the two of you had a bit of breathing room first though."

"Okay dad, I'll consider talking to Jacob about it, to see what he thinks. But I don't think it will be necessary. Just let me handle this, I don't want you upsetting him." Or trying to intimidate him. "Just don't say anything to Jake, please."

"Alright," my father sighed, "just do both of yourselves a favor and go slow. This is a lot for Jake to take in" my father said pinching the bridge of his nose. I wonder if Jake was dreaming about something my father deemed _inappropriate_ to provoke that reaction? But he just ignored my thought and continued to speak. "While he is overjoyed and incredibly happy about the current situation, I have a feeling that this all could also potentially be a bit overwhelming for him."

"For you too," my mother added in.

"I have been trying to get him to feel this way about me for three years, mom."

"Yes and now that it has happened, do you really what to do anything that would risk ruining it?" she asked sympathetically.

"Okay, I promise I will discuss it with him."

"I am going to hold you to that. But for now why don't you go back in there quickly, before he wakes up." My father suggested.

Just as my father predicted, as I creeped back into my spot beside Jacob, he began to stir.

"Good morning honey." I said as he opened his eyes and I gave him a quick peck on his lips.

"Mmmm, I thought last night was a dream." He smirked, wrapping his arms even tighter around me.

"Nope, it was much better than a dream," I responded, kissing him again, to which he rolled on top of me and continued where we left off last night before my yawning had so rudely interrupted us.

"Ah, hmm!" My father rudely cleared his throat from our bedroom doorway. Of course, my mother was right beside him. What were they doing? I was going to talk to Jake, but he just woke up.

As soon as he saw them though, Jake practically flung himself off of me, but I grabbed his arm to at least prevent him from jumping out of a window or attacking my father or something.

"Jacob? It's alright." I tried reassuring him. But he was so surprised he couldn't he see that my father wasn't doing anything to attack him.

"Yes, please don't be alarmed. We're sorry to interrupt you, but we just wanted to congratulate you on finally getting together." My father said to him, well both of us, technically. But since they already talked to me, I had a feeling this chat, just like his calm face was just for show. And to remind me to talk to him ASAP.

"Oh, um, thanks," Jake said, rather mystified.

"We'll see you in a bit. I think a celebratory breakfast is in order." My mother decided. She always seemed to cook, when emotions were high, not that she ever ate any of it. Or it could be to get us to stop what we had been doing.

That was not exactly subtle on their part. But I didn't expect this to be that easy. And I think Jake was just glad he was still in one piece.

After they left, as quickly as they came, I turned to Jake and talked to him about the points my parents brought up. But he was as unwilling to leave me at night as I was to have him go.

I was a bit worried it was just the imprint making him go along with what I wanted and not really what he thought was best for us. But I don't think that he would really be able to do something that was just what I wanted in the present if it was truly bad for me, or us, overall. And I did ask him what he wanted, before letting him know my feelings, as to attempt to not influence him.

But that was yesterday morning, this morning we woke up, uninterrupted.

"Merry Christmas," Jake said, waking me up with a kiss.

Okay I could do this.

I was the one who told my family I wanted to try and celebrate the holiday this year. Aunt Alice and Grandma Esme had organized the decoration of the houses last week. I was trying to ease back into the holiday so thankfully they had gone easy with the decorations at my house. But my grandparents house, the one we would actually be celebrating in, had received the complete Aunt Alice experience. The house was worse than a Hallmark Christmas card and movie combined.

Deep breath. Today was no different than any other day, or holiday actually, I told myself. I could do this.

We had celebrated other various holidays over the years - Halloween, the 4th of July, Easter. We celebrated those with no problem.

Never Thanksgiving though. It was considered a day of mourning at Dartmouth for Native Americans. I had not even realized Jake, or anyone else from La Push felt that way until I started school last year. Everyone I knew just ignored the day back in Washington. It was a holiday that solely revolved around eating human food so my family had never been big on it, obviously. The only way I even knew about it, before coming to New Hampshire was from movies and books.

But today was Christmas and I was determined to get through the day without fear of some unconscious daemons manifested from my own mind. The Volturi were not after me. No one was. Today was a happy day. And Jake and I were in love and finally together.

"Merry Christmas, my Jacob." I responded with my own kiss. And another and another.

After Jake and I had gotten up, showered and dressed, we gathered our gifts for everyone and were about to head to my grandparents place, where no doubt they were all waiting for us. My grandpa and the others were planning on driving over from the hotel around 10am.

What time was it even?

As I glanced at the clock on the wall I saw we were already late. I guess my and Jake's make out session this morning lasted longer than I thought.

I assume my parents must have told everyone what was going on with us, and that was why Aunt Alice had not already burst into our room and dragged us out. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or thankful.

As Jake and I walked, hand in hand, into my grandparents house, I just looked at the floor and apologized for being late, before adding our presents to the pile under the tree.

Apparently I was going with being embarrassed today.

Well, happy and embarrassed.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I spent yesterday afternoon going out and getting some small gifts for Seth, Leah, Charlie and Sue. We thought it would be nice if they had something to open today. Nothing too big but, just something. My family and Jake had always mailed some presents to their home every year, but since we didn't know they were coming here, this year, our gifts were probably still waiting for them, there, sitting on their doorstep, delivered by FedEx, or something.

While they were busy opening their presents I gave Nessie her gift, the bracelet I've been working on for a while now. It's funny, ever since my realization and the consequential change in our relationship, that incident in the woods where Nessie playfully stole the piece of wood I would eventually carve this bracelet into, it took on a whole new meaning. I think I liked it more now than I did last week.

Knowing now, not only that Nessie loved me, but that she was _in love_ with me, just that small distinction, made a world of difference.

After professing how much she loved her bracelet while I helped her put it on her wrist, she gave me my gift. Opening the rather large box I saw it was a signature Ferrari prancing horse grill piece for my car. It was the one I'd been looking for, for a while now. It was the only thing missing from the car.

"How did you . . . Where did you . . . How long . . ."

I was stunned and could not form a coherent sentence. Where did she even find this? We had spent hours and hours online and on the phone scouring every Ferrari dealership, used car lot, eBay, Craig's List, any place I could think of to find the one I wanted with no luck. I had given up awhile ago. And yet when I opened the box, from my beloved, on Christmas morning, it was right there in front of me. How had she done this? She's so amazing. It must have taken her forever to find it. Much more time than I was willing to put into it, but of course that's why Nessie was so amazing.

"Ferrari aficionados chat rooms," she hinted, figuring out what my incoherent ramblings were trying to ask.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart." She deserved so much more than a simple thank you, but that was all I was able to mutter at the time.

"You're welcome honey," she said as she closed the space between us and placed a sweet kiss on my lips. Well, it started out sweet, but I couldn't help myself and got a bit carried away.

"Whoa, looks like Jake might be getting another Christmas present tonight." Of course Emmett had to go and ruin the moment. Which got more than a few growls from around the room, and a well deserved slap on the back of his head from Rose.

Apparently Edward had not told the family about the change in our relationship, not that I cared. But once I looked somewhere other than my angels face I saw that most of the family looked a bit stunned.

And out of the corner of my eye I caught the look on Charlie's face. It was somewhere between confusion - but so did a few others in the house, fury - I had just kissed his granddaughter after all, and repulsion – that's not good.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?" he yelled, leaping out of his seat and stomping his foot. In any other situation seeing a grown man stomp his foot would have been funny, but I currently couldn't see the humor in it. "Jake you're a good guy and all but what the hell are you doing?" He never let me respond though, as he kept going, as his face got redder and redder. "Bella, Edward, you're not allowing what you think you are allowing to go on here are you? I know Nessie looks 21, but she's only five years old, no matter how fast she grows. This is completely inappropriate and _illegal_ ," he shouted.

"Grampy, last night you offered me a beer. How could I be old enough to drink, but too young to kiss my soulmate?" Nessie tried reasoning with hm.

"Soulmate?" Charlie yelled. "What kind of crap are you feeding this kid?

"Dad, it's alright." Bella started and soon everyone joined in, trying to calm Charlie down and explain things, including imprinting.

Well not everyone. I wanted to make sure Nessie was okay and that nothing Charlie said had upset her. Thankfully she was fine and I got a congratulatory arm punch from Leah.

Once everything was settled back down, actually Charlie still didn't look completely happy, but I don't think he would be arresting me for pedophilia any time soon, everyone continued to open presents. And I tried one more time to thank Nessie for her amazing gift and find out exactly how it was even possible that she found it in the first place.

"But when did you even have time to look? We were always together."

"I got it months ago. You weren't with me all the time back then. I was searching, and searching, and searching for it while we were doing our homework. Actually you were doing homework, I would zip through mine and mostly was checking for it online. And I also was looking a bit while Nahuel and I had our scheduled time together."

"He didn't mind that you were doing that?" It seemed unlikely. Where was he even?

"Nahuel had made plans to return home to his Aunt's to celebrate the holiday with her. While he is still worried about his father, he did not want to upset her, she is like a mother to him, after all. He should be back in a few days." Edward whispered to me, answering my thoughts.

"Nahuel didn't really pay that much attention to what I was doing on my laptop. He never had much contact with computers in South America and I don't think he really knew or cared what I was doing." Nessie explained. "I tried talking to him about different technologies like IPods, laptops, GPS navigation, stuff like that, but he made himself clear that he was not interested in learning anything about modern tech. The only reason he learned how to drive was because you guys," she pointed to Bella and Edward, "made it clear that he had to. I think, after hearing him go on and on about it, he is opposed to most things that reminded him of his father. Technology being one of them."

I guess that could explain why he did not want to enroll at Dartmouth with her, well us. "Oh, well . . . huh." I didn't know what to say. I mean I guess it was understandable, but still a little weird.

"Shocking the two of you didn't work out." Emmett said, to which Jasper, Rose, and even Leah started chuckling with him.


	50. Reconciliation

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty**

 **Reconciliation**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were making out in her room . . . again. It was our new favorite activity. It had been a week since our first kiss and things were wonderful. I don't think I have been so happy since the day she was born.

But I was feeling a little guilty. I should take her out on a date or something. But weren't dates more like "getting to know you" activities? We already knew everything about each other. Nevertheless I promised myself I would plan a night out for the two of us. Soon.

It's not like all we did now was make-out in our room though. We had spent much of the past week helping Seth and Leah move into their new place, with Seth's imprint, Carol. Much to my relief she was actually fine being around Nessie. Well not right away, but by lunchtime the first day, she had calmed down. Nessie thought it would be a good idea to show her how "non-scary" she was and managed to force down some food, just to add to the human touch.

While we were unpacking Seth and Leah re-told me what they talked about when we all phased the day before Christmas Eve, that wonderful night I found out about Nessie's feelings for me. I was so out of it at the time, which they figured, I could not recall a single thing they said. It turns out they just wanted to let me know that with all of the imprinted wolves, there was probably going to be a population explosion in La Push, most likely starting in the next few years. Apparently a lot of the younger wolves, even those who gave up their wolf, imprinted over the past few years. The only ones who hadn't, _yet_ , were Leah, Brady, and two of the younger wolves.

After my Nessie _breakthrough_ , as I like to call it, (well I guess I really have Seth and Leah to thank for it) Edward and Bella came to talk to the two of us the next morning. I was assuming that they were going to give us some sort of "no sex before marriage" talk and make us go back to sleeping in separate bedrooms, but they never mentioned anything like that. Which was good, because now that we were finally together I didn't want to be apart from her for a second and as far as I knew Nessie had not changed her mind about marriage. But I guess with everything Nessie had already done with Nahuel it didn't matter anymore to Edward.

Anyway, Bella and Edward just wanted to congratulate us, which shocked me to no end. But I guess as long as Nessie was happy, and I would spend the rest of forever trying to make her so, then they were happy.

Okay. If I was going to be completely honest with myself, I was sure that this open, understanding Edward was not going to last much longer. Especially with the four of us living under the same roof. I was bound to think of things about his daughter that he did not appreciate.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Nessie and I shared a wonderful New Years kiss last night at the local fireworks display this year. I was so happy. 2012 looked like it was going to be a wonderful year. I hope I wasn't jinxing myself.

Right now my shirt was somewhere on the floor, not that it was the first time Nessie had seen me without it on, but this was different. It had been years since I'd done anything like this and I was definitely out of practice.

In truth I'd only kissed one girl, Bella. She was the beginning and end of my experience with women. And that was seven, long years ago. We'd kissed twice, only one resembled anything that could be construed as successful and that was only because I had tricked her. My my first, real kiss was with Nessie, the love of my life, my soulmate, my everything. And I was screwing tonight up big time. What was I supposed to do? I was a 21 year old virgin.

Right now as happy as I was, I was also frustrated. My hands were too big and I was a little nervous and fumbling with the tiny buttons on Nessie's shirt.

"Here, why don't you let me do that for you." She suggested looking rather smug now as she undid the last two.

"Nessie, I am sorry I am so bad at this, you might have to lead me." I said, rather self-consciously.

"What are you talking about Jake, we've never done anything like this before." Nessie looked almost as embarrassed as me.

Now I was confused. It was true, WE had never done this before, but she had, and a lot more. It was not really that different with me, was it?

"But you have, you know . . . with Nahuel." I didn't really want to mention his name right now, but something was off.

"What are you talking about, Jake?"

Huh? I started recalling what I had seen the morning after their first time together, when I witnessed him leaving her room. "Nahuel . . . said he took something that was mine. He was in your room all night. Um . . . wasn't that . . . um . . . _you_ that he . . . err . . . _took_?"

She looked like she was thinking hard, trying to figure out what I might be referring to. Having perfect recall probably really helped in these types of situations. A second later she actually started laughing out loud, but just for a moment.

"Oh, my poor Jacob. You must have gone through hell thinking I had been with Nahuel like that." She stopped her laughter immediately.

"Huh?"

"Jake, no. We had been up all night, just _talking_. I was so tired by the time the sun rose and he started to leave, that I knocked over a drink and it splashed right onto his shirt. I gave him one of yours to wear. The shirt was what he took. Well that and you not being able to sleep in your own bed that night, but I think he was probably referring to your shirt. I never had sex with Nahuel, ever." She signed. "But thanks for the possessiveness." Nessie added with a smirk, I guess hoping to break some of the tension.

Wow! I wasn't sure what to think at the moment. Confusion? Relief? More confusion? "So if you didn't, um, . . . you know. . . with him, and were just talking, can I ask you what were you talking about for so long?"

"You know you could have avoided all of these misunderstandings if you had just let me show you back then," she said as she grabbed my hand with hers and began to give me a quick replay of what really had happened with her gift.

As soon as they entered the bedroom that night I saw how Nahuel was all over her, his tongue practically shoved down her throat.

"Nessie, I don't want to see this." I nearly shouted, basically shoving her hand off of me. Even if they had not had sex, I did not want to see anything that they DID do.

"I'm sorry, but please trust me, it will be worth it," she replied, hovering her hand over mine. I braced myself, before nodding that she could continue. Whatever it was she really seemed to want to show me, so I would just need to deal with it, whatever _it_ was.

She put her hand back in mine and picked up where she left off. They were moving toward the bed and I heard Nahuel make some offhanded comment about how I must have been in the room recently and how strongly my scent still lingered. When they moved onto the bed I could see how stiffly he froze. He had asked Nessie why my scent was strongest there. If I wasn't so repulsed I might have chuckled when she showed me his face when she told him that it was because that was where I slept. He was on my side of the bed, so naturally my smell would be at its strongest there.

The next part of their conversation got me thinking.

Nahuel half-bewildered/half-angered asked her how long we had been _sleeping_ together.

She explained to Nahuel how I had always stayed with her at night when she was younger because of her nightmares, but then Bella and Edward had put a stop to it when she got older and it was seen as inappropriate. Then she finished with our current "sleeping" situation, where we had gone to talk to her parents one morning. ( _I_ knew it was after the small Volturi visit but she didn't mention that to Nahuel) and her parents agreed to let us resume sleeping together.

She then showed me a replay, within the replay, of what she had shown Nahuel with her gift. It was more than a little strange seeing the events through her eyes and not my own.

….

" _Nothing happened."_ I had said to Bella and Edward as Nessie and I left her bedroom that morning and walked towards where they were sitting on the living room couch.

" _We still need to talk to you, Jake."_ Bella had frowned.

" _That's not true, Jacob and you know it."_ Hmmm, I remembered that look of disbelief that was on my face when I heard her say that.

" _Jacob,_ _I needed you last night and you_ _were there for me. You were there for me when and how I needed you just like you have always been. You were perfect. Everything about last night was perfect."_ Nessie had said before placing a kiss on my cheek and going to sit next to Bella.

" _Mom, dad, I can't and won't continue to sleep without Jacob. He belongs in my bed, with me. I love Jacob and I need him there."_ I think, as best as I could remember it, she may have skipped a little bit around here.

" _For now but things could change, you could change your mind,"_ Edward had grumbled.

" _Don't you trust me?"_

" _After what happened last summer I am not sure if that is possible."_ Bella was referring to the fiasco after our movie night, when Nessie looked to be around 13, but Nahuel would not have known what had happened and it didn't seem like Nessie had bothered to explain it.

" _That was a mistake, I know, but not for the reasons you think. I know you thought I was too young then. But I am older and wiser now. Just look at me. I'm physically 17 years old. I look like I am the same age as you, dad. And I'm 5'7", that is taller than you, mom. You've let me take college classes online and next year I will be going to school with you."_

" _Looks can be deceiving."_ Bella had said.

" _Yes, they can. Mentally I have been as smart as an adult since my first birthday."_

" _Book smart yes, but life experiences wise, I think not."_ Edward had objected.

 _"What do you think Grandma Esme was doing, with me, and her social training, while you were attending high school? She knew I needed to be prepared for life sooner than you realized. And she managed to squeeze in almost a lifetime of experiences into two years, pretty successfully I believe."_

" _Nessie, I am sorry, I don't think you too should be sleeping together."_

" _Dad, I am sleeping with Jacob and that is final."_

" _Really? And what about what Jake wants?"_ Bella had questioned. But really she should have known, I want what Nessie wants, always.

" _Jacob feels the same as I do."_

" _Things could change. You could change your mind in the future."_ Edward had countered, again.

" _It just seemed like you assumed we will end up together? Don't you think I would follow the same path most other imprints did with their wolves."_ That part of the conversation had confused me. I wondered then, as I did now, what else she had shared with them using her gift.

" _Of course sweetheart, but it is your choice, we just want to protect you."_ Bella had whispered.

" _Protect me? Jacob protects me. He would never do anything that wasn't what was best for me. Which is why we should be allowed to sleep together. You know that is how imprinting works. He wants what I want and need, right?"_

" _Theoretically."_ Edward had reluctantly agreed. _"But I am still concerned about what happened last summer?"_

" _I know. But you see there is nothing for you to be concerned about, now. And I would hope that you would be happy for me."_ Clearly, she must have thought more in her head than she said out loud back then, to get Edward to agree like he did.

That was the end of the flashback that she showed me. But it was not all that had happened. Nessie's version, that she showed Nahuel skipped the condition that it was only until her nightmares disappeared, and Edward would be watching us to make sure there was nothing inappropriate going on.

It seemed obvious to me, now that I had seen a replay of that night, and his uncomfortable attitude since then, Nahuel had been unintentionally led to believe that Nessie and I had a sexual relationship. Nessie however seemed somehow oblivious to that fact.

Now I was faced with an ethical dilemma. I was moments away from really being with Nessie and getting everything I had ever wanted, if I just kept my mouth shut. But was it right? Nahuel had left Nessie over a misunderstanding.

Sure Nessie seemed happy with me. But I didn't want to be a consolation prize. And if Nessie really preferred Nahuel it wasn't right for me to keep them apart.

But did it have to be? Would she be happier with him, if he knew we weren't together like that? Was it right to potentially split us up if Nessie was happy? Especially when the outcome with Nahuel was an uncertainty.

Did she really love him. I know she had mentioned things she didn't like about him –his borderline hatred of technology, among other things, (she had written down a pretty big Con's column on her Pro's/Con's list for him after all) but it could have just been excuses to console herself with his absence.

I needed to talk this over with the only person whose feelings I actually cared about - hers, then I would just have to deal with the aftermath, if things went against me.

"Renesmee, thank you for showing me that. It clarified a lot of things for me, but I'm afraid we might have a problem."

"What is it, my Jacob?" she smiled so sweetly at me.

"Okay, how should I begin?" I thought to myself out loud.

"Just say whatever you need to say."

"Alright. If you could choose between Nahuel and me who would you pick, if you could only have one of us?"

"What are you talking about, I already picked you, silly."

"Yes but that was not really a choice between the two of us, it was between you being with me, or me and Nahuel."

"Isn't that the same thing, my Jacob? That is my only choice, either I live my life with you, or with you and Nahuel. I told him the same thing. It would hurt too much not to have you in my life, I love you, but I can live without him."

"I'm sure you could learn to live without me over time Nessie, I love you too, and I don't want to leave you, but I want you to do what is right for you."

"But I love you, my Jacob. Not him. I don't want him. We're too different. That's why I intentionally gave Nahuel the wrong idea about our relationship." She said pointing back and forth between the two of us.

"Huh?" Intentionally?

She looked a little guilty now "I kind of made him believe that you and I were more intimate than we were; the way I really want us to be. It would have never worked out with him. I love you too much. And I hoped it would scare him off. I learned how possessive he is and he would never be willing to share, so that was the only choice I gave him."

I just sat there dumbfounded as she continued.

"You see, I needed to give him a reason to let me go. He had already told me how persistent he would be and would not give up until I was his, so I gave him a reason to leave me, himself."

Oh!

"I am so sorry I put you through that, my Jacob, but I know how strong you are and that you would be able to handle it, but I never thought it would take so long. And I never thought that you would think that Nahuel's and my relationship had turned sexual. I would never do that to you. I kept telling you, over and over again, back then, that I loved you and we would always be together, so this wouldn't happen."

Really? She really wanted me? But instead of feeling as amazingly happy as I should be after her revelation, I was angry. Not at her, never at her. But that she had had to go through all of that. It was such an elaborate deception. And I had done nothing about it. I should have known better.

"Nessie, I should be the one apologizing to you. I should have been the one to deal with Nahuel. You should never have had to put yourself in that situation." I was so angry at him and I know it seeped into my voice. I needed to calm down. I didn't want Nessie, my Nessie, thinking I was mad at her.

"My Jacob, I was perfectly capable of handling Nahuel, and not every situation needs to be resolved with violence. He didn't deserve to die just because he was a bit obsessed with me."

"I wouldn't have killed him, Nessie. I might have just ripped off a certain part of his anatomy that would have made sure that he would not bother you anymore," I said with a smirk.

"Ha, ha. Well, now you don't need to. Is there anything else you are confused about? You don't think I am in love with anyone else do you?" Nessie joked.

"No honey. And I'm sorry, I doubted your love for me. Please forgive me, I wasn't strong enough. I didn't think you could love me as much as I love you. I was wrong and I don't deserve you."

"Nonsense, Jake. You're my soulmate remember. We're perfect together. Right?"

"Definitely."

"Now where were we?" She said as she leaned in for another kiss.

While I was happy she hadn't slept with Nahuel, I was well aware that they had been together for months after the night of tonsil hockey she showed me, I'm sure they must have come close. But as we kept going tonight, progressing our physical relationship forward even further, things still seemed off a bit. What if I was wrong.

"Um, Nessie, if you don't mind telling me one more thing, err . . . exactly how far did you go . . . with Nahuel?" I asked, breaking our kiss, and pretty much ruining the mood.

"Well, um . . . just some kissing, the one time I just showed you and a few others after that. We made out a few more times but I think every time we got too close he would smell you on me and back away. Not that I was upset by that. Why?"

That's it? Gulp! I needed to slow things down. This was moving too fast. For both of us. As I began attempting to cover Nessie up a bit with the bed sheet, she gave me a horrified expression. It's not like she was naked . . . yet, but we were both in our underwear and I could feel that she thought I was rejecting her.

"No, Nessie. I still want to be with you. That's not why I'm stopping us right now. I just think we need to slow down a bit." Okay, a lot. "This is new for both of us and we shouldn't go too fast."

"Too fast? Jacob I've been waiting for you for three years."

"Yes, but wanting and having are different."

"Jacob Black, don't you dare say I am still too young." She almost yelled at me.

"No that wasn't what I was going to say. I know you're old enough, that's not it. It's just . . ." What was it? What was holding me back? I wanted her and she wanted me. I knew that now. But what? What was it?

Then it dawned on me. It wasn't her, it was me, I was afraid. If we kept going tonight, like we had been, I would get everything I had ever wanted. I would be truly happy. Didn't I deserve to be happy too? I know being with Nessie, just being next to her made me happy, but this seemed different. I knew us being together like this would make her happy as well. But something still seemed . . . off. What was it?

It felt like this, us, being together, was too good to be true. That this was something purely for me, and that was what was wrong. But it wasn't true, tonight was for her as much as it was for me. I needed to stop thinking this way and get over it.

I had spent so many years just being her friend and protector. I needed to switch into thinking more like a lover. That's it. I just stopped thinking and started doing whatever felt natural. Before I knew it, we were kissing again and it was wonderful.

The entire night was wonderful. For both of us.


	51. Sunrise

**Year Six (Part Two)**

Chapter 51 Sunrise

Chapter 52 Jake's 22nd birthday

Chapter 53 Answers Found

Chapter 54 Renée's Call

Chapter 55 False security

Chapter 56 Negative after Negative

Chapter 57 Don't Make Us Go Home

Chapter 58 Trouble on Isle Esme

Chapter 59 Surprising Developments

Chapter 60 Turmoil

...

 **Year Six, Chapter Fifty-One**

 **Sunrise**

Jacob's Point of View

The next morning I woke up to the most beautiful sight in the world. My Nessie. The sun was just rising and was shining off of her silky curls more beautifully than I had ever seen before. Even after all that had happened between us, I could not believe she was mine.

Though Renesmee and I had not been intimate last night, I knew Nessie loved me, truly, romantically, loved me. But she was not ready. And I could understand that. And I was fine with it. Truthfully, neither was I. But there was no need to rush. We had forever. Literally. We could go as slow as she and I needed. But we had done . . . other things. And it was amazing. But I also knew what direction we were headed in, eventually. And I needed to be prepared, not just mentally. I think I needed to go buy some protection. That was one area I did not want to be caught off guard.

I wonder what Edward would think of all of this? Sure, he had informed me that he had reconciled himself to Nessie's decision of not waiting until marriage. We all knew that would never happen, it wasn't something she was interested in. But I couldn't see that he was truly accepting of his daughters decisions, whatever he said. And just because he was going along with her didn't mean he held me in the same regard.

Luckily, he and Bella were gone last night on another attempt to hunt down, well locate, Nahuel's sisters, so I was still in one piece.

The whole family was actually out looking for them. Well, except Nessie and myself. And Nahuel was practically confined to the Doc and Esme's place. While nothing happened when he left to spend Christmas with his Aunt, it was agreed that in the future he should remain with us, at least somewhere on the property, until whatever was going on was resolved.

Alice and Jasper were currently looking in South America, if Nahuel's sisters were there Alice had the best chance of finding them; like she did all those years ago, finding Nahuel and his Aunt. Carlisle and Esme actually went to Italy to see if the Volturi had any information that could help us. And they also went to see if there was any possibility, however unlikely that _they_ were the ones behind this. Rose and Emmett went west, but knowing Rose's feelings towards Nahuel, I wasn't sure how hard they were looking, if at all.

Two days later, as I pulled the car into the garage with a freshly bought package of condoms sitting in the passenger seat, I was suddenly face to face with Edward. A very black eyed Edward. Crap! Of course he was back now, and judging by the look on his face I knew he would not be as understanding as Nessie seemed to think he was.

"What's the bag for Jake?" He asked me, as I got out of the car, as if he didn't already know.

Arrrg! I was getting tired of this. Either I was with Nessie or not. He couldn't be telling us he was happy we were together one minute and trying to rip my head off, for being with her, the next.

"I have no intention of fighting you, or even trying to stop you, Jacob. I'm glad she picked you. You're perfect for each other and I'm happy you are finally together, the way you are supposed to be." Then his serene façade cracked and he looked a little sick. "Just do me a favor and tell Bella to put her shield around one of us before, during and probably for a while after . . ." He couldn't even finish the sentence. "I don't want to hear anything you're thinking about my daughter during that time."

"So, you're really okay with me being . . . um . . . you know, with Nessie?"

"I figure it's going to happen, eventually, probably soon, judging by both of your thoughts," he said pinching the bridge of his nose. I hadn't seen him do that in years. "But she's an adult now," he added after regaining his composure, "and she loves you, and I know how much you love her. There's no point in me trying to put off the inevitable. That would only hurt both of you, and I have no desire to do that."

Wow! This was not something I was expecting to hear from Edward. Ever.

"I'm sure eventually, after a decade or two, I'll be fine, and Bella won't need her shield around either of us constantly, anymore." He added with a small smirk.

Hmmm, as understanding as Edward was being, I think our first time should not be anywhere near him; just in case Bella's shield slipped, or the walls weren't as soundproof as we thought. And Renesmee deserved something more special. I didn't want it to be in just our bedroom, that wasn't special enough for her. I would rent a hotel room. Maybe somewhere with a balcony, so we could see the stars. Possibly we could head down to Boston, the skyline there was beautiful. Or maybe even New York. Hell, this was Nessie I was talking about. We could go to Paris. Alice said she saw us there someday. Maybe this was the reason. I'll have to ask Nessie what she wants and . . .

"JACOB!?" Edward yelled trying to get my attention back.

"Hmmm? Yeah, sorry."

"There is something else. The reason I came to talk to you. I believe I should let you know that the condoms are most likely unnecessary. Renesmee wants to have a child. I believe the two of you need to have a talk."

"What?" A baby? Now? But he didn't say anything else. Bella appeared at the edge of the forest, calling him to go hunt with her, and he simply excused himself and left to follow her into the woods. I guess I needed to have a talk with Nessie.

As I walked into the house, still partially dazed by Edward's revelation, I found Nessie sitting on our bed sketching a design for a new table, by the look of it.

"Hey, Jake. Are you okay?" Of course she could see the apprehension on my face.

"Hi honey, I just had the strangest conversation with Edward." I stopped and stood a few feet away from her.

"What about?" she asked me. Instead of answering her directly I just tossed her the bag and she opened its with a confused look on her face.

"He gave you condoms?" she asked me, horrified.

"No." I replied. "I bought them for us, thinking we might need them at some point soon, but he told me that you wanted to get pregnant, and he seemed to think that we needed to talk about it. And I agree."

"Jacob, I'm not ready for . . . _that_ yet. I thought I was. I mean I've had _three_ years to prepare for this, for us, but now that it's real, were actually together, I need us to go a little slower. I'm sorry but I just . . . right now . . . we just started . . . " she started looking around frantically, anywhere but at me.

Oh, god! What had I done? Nessie was not ready for this. What was Edward thinking?

In a flash I was beside Nessie on the bed, wrapping her up in my arms. "No honey, it's okay. That wasn't why I was saying that for. I didn't mean, or try, to imply that we needed to start having sex right now. We can wait until whenever you are ready, as long as . . . whenever, or never . . . it's up to you. The only reason I brought it up was because Edward just had said that you wanted to have a child with me."

"Well . . . yes, I do want to." At least she was starting to smiling now. I had not upset her too much. "If you do, that is. But, well, not right this second."

I let out a thankful sigh. "That's a relief."

"Jacob, do you ever want to have a child with me?" Tears started to build up in her eyes.

"I do, of course, Nessie. I love you and would love for us to make a baby together, someday."

"That's good, I thought that you might have changed your mind from what you told me a couple of years ago."

"No, I haven't changed my mind."

"So when would you hope to start? I know I'm pushing things off, not starting to try right now, but I don't have that much time left, Jake. You know we need to have this baby within the next year and a half."

What was she talking about? "Nessie you're still at the beginning of your life. You're still growing. You've only been alive for five years. I know it feels like it's been forever for you, but believe me, five years is an incredibly short amount of time. Don't rush. It's like you're at the sunrise of a never-ending day. We have all the time in the world. You are literally going to live forever."

"Jacob, that is only because you are my sun. There can't be a sunrise without the sun. But soon I will be in a state of Forever Night. Didn't anyone tell you? Once I stop growing, when I turn seven, my body will be frozen, just like the rest of my families, and I will no longer be able to reproduce. If we ever want to have a child of our own, it has to be soon."

"Oh!" was all that managed to escape my lips.

….

A couple of days later, after I got over my shock, Nessie and I decided to head over to Seth and Leah's place and see how they were doing. They lived about 100 miles east of us, so we left just after breakfast and got there just before 10am. The place they got was nice, they were on the second floor of a townhouse with two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and living room. They didn't need much more right now. And the rent was cheap enough.

I knew money was probably going to be tight for them. I figured Carol was pretty much putting everything she had towards tuition, and the decision to move out here had been so sudden that I doubted Seth or Leah had a chance to find a job, yet.

I had pulled Seth aside a couple of days ago while we were still helping them set up their new place. I just wanted to make sure things weren't moving too fast. I know with the imprint it would not be a problem with him, uprooting his life and moving across the country for someone he barely knew.

But Seth was not who I was concerned about. It was Carol. What did she think of all of this? She was moving in with a guy, a kid really, seven years younger than her, who, up till this point had still lived at home with his mother and had barely dated, let alone lived with another woman before. And the two of them just jumped into this committed relationship? And she had no problem having Leah live with them too?

After talking with Seth, and Nessie had spoken a bit with Carol as well, it seemed that my concerns were for nothing. Apparently it was love at first sight for both of them. Their relationship seemed to be the exact opposite of Embry's.

As we pulled up, to their place, Nessie spotted Seth working on the fence, and around the side I spotted Leah and Carol making a flower garden.

"Hi, guys." Nessie waved to them as we exited the car. "Do you want some help?"

"I think I am more than capable of planting flowers." Leah sneered back. I had hoped she was going to start warming up to Nessie. I would have given her a small growl, but Carol was right next to her and she was still getting use to the whole supernatural world. Even though she was now living with two wolves, I was not sure how comfortable she was and as Seth's Imprint I did not want to upset her. "Thanks, anyway," she added after seeing the disapproving look I settled for. Well that's something I guess.

"Oh, okay," Nessie sighed, but quickly regained her composure as we walked over to Seth who was more than happy to see _both_ of us.

"Here, I'll grab that," Nessie gestured to the piece of wood Seth was struggling to both hold and hammer to a fence post.

"Thanks, the owner is giving us a break on the rent if we fix this place up for her. She's the nicest little old lady. She actually lives on the first floor, but can't keep up with all the work that needs to be done around here anymore.

And she has a bunch of friends that are all in similar situations as her. She already told them how good I was at fixing things. I have a bunch of handyman type jobs lined up to keep me busy for the next three or four months, at least. It should tied me over until I can find a more permanent job around here," Seth cheered.

"That's great, Seth. What about Leah, is she doing it with you?"

"Naw. She got a waitressing job at the place down the street. It's perfect for her. She wants to try to enroll at the college next fall and is going to audit some classes during the day in the meantime."

"And what about you? Did you want to go to school too?" I asked him.

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't think it will be possible right now. Maybe after Carol is done with school, and is working, and . . ."

"Seth, if it is just money standing in your way, why don't you let us help. My family had more than enough." Nessie offered, cutting him off.

"No, I mean yes, there is the money problem. But I couldn't take anything from you guys. Bella already offer to pay for everything too. I know we are technically family now, but it just wouldn't be right. And anyway, I kinda like getting to just be free to do my own thing for awhile. No school, no pack, no patrols, . . . no mom telling me to clean my room." He added with a chuckle.

"I think if you leave your room a mess you are going to have Carol to deal with. And an upset girlfriend is a lot worse than an upset mother." I could see his point, though. He had to live with the Pack and shoulder a ton of responsibility since he was only 15 years old. He did deserve a break.

If neither of them would take any money from us maybe there was something else we could do though. Even if Seth didn't want to go to school right now, I was sure we could think of something, just to help him out and give him room to relax a bit.

Nessie must have had the same thought. She grabbed my hand and showed me her idea. Esme was always redoing houses – renovating or redecorating them, redesigning furniture, adding on additions, I even think she practically tore an entire house down to the studs before she built it back up again.

Nessie thought that she and I could do the same, in a way. It seemed like a good idea. We could probably afford to buy something small around here and have Seth fix it up, without him even knowing we were involved. Then sell it and buy a new house and have him do it all over again, if he wanted to. I'm sure we could find out from Esme what a typical job like that would cost. Seth had never fixed up a entire house before so he probably wouldn't be aware we would overpay him, like Nessie suggested.

I nodded to Nessie, to let her know that I was more than happy to go along with her idea. "Just let me run it by Leah first."

When the fence and flower garden were done I suggested to her we go for a wolf run later that day. It was also a good excuse to phase with her. I missed the connection. Even though Leah lived within the 300 mile range of our wolf telepathy, since we were not near each other most times, over the past week, when I was phased she was not. Maybe we could set up a schedule to phase together once a week or something.

After lunch Carol and Nessie were in a deep discussion about the local dress stores. I had a feeling Nessie just had decided to start the discussion to give me a chance to break away with Leah.

"Thanks." I mouthed as Leah and I exited the apartment.

When we walked out to the nearby woods, I was suddenly aware that Alice must have made her a dress/slip version of the expandable shorts she made me. When she phased the dress naturally expanded out and looked like a tank top. It was really thoughtful of Alice, but when did that even happen?

" _Remember when we came over with Charlie and Sue a few weeks ago, she practically shoved them at me as we were leaving. At first I thought she was trying to give me a Christmas present. How weird would that be."_ Leah thought over to me.

Actually that would be pretty on par for Alice, and it was probably exactly what she was doing, even if Leah did not think so.

" _I doubt a vamp had any nice reasons for giving them to me. They reeked after all. It took me washing them at least a half dozen times before I could even stand the smell."_

" _Leah, you can say all the nasty things you want, but you're wearing it, I can see into your mind, and I know you really like the dress, so just drop the act. Okay?"_

" _Fine. I guess it was nice of her. So what is it you wanted to talk about?"_

It was so nice to have someone in my head again. When I first phased I never thought I would get use to it, let alone miss it.

" _That's it? That's why you dragged me out to the woods? You're_ lonely _? Don't you get enough of Eddie and Nessie being in your head, you want me in there too?"_

" _Err, well sort of. I know you have not been away from everyone for long, so you don't feel the same, yet, but I kinda miss this."_

" _Seriously? I mean I know you're serious, but really? Are you thinking clearly? You really want to phase once a week just to be in MY head? I mean . . . MINE? I know there is no other option out here, but am I really better than nothing? I don't even want to be in my head sometimes."_

" _You're not so bad. And it would only be once a week. I think I can handle you for that long. How about Saturday's, I'm phased anyway when I take Nessie hunting."_

" _I don't know. You and Nessie are just getting together. Do you really want me in your head, seeing all of that?"_

Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. I guess it would be a little weird as things between Nessie and I progressed. But I just missed the connection to another wolf so much. Maybe I should check with Nessie first?

" _Fine, you do that, and if she is okay with it let me know what time."_

" _Really? Thanks, Leah."_

" _Sure whatever. Just try and watch your thoughts, when we're phased. I don't want to start dreaming_ things _about her."_

After that I let her in on the plan Nessie came up with to get Seth some work, well - financial help. To be honest, she had already pick most of it out of my brain, but was kind enough to let me tell her in my own time.

At least she was more willing to go along with it than the dual phasing schedule. She knew it would be good for her brother, keep him out of trouble, and give him a much needed steady income. That was one of the best parts of Leah, she was a wonderful big sister to him. Always looking out for and protecting him. That was the main reasons she came with him to New Hampshire after all.

" _Don't you dare tell him that_." She practically screamed in her head at me.

Nessie and I stayed and helped out some more here and there until it started to get dark. Carlisle and Esme's flight was arriving at eight and we wanted to get back and meet them when they returned to the house to see if they had any news.

Rose and Emmett arrived home empty handed a couple of days ago, but according to Edward they searched about as hard as I thought they would, spending most of their time away in "much more enjoyable pursuits typical of a happily married couple" as Edward had put it. Although he tried to hid it, I could see he was more than a little pissed at their lack of effort.

Alice and Jasper checked in every once in awhile, they had not found anything yet, but South America was big and there were a couple of places they still wanted to search before returning home.

…

So I could not write this without giving a little shout out to the original yellow eyed, Canadian based Vamps. Is anyone reading this old enough to know what I am referring to?


	52. Jake's 22nd Birthday

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Two**

 **Jake's 22nd Birthday**

Renesmee's Point of View

It was Jacob's 22nd birthday. I know no one in the family really celebrated anyone's birthday anymore, except for mine, but I always gave Jake a gift each year. This year I had a whole day planned. With a little help from J. Jenks, I got my Jacob, well I got us, tickets to a football game. The Patriots were playing the Denver Broncos just two hours away in Foxborough, MA. I was hoping that I could get tickets to a game that the Seattle Seahawks were playing in, but they were not in the Playoffs this year.

The game did not start until after 8pm tonight, so I made us dinner reservations at a nice restaurant in Boston, beforehand.

Jacob loved the meal, I made sure the restaurant, I choose, gave huge portions, which he, being a werewolf, loved. He actually ate his entire meal and most of mine, since human food was not my favorite. I knew I wouldn't eat much, so I only ordered things that I knew Jake liked. His birthday fell on a Saturday, and Jake and I had gone hunting as usual, that morning anyway.

When dessert came I slipped his present down next to his slice of chocolate cake. I had wrapped the football tickets in a slightly larger white rectangular box, tied with a simple red bow, so he would not be tipped off as to its contents too soon.

"What's this?" Since I had kept the football game a surprise for him, I think he assumed that the dinner was his present.

"Your birthday present of course." It was funny watching the confused look on his face, as he was trying to figure out what was inside the box. He was shaking it, holding it up to his ear, trying to listen for any clues as to what was inside.

"Oh, just open it!" I half-screamed/half-giggled just a bit too loud. He started laughing with me as he undid the bow and opened the box. Seeing the tickets he had the reaction I was hoping for – utter joy, amazement, and excitement. I then decided to tell him all of the plans for the evening.

The game would probably not get over until after midnight, and a two hour car ride home was not advisable at that time, adding in the fact that I had been warned it was a common occurrence with Patriots games that it would take about an hour or more just to get out of the stadium and back onto the highway. I reserved for us a nice hotel room for the night and we could drive back home in the morning.

The _room_ I got was actually a suite, with an extra large Jacuzzi in the bathroom. I had talked to the hotel management and arranged for the rooms water heater to be turned up to the highest it would go, so Jake and I could enjoy a nice hot soak. With our higher than average body temperatures normal _hot_ water just didn't feel hot to us. It took a bit of convincing, and money, and some personal injury waivers I had to sign, saying we would not sue the hotel if we got burned, (not that that was even possible) but with Mr. J. Jenks help, again, it was all arranged.

The game ended up being a little boring. The Patriots won 45 to 10. It was not even a fair match, it was more like an execution. After the first quarter the Broncos seemed to resign themselves to their defeat. The stadium, which had been packed in the beginning, since it _was_ a sold out Playoffs game, ended up emptying out around the third quarter. The game was pretty much over by then anyway. Add to that how it was freezing, technically it was below freezing that night, around 20 degrees actually, and the mass exodus made perfect sense. Jake and I didn't mind, but I could see that all of the humans around us that were left, well the sober ones, were shivering from the cold.

Not wanting to seem like there was something strange about us, and giving me a good excuse to get closer to Jake, not that I needed one, I cuddled up next to him in my seat. We stayed at the game till its end, just cuddling, talking, kissing, and just enjoying the alone time. It was hard to get any privacy, at home, with my entire family always around, especially my father.

I had learned, during my relationship with Nahuel, that even though my mind would sometimes wander, my father would not say anything to me or try and stop my . . . less than _innocent_ thoughts. But by the expression on his face I could tell he was more than a bit bothered by them.

One day, when my fantasies had truly gotten out of control he took off on a LONG run. I felt horrible; after he returned he came and talked with me. My father had let me know that he didn't want me to feel bad about anything, my thoughts and feelings were natural. Nevertheless I did try back then, and now with Jacob, to limit them, and control my thoughts when home. I am sure Jake did the same, so it was nice now to just be able to let go. I liked thinking of Jake and I, I liked fantasizing about us, and I loved recalling romantic incidents between the two of us.

It's hard to have a full and meaningful relationship if you are not allowed, through your own choosing or not, to think of the other person the way you want. It's similar to being handcuffed and trying to play the piano, you could do it, sort of, but it's not going to sound as good.

"Did you do all of this?" Jake asked me as we entered the suite.

"I wish I could take credit for this, but it looks more like Aunt Alice's handiwork." But that can't be, she and Uncle Jasper were still out searching for Nahuel's sisters. Without her being able to see either of us, she would have had no way in knowing I had planned this.

The entire suite was decorated with hundreds of red roses, and rose petals were sprinkled on the bed. In the entryway table lay a bottle of champagne, two flutes, a bowl of strawberries and an envelope. It did look like her handiwork, maybe someone in the family told her, on one of her "check in" phone calls.

As I was looking around, while Jake read the note, I saw that the Jacuzzi had also been filled with bubbles.

Whatever he saw seemed to amuse him, because he started laughing a bit and mumbled something like "baby crazed vamp".

"Huh? Jake that's not why I got the room." I didn't want him thinking I just brought him here so I could get pregnant.

Okay, so I had another reason for getting the hotel room, than just a place to sleep, a much more enjoyable reason. Jake and I had discussed things and we agreed that our first time together should not be at home, with my parents nearby. That would be just too weird, a hotel or cabin somewhere far away was preferable but we had not made any definite plans yet. And I did not want to bring it up tonight with Jake either. He was as freaked out about my fertility deadline as I thought he would be. If anything happened tonight that would be wonderful, but I didn't want to push him, so I just had planned on letting whatever happen, happen. But I was ready now, mentally and emotionally, if it did. And I was pretty sure he was as well.

"No, I know honey." He said passing me the note. Aunt Rose . . . of course.

* * *

The night, the _entire night_ , ended up going just as well as I had hoped. Jake loved the dinner, the game, and the hotel room. I thought Aunt Rose's overboard extremism would have put too much pleasure on him, or us, but once we got over the initial shock and relaxed we really appreciated all she did. The bubbles in the Jacuzzi were the perfect buffer we needed, although the Champaign remained unopened. And Jake must have woken sometime in the middle of the night and finished off the strawberries.

Everything was perfect. I was so happy I was able to give My Jacob such a wonderful birthday.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I saw the Jake was already awake. And he looked ravenous, but not for food.

"How are you feeling?" he half asked as he began kissing my neck and working his way down and over to my shoulder.

"Ha, ha, ha," I chuckled. That tickled. I mean it felt really good too, but it still made me laugh.

"You're not in too much pain are you?"

Pain? "Jake, I'm completely fine, super fast half-vampire healing over here, remember."

"Mmmm, that's good. Because I have a few things I thought we could try this morning." He said as he moved his lips down to the inside of my elbow, and pulled me on top of him. Wow, what had gotten into him this morning? Whatever it was I was very thankful.

Eventually we managed to call for some room service so Jake could eat breakfast. I knew we needed to return home soon, but we both kept finding more enjoyable things to do besides getting dressed to leave. We were going to order some lunch but the hotel staff reminded us we had a late noon checkout. They did however recommend the restaurant in the hotel.

As I looked over at the nightstand, by the bed, I saw the time.

"Jake, we need to leave, checkout is in 36 minutes." I said as I began to get out of bed to finally make my way across the room to grab our clothes.

"I think I can work with that," he said pulling me back to bed, with a huge grin on his face.

Jake could not stop smiling all morning. Or though lunch, or on the ride home. Not even during the awkward conversation when I had to call my mom and let her know she would need to start shielding Jake and me when my father was around.

"So are you ready?" I asked Jake.

We were about five miles from home and I just sent my mother a text to let her know we would be in my father's range soon. That was a slight problem. My father could read our minds from about three to four miles away. My mother's shield did not come close to extending that far. So for the next few miles we would just need to think of other things – for a few minutes anyway, just in case she was going to shield us and not him. We knew, no matter how much he loved her, my father hated having her shield over him. He said it felt like he was being blinded.

"Ready!" he replied. Time to distract ourselves from thinking about last nights, and this mornings, activities.

"So . . . um the game was interesting." Why was it always the one thing I shouldn't think about right now was the only think I wanted to?

"Sure, sure. I am pretty sure that it was the worst game I have ever seen. I mean the Patriots are amazing but it was just so unfairly matched. I mean how did the Bronco's even . . ."

" _Jake, I'm sorry I can't do this. Can you pull over?"_ I asked with my gift. After he did I began again, out loud. "I don't want to talk about that horrible football game. And I really don't want to spend the next decade avoiding thinking about you . . . us. What we did. It was wonderful, and magical, and was nothing to be ashamed of. I don't want to have to hid from him."

"Nessie . . ." he just sighed.

"Look at it this way, the sooner he hears what happened the sooner he can start getting use to it. And I'm not so naive that I think it will be fine right away, in fact I assume that it will be pretty bad, for all of us, for awhile, but that can't last forever, can it?"

Jake didn't say anything, so I started taking again. "Look if you think it's a horrible idea, and don't want to do it, then I'll go along with you. But what if something goes wrong? Won't it be worse if my mother's shield slips, or we think she is shielding us and she isn't even home, or they come home and we are in the middle of something and she doesn't know she needs to get her shield up, or what happens when she has class and my father is at home, or . . ."

"Honey, it's okay. I completely agree. I don't like the idea of having to constantly watch my thoughts or look over my shoulder, or make sure Bella is nearby to get to be with you. I've already had one incident where I thought she was shielding Edward and later found out she wasn't even home. Even though everything worked out I do not want to go through that again."

"Alright then, how would you like to do this? He probably already heard about Aunt Rose's involvement in the hotel room, so my father most likely assumes what happened between us, if he didn't already that mother needs to start shielding us. This won't be a complete shock to him." I had three ideas which I shared with Jake. We could:

1) call my mother and have her take her shield down now and just think freely about last night, letting my father hear us all the way home,

2) have her leave it up and think about last night so my father hears us only until we get under her shield,

3) not reveal anything in our thoughts now but talk to my father when we get home, about our decision, while my mother's shield is still up."

"I think we should call Edward and let him know what we are thinking and ask him what he prefers, this is going to affect him too, sweetheart."

"I guess you're right. We should not blindside him. Here goes." I said as I began dialing my father's cell phone.

To say that my father was shocked at our decision was a bit of an understatement. But he saw our point and a variation of option three was decided upon. He wanted a little time to get used to our new relationship status. Jake and I were able to distract ourselves until we were close to the house where my mother had her shield up around us.

Once we parked the car and entered the house our plan was to talk to my parents right away but we were accosted, first by my Aunt and Grandmother. Well I was anyway, I'm not sure they even noticed Jacob was in the car with me.

"Welcome home honey. Are you thirsty," my grandmother asked me. Just by the look in her eyes I could tell they all new.

"Is that what you wore? You should have let me dress you. It was such a special occasion, Nessie," Aunt Rose huffed.

"Did you have a good time?" Grandma Esme asked.

"So everything went as well as we hoped?" My Aunt Rose seemed a bit possessed. She was the one with the whole seduction plan, I just wanted to let Jake have the best birthday possible.

"Thanks, I hunted yesterday, Grandma. I think I look fine, Jacob didn't have a problem with my outfit, Aunt Rose. And 'Yes,' I had a good time and everything was good. I will talk to both of you more in a bit, but right now Jake and I need to talk to my parents. Excuse me, please." I quickly answered each of them before slipping away as best I could. I didn't want to be rude, but I also did not want to put this off, and loose my nerve, or my train of thought. And Jacob was still waiting patiently for me by the door.

Once I escaped my female relatives and made my way to my parents, with Jake, my father informed us that he needed a couple more days to prepared himself, and for us to settle down with our thoughts a bit. Luckily my mother thought she could keep her shield up, continuously, for that long.

My father was handling this better than I could have imagined. Of course he had not heard much of anything yet. Currently he was pinching the bridge of his nose, but quickly dropped his hand when he saw us eyeing him. I knew he was uncomfortable with . . . things but he was trying to not make it too awkward for us. I don't think I even heard him growl at Jake, once. But then again, it was not like last night's events came as a giant surprise to him. He knew we would be together – eventually.

In the future, if anything was too much for him, he decided he would either ask my mother to raise her shield, himself, or he would remove himself from the area. But he did ask, and we agreed, that for a little while anyway, whenever we were intimate, we would text both my mother and father asking my mother to raise, her shield. That way it wouldn't matter if she was home or not, and no _mistakes_ would happen. I just wondered what he meant by "a little while". I didn't get an answer, so I guess we would just have to wait and see.

"Well, I guess that's it then," my father said as we finished discussing everything, "Bella why don't you help Renesmee. I think she needs to go find her welcoming party. You left them rather abruptly, darling and they are clamoring for details at Esme's house. I'm sure your mother can keep them under control."

Yikes!

"Oh, alright." I was not particularly looking forward to this, but after just facing my father how bad could two ladies be? "Jake, I guess I will see you later." I said giving him a kiss before turning to head over to my grandmother's house with my mother.

"Jacob, let's talk." I heard my father said to him just as I closed the front door. Damn! I knew things were too good to be true. But there was no point in my going back. He wouldn't hurt Jake and whatever my father wanted to talk to him about, clearly he did not want to say in front of me. He would get Jake alone eventually, if I stopped him today. I'll just have to ask Jake what they talked about later tonight.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"So you survived Rose and Esme's inquisition I see." I smirked to Nessie as she entered our bedroom.

"Yes, they were more than a little interested to see how . . . um, your birthday went."

"Are you sure they were really asking about my birthday, honey." I knew she was just messing with me, I could see it in her eyes. Rose would want updates on our night together and to see if a new baby would be in everyone's futures sometime soon.

"Whatever do you mean, Jake?" she replied, oozing false innocence.

"Fine if you don't want to talk about it I won't push. I'm sure it was probably embarrassing enough to talk to your grandmother and Aunt about your sex life. Now that you have one." I said embracing her waist and pulling her to me so I could kiss her neck as we talked.

"And don't forget, I can't have a nice and embarrassing sex talk without my mother being there too, after we left you with my dad," she jested. "How did that go, by the way? He didn't hurt you, did he?" she asked eyeing me up and down, probably looking for any signs of a struggle. She knew if anything did happen I would have healed physically by now, but might still show some signs of a fight like a torn piece of clothing or something. She seemed to relax after seeing nothing of the sort.

"Nessie, everything was fine," I chuckled. "Edward knew about the change in me when we came back. I think it happened during, or soon after we _did it_ , for the first time, last night," I winked at her. But was that it? Is this how all guys felt after having sex for the first time? "Something shifted inside me and it's like I regained my Alpha status. I hadn't even realized I'd lost, or it shrunk, or something. Somehow . . . I don't know if I'm really making sense but, I don't know exactly . . . but Edward could hear the change in my thoughts, just briefly before we were under Bella's shield."

"You thought about what we did, during the car ride? Jake . . . ?"

"No, honey. But everything is different now. It feels like I've sorta been asleep, or in a fog, for over a year. Like I was only half awake while you were with Nahuel, or making your mind up between the two of us. Almost as if that Alpha part of me had to shut down or be suppressed for awhile, while you two were together. You know . . . so I wouldn't rip his head off, for taking what was mine. I'm not sure exactly how or why but I just feel like I'm back to my old self again."

It was weird. I just told Nessie that she was mine. I know last time I said something like that, it felt so wrong. I remember wincing in embarrassment, that it was wrong to treat Nessie like that, like a possession. But Nessie was mine, just as much as I was hers. We were part of the same whole, and belonged together. I knew that and now I knew she did as well.

Some of the things I went through with Nahuel and Edward this past year - the fear, anger, defeat, among other things . . . it all felt so ridiculous now. Why did I ever feel like that? Nessie was mine, she chose me, she was always meant to be with me. It seems silly now that I couldn't realize it at the time.

"I know what you're talking about Jacob. You have been different today. You're more like you were when I was growing up. Much more confident, in control, and in charge. Much more the way I love you, the way you are suppose to be." She said as we began kissing lightly again.

"You're right. I woke up the this morning and something felt different. I started feeling like my old self; well like myself from when I first phased. Strong and powerful. All of the doubt, weakness, and indecision was gone." I realized then what it was - I had claimed my mate. All those stupid feelings of self-doubt were gone.

"Hold that thought Jake," Nessie said as I went to remove her shirt, she grabbed her phone, and per our arrangement with her parents, sent them a warning text. Bella still had her shield up for the next few days, but they still might hear something, even with the soundproof walls.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think. I hope you are enjoying the story, things are going to get a little bumpy after this.


	53. Answers Found

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Three**

 **Answers Found**

Renesmee's Point of View

The once hot water was now lukewarm and the bubbles were almost gone. I guess I had procrastinated long enough. Not that I was dreading tonight, just the opposite. I was incredibly happy and excited, too excited, and I had turned into a bundle of nerves. I thought a nice long soak in the tub would help me relax. And it did. I had stopped shaking, my heart beat slowed down to an acceptable level, still a little fast but better, and my breathing was under control.

After sneaking a peek at the clock I saw that I had stayed in the bath a little too long and was now running late. I quickly toweled off, pinned my hair up in a messy bun, and slipped on some jewelry, before getting dressed.

"Mom, can you come here for a minute?" I called from my bedroom. A second later she appeared, followed by Aunt Rose and Grandma Esme.

"Oh my goodness, Renesmee. You look so beautiful." If my Aunt Rose was capable of crying I think she would be now.

"Of course she does, she is as beautiful as her mother," Grandma Esme gushed.

"Thanks, guys. But I need a little help, I can't reach." I said making another attempt to pull up the zipper on the back of my dress.

"Here, let me get that for you. Now do you have everything?" Aunt Rose looked me up and down. "The dress is perfect. The heels go well enough, are they comfortable?"

"Why? Will I be doing a lot of walking?" Jake had refused to tell me where he was taking me tonight. He only said to "dress nice".

"You'll be fine." She said, waving off my concerns with a flick of her hand. "Now the earrings and necklace work, but I am not sure about those," she scowled, while pointing to my wrist.

"Aunt Rose, you know I never take off the promise bracelet Jake gave me my first Christmas and this is the one he just gave me this year." I said holding up the lacy birch wood bangle he carved me. "I have to wear it, I love it. If it doesn't work with the dress then that is what I'm changing, not my bracelet."

"Calm down, Nessie. I was just messing with you. It's perfect." She jeered.

"Not funny, Aunt Rose." I was already nervous enough about tonight, I didn't need any more anxiety. Tonight was Jake's and my very first Valentine's Day as a couple. He planned the entire evening and apparently, everyone in the family knew what we were going to be doing tonight except me.

"Do you have a purse to put your things in?"

"A purse? Do I need one?" What would I even put it in? I don't wear makeup, thanks to my flawless vampire skin, and even if I wanted to add a bit of color, makeup won't stick to my skin anymore than it did for the rest of my families. On the plus side, neither did dirt or sweat, so bathing was a purely recreational activity.

"You'll need something to put your ID and phone in, honey. And you should take some cash and a credit card, just in case." My mother answered.

"I'm going to need money?"

"No, probably not. It's just one of those things left over from my human life. Renée always told me to bring my own money when going out, just in case."

Just in case? Of what? But I didn't argue. "Err, sure, I guess." Two seconds later Aunt Rose handed me a purse. I think it was one from my mother's closet. When I went to open it to put in my phone and other items in I saw that she had already taken care of it for me.

"I guess that is it then," I said, giving myself a once over in the mirror.

"One more thing." Grandma Esme handed me a coat. I guess it was rather cold outside, for humans anyway. And apparently I was going to be around them tonight.

As we walked out of my room I found Jake in the living room wearing a perfectly fitted dark Navy Blue suit, with a black button down shirt and long bright blue tie. I knew it was one of the suits Aunt Alice had gotten him years ago, but up until now it had just hung in the back of our closet. I'm glad he took it out. He looked so sexy in it. Jake hardly ever dressed up this much, except the few weddings we went to, I guess. But tonight he looked . . . just , wow.

Even on the few dates Jake and I had recently gone on, he mostly stuck to some slacks and a nice shirt or sweater. Nicer than his usual tee shirt and jeans, but nowhere near as dressed up as tonight.

"Nessie, hi beautiful." He grinned to me, after my father gave him a slight nudge from behind. It looked like he was caught in some trance and forgot how to speak for a second. "You look lovely. Are you ready to go?"

"Um, maybe. Is what I'm wearing okay for what we are doing tonight? Do I look alright?"

"Yeah, I think it might do," he chuckled. "Nessie, you would look amazing in a potato sac."

"Well am I overdressed? Underdressed? Can't you just give me a hint?" I wasn't sure how dressed up to be. I thought a floor length gown would be too much, but didn't want to go too casual with a sundress, so I settled for a cocktail dress. It was in a plain dark silver, with wide shoulder straps, scoop neckline, and a pencil skirt that fell just above my knees, but it had a slit that went halfway up my left thigh, so I was still able to move easily.

"You're just going to have to wait and see, honey. But trust me, you look perfect."

After a quick kiss between Jake and I, since my parents, Aunt and Grandmother were standing right there after all, and a hug to the four of them, Jake and I got in his car and headed off to . . . wherever Jake had planned.

I'm sure, as excited they were for me, they were eager for us to leave as well. Each couple had their own plans for the night as well.

The night ended up being perfect. Knowing how much we both loved them, Jake took me to a vintage car show nearby, followed by dinner and a walk under the stars, and ended the night at the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa, in Whitefield, NH. Valentine's Day unfortunately fell on a Tuesday this year, so we could only stay the one night since we both had class the next day. But before we left, that morning, Jake had arranged for us get side by side massages. It was the perfect end to a perfect Valentine's Day.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were just about to get in the car and head off to school when Alice's yellow Porsche sped past us, stopping in front of the Doc and Esme's house. Alice and Jasper had gone to South America, to see if they could locate Nahuel's sisters, over a month ago.

It was February 18th and they had already missed the first three weeks of classes, after the winter break ended, at Dartmouth, but finding out what was going on with Joham was deemed more important than school right now. I just wondered what their story was going to be to explain their absence, and not draw suspicion. Knowing Alice, I'm sure she had everything all worked out.

"Family meeting." Alice called as she exited her car and vanished into the house.

"I guess she and Jasper found some answers." I surmised over to Nessie.

"Come on," she said grabbing my hand. "Maybe if we hurry we will only miss our morning class, and we can still make it to class this afternoon."

When we walked into the house, the living room had already been rearranged once again to now hold the dining room table. Almost everyone was already sitting down around it, including Nahuel.

"Should we wait for Esme?" Bella asked.

"I think she had mentioned needing to pick up some new swatches for a chair she wanted to recover." Nahuel informed everyone. "She should be back soon."

Alice looked like she spaced out for a second before returning to the present and announcing that Esme was happily off on some design tangent and would be gone for hours. She would let her know everything later.

"So what is this news? Do we need to be concerned?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, when do we get to go find this Joham and kick his butt?" Emmett added with a smirk.

"I don't think that will be needed." Jasper replied, before letting Alice fill everyone in on what happened.

"After searching for weeks, we finally came across Jennifer's scent and followed it until we came across her and Maysun."

"Were Serena and Joham with them?" Nahuel looked hopeful, if they were there, it meant they were no longer around here to do . . . whatever he thought Joham had planned for him.

"No." Alice chirped. "Jennifer and Maysun have not heard from them in over a month. Last time Joham called they were still here. Or at least they were up until a little while ago."

"Here!" I and several others gasped.

"Still?", "Why?", "What are they doing?", "So they are behind the bodies?", "But there hasn't been a body found around here in over two months.", "What does this mean?" Everyone was talking over each other and asking questions at once.

"According to Maysun," Jasper yelled, getting everyone's attention, before dropping back down to his normal speaking voice, "Joham was upset to learn of Nahuel's change in diet. He was _dropping off_ the women's' bodies in a misguided effort to attempt to get him to revert back. He hoped that just the mere smell of blood on a fresh young body would prompt him to relapse back to his true self."

"Jennifer seems to be under the impression that they will be returning home soon."

"Not that I would want to see him, but why would he not just come talk to me?" Nahuel asked no one in particular."

"And why would he leave?" Bella added.

"Would that have worked? Really?" Edward asked. "You changed your diet for a reason. For Renesmee. Nothing he could have said to you could have convinced you to change back. Which is probably also why he left. Since you are no longer with her, he must have assumed, just as we had, that you would be giving up your new diet."

"Do you really think that that is it? That it could be that easy?" Nessie asked.

It did seem a little too good to be true. Not that I really cared much about what happened to Nahuel, but Joham was killing innocent women.

"It's just a theory, but if no new bodies show up, or anything else happens, all we can do for now is wait and see. I found Jennifer and Maysun because they were relatively stationary, just like when I originally located Nahuel and Huilen. Joham and Serena must be constantly moving around because I cannot get a fix on their _blank spot_." Alice cooed.

"Alright, well for the immediate future I suggest we carry on as usual. No need to arouse suspicion. I believe some of us are suppose to be in class soon. Everyone please stick to your school schedules. Just keep your eyes out for anything unusual." Carlisle added.

"Come on Nessie. If we leave now we can make it to French." I said grabbing her hand and began walking us back to the car.

 _"Jake, why are we going so fast, class doesn't start for another twenty-three minutes?"_ Nessie wondered over to me with her gift as we approached the school's parking lot.

"I know, I just thought we could use a little alone time." I said as I pulled into a spot on the back edge of the lot. We were so far away from the buildings I was sure we would not be disturbed.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk," I said with a smirk as I pulled Nessie onto my lap and began kissing her.

We were a bit squished in the front of my Ferrari but I had pushed the seat all the way back, and had made some adjustments to the cars original design as I was rebuilding it so there was even more room up front than this car had originally been designed for. I also had the brilliant idea to make the steering wheel removable, just to be able to get my above average frame in and out of the car, but now realized its other advantages, as I took it off now.

Tap, tap, tap.

What the . . .?

"Dudes! About time." Someone yelled. Looking out the car's side window I saw it was Rob, grinning stupidly and giving me a thumbs up. How had he found us and what was he even doing way back here?

I assumed Nessie wouldn't be mad or embarrassed by the interruption, she never seemed to care what humans thought about her. Just as I thought she smiled and rolled her eyes at Rob.

"Well, that was fun, but I guess we should head to class," Nessie huffed a second later, a bit out of breath, yet a small smile still shown on her face. I think she was also a little upset, not about Rob, but that our make out session was cut short. "Rain check?"

"I probably I could be persuaded into another baby making attempt tonight." I smirked. We had been _trying_ for just over a month and I was loving every minute of it. For all I knew Nessie was possibly pregnant already. We should really stop and buy one of those tests on the way home.

Once I had gotten over the initial shock of her reproductive deadline I jumped completely onboard with her desire to have a child. I had always wanted a baby and while it was sudden, I did not see it as a bad thing. I had know Nessie her entire life after all. We didn't really need time to just be a couple before a baby "got in the way". I know that is how some thought of it, but I didn't. They could only add to our love. I was going to have a family. Well a larger family.

I already considered Nessie my family, she was my imprint and my life after all. And by extension her family was my family, no matter how awkward it was sometimes, mostly in the beginning. But now I would have a family that was mine, Nessie's and my own. Ours. Our Family. I could not be happier just thinking about it.

No one knew how long a half-vampire/part-wolf baby would take to grow, but I assumed it would be at least a little quicker than a normal humans. Maybe, if Nessie was in agreement we could try for more than one child.

But the whole pregnancy issue got me a bit worried. I did not want to see Nessie repeat the trauma Bella had gone through. Hearing my concerns, Edward had come to me a few weeks ago, with Carlisle, to assure me that they did not think Nessie's _eventual_ pregnancy would be as traumatic as Bella's. She was half-vampire after all. Unfortunately none of Nahuel's sisters had given birth so there was no way to be certain.

And added to all of that I was a wolf; but then again, I had been born human. It was only the propinquity to vampires that triggered the wolf gene during adolescence. But I was _living_ with Vampires. Would that have any effect on my child's wolf gene?

There were so many variables, so many questions, so many unknowns. I just had to have faith. I had not imprinted on Nessie just to knock her up and kill her. Surely the imprinting magic would never have bound us together this way, if that was to be the end result.

"Jake, you coming?"

"Huh?" I looked around and saw that Nessie was already out of the car, waiting for me to come out of my contemplative daydream.

We walked towards the picnic tables, just outside our engineering building where we usually met Rob and Andy, and, just as usual, there they were. Rob was wearing a smug look on his face. He better not say anything around school again.

"Rob, hey man. I wanted to talk to you about what you saw back in the parking lot."

"Yeah that was amazing. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see an actual 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE up close. That _was_ you I saw on TV in the bleachers at the Playoffs game, wasn't it? You were sitting in . . . what? The first or second row at the 50-yard line. How many thousands of dollars did you have to drop for tickets like those?"

I hadn't even thought about the cost of the tickets Nessie got me for my birthday. They probably did cost a lot. "Um, they were a birthday present." I simply answered him. I didn't really want to get into it too much.

"A gift?" Rob questioned, a bit disbelievingly. "Yeah, sure it was. Must be nice having that kind of money."

"No Rob. You don't . . . I don't . . ."

"Oh yeah, don't even try to deny it. If you're not loaded then how'd you afford that sweet ride. I wish I had six-figures to splurge on a car. But not everyone has that kind of money to throw around."

Six figures? Is that how much this car would cost if I had bought it?

"It wasn't expensive, Rob. It was a hunk of junk not too long ago, when I first got it. But I did spend a ton of hours working on it. Nessie too, and her Aunt, both lent a hand. Nessie's Aunt actually found most of the parts for it. And Nessie gave me the grill detail as a Christmas present." I added, while pulling Nessie into an impromptu thank you kiss.

"Sorry, Jake, but I still don't buy it. Even if you had to buy the thing, piece by piece, it would still have cost you a fortune."

Sheesh. This never would have happened back in La Push. I had to save up every time I want to buy the smallest part for the Rabbit, and even then it was some second-hand, used, broken down thing, that I would need to rebuild. I hadn't even noticed the change in myself. When did this happen?

Rose and I have been just buying parts online using the family accounts. I never even bothered to think about how much each individual part cost. I guess it was true what Emmett said years ago; that you just get use to having money.

When did this change even happen? It snuck up so gradually. It's not like I went shopping for designer clothes, like some of the rest of the family. I mean I did wear them, but that was only because it was the only thing Alice ever bought for me, it's not like she would even let me shop for myself. And I carved homemade gifts for Nessie's birthday and for everyone on Christmas, those years we celebrated it.

But I guess, thinking back on things, I never thought about how much money I spent on things like food, both at the house and at restaurants when Nessie and I went out to eat. I was enrolled at Dartmouth, which Edward was paying for, that was not cheap. Nessie and I were planning on buying a house just so Seth could fix it up, which we would then pay him to re-do. I lived in an amazing Victorian house with the Cullens and didn't even give a second thought to how all of the furniture and decorations were designer pieces.

Just thinking back on the newest acquisition, the $30,000+ painting, that Esme had just bought, for the hallway, it dawned on me how different my life was now. Especially compared to Billy's broken down little house in La Push, with the paint chipped walls and leaky roof, not that it was like that anymore, thanks to the Cullens, but still . . .

"Rob, I . . ."

"Psssh . . . yeah, whatever. I completely understand getting the car." He started to whisper into my ear. "If that was what it took to get a juicy little slut like Nessie between the sheets, I would have done it too, if I had that kind of mon . . ."

"Jake, no!" I heard Nessie yell just as my fist made contact with Rob's jaw.

"Oh my god!" someone screamed. "Is he dead?"

I was pretty sure I didn't hit him hard enough to kill him. Sure, he was currently not moving, lying on the ground, but I think I just knocked him out.

"No, he's still alive." Andy said after she knelt down and took his pulse. As she slapped him a few times on the opposite side of his head, the jerk began to stir.

"You might want to stay down there, if you know what's good for you." I growled quietly at him.

"Jake, let's just go." Nessie started pulling my arm, but I wasn't through.

No one talks about my Renesmee like that.

I though Nessie might say something to Rob, but she just grabbed my hands, _"Come on Jake, we need to get out of here."_

"Just a minute, sweetheart." I said giving her a reassuring kiss before kneeled down to speak to Rob. He actually had enough sense to listen to me and not get up.

My words came out very slowly and calmly. I didn't want him missing anything. "Rob, do you remember back in September when we talked about the inappropriateness of your comments towards Nessie, and women in general? How did you put it . . . _locker room talk_? Didn't we agree that I never wanted to hear you say anything like that again? Especially about Nessie? She is a lady, just like every other women, and ALL of them should be treated with respect."

"Oh, c'mon J," Hearing him try to speak, I knew I had at least broken his jaw. Good! "Ya kne I dn't mean 'ting by it. Bit I hev a poi't. Ness's 'n leven. She's freakin gogus. Bit look't me, em an eat, nine et moss. How'd yo spect me ta get gurl like Ness, w'out a litt help?"

What? Was he delusional? And did he just call himself attractive and put himself down in the same breath? And insult his girlfriend on top of everything else? Not to mention he completely missed the point of what I had said. Clearly trying to get through to him was not even worth my time.

"Hey!" Andy was rightly pissed by his comment and he wasn't helping his case with either or us. "What the hell is that suppose to mean? What? Am I not pretty enough for you? You think you are so hot you could do better than me? Well, see how you like it . . ."

Andy kept going and going, yelling and slapping his chest while Rob tried backtracking, and apologizing to his, soon to be ex-girlfriend, I'm guessing. I figured my work was done, him being human after all there was not much more I could do, and left them. I quickly joined Nessie and we quickly walked off towards my car. I came to the realization that Rob was not worth getting more worked up over. Nessie didn't care about anything he said, and he was most likely getting dumped.

"Sorry, honey." I apologized to Nessie as we walked at human speed to the car. I hoped this wasn't going to be like the time I punched Edward. "But what he said about you, it just . . . I know he's human and I shouldn't have . . ."

"Jake, I understand . . ."

"Nessie, Jake." Andy called, as she ran to catch up with us. Oh, great. What did she want? I hoped she wasn't going to start more trouble for us. We were already heading home to deal with the current disaster, I didn't really need more from her. "I'm so glad I found you. I could not believe Rob. He had no right to say that about you Nessie. I mean just because you're sleeping with both Jake and Nahuel and . . ."

"We broke up.", "She's NOT sleeping with him," Nessie and I said at the same time.

"Oh, I thought you were . . . whatever." She waved her hand, figuratively blowing off her own assumptions. "He still should not have said that, I'm going to go get him so he can apologize . . ."

"No thanks, I'm pretty sure it would be worthless anyway." Nessie snapped back. This was the first time I had seen her upset by something a human had done.

"But . . ." she began, but I was still pissed and her assumptions were not helping. I was currently working hard to keep from phasing right there. And more importantly, I did not want her upsetting Nessie anymore.

"You know what, I'm done talking to him, I don't want to be anywhere near him, and I don't want him anywhere near Nessie. Right now I don't even want to talk to you. I think you should leave." I could feel a growl building up in my throat, but I refused to let it escape this time. Andy was human too, and I had already done enough damage to Rob.

"Fine, whatever," she huffed, as she turned and left. Good riddance.

A few minutes later, once Nessie and I were safely in the car, and I had calmed down, I felt bad about how I treated Andy. She didn't deserve that. I would have to call her later and apologize.

On the way home Nessie called Edward and gave him a rundown of the afternoon's events. I don't know how bad this was going to be but I knew it wasn't going to be good. And how was Nessie doing with all of this?

"Nessie, I'm sorry about all of that. What Rob said was awful, and I . . ."

"No Jake, don't apologize. This is my fault. I was with Nahuel and now I am with you. They're just humans. Of course they'd jump to that assumption. It's not like I broke up with him in front of them. It's no big deal," she said, but I could feel the hurt behind her words and I could see the tears building up in her eyes that she was refusing to shed.

By the time Nessie and I got home, I had managed to calm her down. Some of the family who weren't in class had been assembled in the living room and Emmett once again starting on his France related move questioning.

"No, Emmett. This isn't why we're moving."

"Damn, Alice. What good is it having you around if you can't tell why we're even moving to the other side of the Atlantic?"

"Hey," she scoffed and Jasper growled.

"We'll have to call Jenks and see what needs to be done," Edward decided.

"I could sneak to his place in the middle of the night sometime and cut the brake lines to his car." I half kidded before seeing Carlisle's condemnation riddled face, and began apologizing. "I'm sorry about all of this. I shouldn't have hit him."

"Don't worry about it Jacob." Edward said. "I understand why you did it. And even though I wouldn't have hit him, he probably would no longer be alive now. You should be commended for your restraint."

 _No kidding._ I thought just so he could hear.

After a minute Edward spoke again. "How many people witnessed the event?"

"Well Andy was there and a bunch of other people were around but I don't really know them. Nessie?" I looked over at her while she was probably thinking of the exact faces that were there. Of course she had much better recall and memory than me.

"Just six, I'll acquire the rest of their names tomorrow." Edward announced. "The others were merely bystanders that came along afterwards. We can handle six."

What is that supposed to mean? They weren't going to kill six innocent people, plus Rob, but I couldn't care less about him right now. But they were planning this because of me? Crap. What had I done?

My mind was racing. I started thinking about how I would do this? How would I be able to protect the humans from the Cullens? They were my family now, how could I fight my family? I didn't want to do that but I needed to fix this. But how could I protect a bunch of weak humans, against all of them, all by myself? But I would have to try. I was a werewolf after all, it was in my DNA. This was what I was made for.

"No Jacob, That's not what we're going to do." Edward huffed. "I'm pretty sure this can all be taken care of easily, with just a little bit of money exchanging hands."

Money? How is that going to solve things?

A couple of days later I found out. That was why they called Jenks. Within a week Rob, and a few others, including Andy, (apparently my apology phone call didn't go over as well as I had thought) had been paid off. I didn't even want to know how much it had cost. In addition to the money Rob received the best medical care, his hospital bills were paid, and he was now enrolled at Cal Tech, 3000 miles away.

I wasn't too happy that Rob seemed to have made out in the end, but at least go the comfort in knowing that he was in a world of pain, at least temporarily, as his jaw healed and he had to eat through a straw for the next two months.


	54. Renée's Call

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Four**

 **Renée's Call**

Renesmee's Point of View

Just as Jake and I entered the house, after returning from school, I turned and grabbed him. I could not wait any longer. And I was not entirely sure how he could, either. We had been in class all morning and all I wanted to do was jump on top of him and never let go. He must have felt the same, I could see it in his eyes, now. I think he was slightly better at hiding his emotions than I was, on his face anyway, because he hadn't revealed anything while we were at school, if you didn't count the now slightly bent, solid steel chair leg he was sitting in.

After we finished another tremendous kiss I grabbed his arm and led him to our bedroom, discarding torn shreds of clothing as we went.

One hour and thirty-seven earth shattering minutes later I was more than satisfied. And judging by the grin on his face, I'm pretty sure he was, too.

"I'm going to go take a quick shower." Jake said while giving me sweet little kisses on my cheek and running his fingertips up and down my arms. Mmmm, even after everything we just did that little gesture still felt amazing.

"Alright, honey. Love you."

I would join him, but that would just lead to more of what we had just done and I knew Jake was hungry. His stomach started growling just as we were finishing . . . um, things. I could shower later. Right now I was headed towards the kitchen to start making us, well mostly Jake, some lunch.

Ring . . .

What was that? As I proceeded to the sound I spotted my mother's phone sitting on the living room coffee table.

Ring . . .

I knew her phone went to voicemail after the sixth ring. Not that it had ever before. Normally it never left her side. But she had left it behind today, not wanting to risk losing, or breaking it, while she and my father were off hunting caribou, just north of Montreal.

Ring . . .

Even though my mother was aware that she could not get hurt by a giant animal, her clothes, these days, thanks mostly to Aunt Alice, left few places, if any, to hold a phone. And my father had his, in case I, or someone else needed to get in touch with either of them, anyway.

Ring . . .

She and my father had been taking a lot of _extended_ hunting trips ever since Jake and I got together. I felt a little bad for my dad, but I loved Jake, and he loved me, and we were not doing anything wrong. And my father kept saying he would get use to us . . . together . . . eventually.

Ring . . .

We were putting a lot on him, but he was handling things as well as could be expected. Even if he was having a bit of trouble with it at the moment, we knew it would not last forever.

Ring . . . (That was ring number six. It would go to voicemail now, and whoever was calling would try my father's phone instead. I'm actually surprised they had let it ring so long.)

For now, he had done what he said he would do. He had said he would remove himself from our general vicinity if _things_ got to too much for him, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. Hence the preemptive hunting trip to Montreal.

Ring . . .

Who could still be calling? Everyone in the family knew to call my father if they could not reach my mother. Maybe there was some emergency. I decided, just to be on the safe side that I should answer it, just in case.

"Hello."

"Bella? Is that you?"

I didn't recognize the voice and had neglected to check the caller id, never dreaming some unknown person would be calling.

"Um, no. I'm sorry she is out at the moment. May I take a message?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Just tell her that her mother called. And that Phil's team will be playing in the area, so we will be stopping by to visit next week."

Nana Renée? I had never met her before. And she was coming here? I grew excited, then nervous, within the span of a half second. I had never met her and she had not seen her daughter in six years. My mother had not aged a day since then, and she looked entirely different than she had from the pictures I had seen of her when she was human.

"Next week? I don't know if that is the best time to come."

"Oh, don't worry. I know my daughter. It'll be fine."

"Um, do you have the address?" Maybe she didn't know we were living in New Hampshire and she was going to be traveling to Washington.

"I think so. Um . . . 121 Farmers House Way. Is that right?"

Of course. She knew my parents were going to Dartmouth for college. Someone must have told her the address. But who? It didn't seem like the smartest thing to do.

"Yes, that is it. But maybe you should talk to Bella first, in case she . . . "

But before I could try and dissuade her, she hung up.

I quickly dialed my father's number. Just as I was finishing explaining Nana Renée's call to him, during a moment where no one was talking, (my father was probably thinking about how to best handle the situation) Jake wandered in and grabbed my waist from behind me with his big strong, perfectly defined arms. Yum.

"Hey, beautiful. Did you decide to skip lunch and go for round three?" he whispered into my ear, but it was probably still loud enough for my father to hear. I guess he didn't realize I was on the phone. My hair probably obscured his view of the phone, and the bedroom was soundproof after all.

I turned around, still in Jake's arms, but waved the phone to him and mouthed that it was my father on the line.

"Oops," he mouthed over to me, while still grinning. We had been trying to control ourselves around my father. Mostly . . . Sometimes. We couldn't always help our thoughts, but we did try to limit what we did and said out loud in front of him. Oops, was right.

"Err, sorry Edward." Jake called to the empty air in front of us. He knew that if my father could hear him whisper he would hear his apology.

"Yeah, sorry dad."

"It's alright. I . . . understand." My father said. He sounded like he was not trying to make a big deal out of it, but I knew better. "Your mother and I will be home later this evening to assess the situation."

"Do we need to have another family meeting?" I sighed, hoping not. So many things were happening lately that seemed to required these family meetings, the last one just happening last month, when Jake had, more than justifiably, punched Rob at school.

"No I don't think that will be necessary. Bella and I should be able to handle this ourselves. But please let the rest of the family know we will be returning early." He said before ending the call.

Humph. That was twice within the span of ten minutes I had been hung up on. At least this one was more understandable. Hopefully by tonight my father will have calmed down.

"Come on, you should eat lunch, then we can go find everybody." I said to Jake as I led him into the kitchen.

My parents returned that night like expected and wanted to know exactly what was said. After I showed my mother and recalled the entire conversation in my head for my father, word for word he seemed relieved. I wondered why, but only briefly, as he handed my mother her phone and told her that she only needed to call Nana Renée and inform her that they would love to see her and Phil, but they were going to be away for spring break next week. Apparently my mother was a horrible liar as a human, but like with everything else, she was perfectly good at it as a vampire.

My mother seemed to think the plan would work if she stressed that they had already booked and paid for everything – the flight, hotel, rental car, etc…

"Just make sure you also stress that we will come visit them this summer in Florida."

"You're going to Jacksonville?" How was just delaying seeing her by a few months going to help?

"No, but we just need to prevent her from coming here, and then this summer we will again have to call and cancel. My mother was always doing things like that, when I was growing up. Making plans, breaking them, making new ones, changing her mind at the last minute, it went on and on. She did the same thing with jobs, religions, fitness and diet fads, just about everything. She probably won't even question it."

"Um, guys, Bella? Do you know what time it is?"

"Of course, it's 11:43. Why Jake?"

"Well I know you guys don't sleep anymore but humans, like your mother, do. You might want to wait to call until tomorrow morning." Jake offered.

"Oh, right," my mother said as she put her phone down. "You guys should be getting to bed, too. We'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, mom, dad." I said giving each of them a hug.

"Night Bells, night Eddie." Jake jeered while he used the nickname he knew my father hated, and we headed off to our room, together.

As I looked back I expected to see my father glaring back at him, but was surprised to see my father actually smiling. Hmmm. That's . . . interesting?

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Don't think about Nessie.

Don't think about Nessie.

Don't think about Nessie's big beautiful eyes.

Don't even think about her long, luscious bronze curls.

Oh, and those long slender legs. They looked so good the other day in the purple skirt she was wearing.

Focus Jacob!

Don't think about her tiny little waist.

Don't think about that little spot on her neck.

Especially don't thing about her tight little . . .

 _"Aurg! Jake, we talked about this. Get control of your thoughts if you want us to continue phasing together."_

 _"Oops, sorry Leah."_

 _"Uh, huh. So I take it that things have_ progressed _with you and your imprint . . . finally."_

 _"Yeah, they did."_ The other day was so much fun. I didn't realize Nessie's stamina . . .

 _"_ _Jake_ _!"_

Hey, it's been two months and this is the first time I've slipped, and thought about the two of us together when I phased with Leah. I was kinda proud of myself; I had done so good until now.

 _"Sorry, you're the one who brought her back up."_ Up until today I've managed to avoid thinking of Nessie in a non PG way while Leah and I were both wolves. I had assumed I would have slipped long before today.

 _"So, how's the hunting going? Kill lots of innocent bunnies?"_

 _"She just nabbed a deer. Nessie usually only drinks one a week, occasionally two, but that's rare."_ Ha, it would take a few dozen rabbits to fill her up.

 _"That's still gross."_

" _Would you rather her feed from humans?"_

" _Of course not, don't be ridiculous."_

" _So what? You want her to starve?"_

" _She's half-human. Can't you make her a burger or something?"_

" _She doesn't eat human food."_

" _I've seen her eat it before, at the La Push bonfires, after Embry's court hearing, and when you help us move in here. A bunch of other times, too."_

" _I never said she_ can't _eat human food, she just doesn't like it, Leah. She prefers the taste of blood. She IS half-vampire, too."_

"Jake? Are you okay?" Nessie was hugging my neck and scratching behind my ear, like one would do to a real dog. I loved it when she would do that, if felt so good, natural, and right, in a weird sort of way. But why did she think anything was wrong?

" _Um, Leah, I gotta go. I'll check in with you same time next week. Okay?"_

" _Sure, whatever,"_ she huffed right before fading away. I guess she beat me to phasing back to human.

"Nessie, what's wrong?" I asked her as soon as I had phased back myself.

"I don't know, exactly. It's probably nothing. I just thought . . . it's silly I guess. I just thought you felt agitated. You looked upset, too, though. What was wrong? Did you hear something?"

"Um, no. Sorry honey. I was just speaking with Leah. Wolf telepathy, remember?" Of course she would. It was silly of me even to ask.

"So what did she say about me that got you upset this time? You know what? Don't tell me. I don't care. And neither should you. I know she doesn't like me. Its fine."

"No, Nessie. It's not. You are my imprint. The most sacred rules for wolves is to not harm another's imprint. That includes mental harm, if only to avoid harming the wolf. She knows that whatever harms you, harms me. Which makes us all weaker – even if it is just the two of us, but it doesn't matter."

"So by hurting me, she's hurting you, and thereby hurting herself?"

"Essentially." I knew she would get it, easily. "That is why it is so forbidden. We need to be strong to do our job correctly. And I don't want her to hurt you regardless of what it would do to me, or her. I never want anything to hurt you, honey."

"I know Jake. But I'm fine. Don't sweat it. Didn't you talk about anything else?" Nessie asked me attempting to change the subject. I guess I should confess my slip up. Better to get it over with now than have her learn about it later from Eddie, or even worse – Leah.

"Um, sort of. I should tell you that I kinda messed up and was thinking about what we did the other day. She saw everything. I'm so sorry honey. Please forgive me. I was trying not to think about it . . . really."

"Oh," she blushed a little embarrassed, before quickly recovering, her facial expression, at least, "well I guess that is understandable. And I knew that was a possibility. But things like that must have happened all the time when you guys lived in La Push, right?"

"Yeah, we've all seen things we wished we hadn't. And shared things we tried to keep private. It's almost impossible not to think about something, especially when that something is as amazing as you are, Nessie." I smirked while pulling her close to me, so I could kiss that little space on her neck that made her make that laughing sigh sound I loved so much.


	55. False Security

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Five**

 **False security**

Renesmee's Point of View

Two Italian subs, heavy on the peppers, a tub of coleslaw, and another filled with potato salad, two bags of chips, a couple waters, one container of strawberries, three candy bars, and a blanket, all fit nicely into the picnic basket, once again. I don't think my potato salad came out as good as the one that Jake made last time, mayonnaise just seemed gross to me on everything, but hopefully he would like it.

Things were going so well between Jake and I, now that we were together. He was so wonderful.

I wanted to try and recreate our first kite flying attempt that was ruined last time when Jake broke his arm, falling out of the tree attempting to retrieve his rouge kite.

I had gone to the store and picked up 5 kites for this afternoon. If we lost one in a tree, there would be plenty of others. I did not want a repeat of last time.

"You are _sure_ you're okay with this?" I asked Jake one last time before we headed out the door to the same location we attempted to fly kites last time.

"Yeah, I think everything will be fine, but if you even see me walk towards a tree make sure you start smacking me over the head. Or tackled me to the ground, or something."

"Hmmm, tackle you to the ground? That sounds like a fun idea," I chuckled over to him.

"In that case, I'll be sure to lose my kite, in a tree, in the first 20 seconds," Jake jested back.

The kite flying went off without a hitch this time, thankfully, but the picnic lunch . . . not so much. The potato salad that I was worried about, he ended up gobbling up in under a minute. But I could tell there was something wrong with the Italian subs I made. I know he liked spicy food, so I put a bunch of peppers in them. I thought I used the same varieties and amounts that he had, but obviously I mixed something up. He never said anything but he didn't eat it as fast as everything else. It actually look like it was a struggle for him to get through. Which was saying a lot for a wolf to not be able to eat something, though he never said a word.

Just like the first time I snacked on strawberries while he ate everything else. And once again I tried to use a strawberry to get him to kiss me, knowing this time the results would be different.

Just like last time, I popped a strawberry into my mouth and slid over so he could eat it, this time he gladly bit it in half and kissed me all in one motion.

The combination of the flavor of the strawberry mixed with the taste of his lips was more than I could bare. It was delicious. He was delicious. What was going on? Jacob's scent had never bothered me before, like it did my family, I actually thought he smelled wonderful. He smelled like the woods, cedar and pine, mixed with motor oil, from working on cars all the time, though that part was not naturally occurring I loved how well the smells mixed together on him.

But this was different. I never thought about how Jacob would taste. How his blood would taste. I haven't drunk human blood since I was a baby, not that Jake was entirely human, but I did not want to start now. I was proud to be able to control my thirst and follow my families vegetarian lifestyle. But more importantly I could never hurt my Jacob like that. I ending up having to break the kiss before I did something I would regret.

I didn't want to alarm him so I just smiled and looked over at some birds that flew into a tree near us. Luckily before Jake noticed something was wrong, both of our phones received a text from my father. He asked us to return home. It seems that my grandfather needed to talk to everyone.

Maybe afterwards I could talk to him and see if he had an answer for why I suddenly craved Jake's blood.

Maybe.

Today could have been a fluke. I didn't want to alarm anyone. I wouldn't say anything unless it happened again.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

The Doc had informed everyone that another two bodies turned up at the teaching hospital, hidden among those donated for students to learn from. This had been going on for the past three months. Just the same as before, all of the donation paperwork seemed to be in order, but Carlisle could smell the venom. Just traces of it, once again. It was still in their system, just along the almost indistinguishable bite marks.

It was more than likely that they must be the work of the same vampire from back in November. But it seemed like a lot of bodies for just one vampire. And the deliveries were getting more frequent. But why was, whoever was doing this, back after being gone for so many months?

Alice assured us it wasn't the Volturi. But then who was it? And why had they stopped for awhile?

It wasn't Joham either. Alice and Jasper were convinced that what Maysun and Jennifer had told them about their father and sister was true. Although Alice could not see them, Jasper assured us he did not sense any deception coming from either of them when they met. And according to them Joham and Serena should have left the area and returned home weeks ago. These bodies were fresh.

Was it another newborn army? But they wouldn't have the presence of mind to hid the bodies like they were. Would they? No. But then again, someone older would have had to create them in the first place.

Alice kept searching and searching and turned up nothing each time. She was getting worried. We all were. I don't think anyone would care, well I cared about the loss of life. But a vampire feeding in the area, _properly_ disposing of their victims, as to not draw attention from humans, was normally nothing to worry about. It was that Alice could not see them, that had everyone so worried.

What were they hiding? Were they planning something big? On the local humans? On us? That was the problem, we had no way of knowing.

Of course all of this worrying could be for nothing, the fact that Alice couldn't see them could just be their own gift.

"I think it is time we went on the offensive." Jasper announced much to some in the room's surprise, but not all.

"Hell, yeah." Emmett agreed. "I don't like just waiting around, for whoever it is, to make their next move. Let's do this."

"We need to draw them out, maybe alert the Volturi." Rose started.

"We need to find them first, we don't even know who _they_ are." Bella needlessly reminded her.

"Rose, Bella is right." Of course Edward would agree with his wife. "What would you suppose we do? Go to the Volturi and tell them some unknown Vampire is feeding from people, but we have no idea who they are, they are not attracting any attention, and we only found out about their presence in the area by chance. They'd think we're crazy. It's a suicide mission."

"He's right. The Volturi won't care. As much as I despise the loss of life, whoever is behind this is behaving perfectly according to our laws." Carlisle reminded us.

"Let's just work on finding the Vampire or Vampire's responsible first." Jasper suggested.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" I questioned.

"I have an idea." He made it seem like whatever he was going to say was the most obvious thing in the world. "One or more of us should get a job at the teaching hospitals procurement dock, to wait for the arrival of the next body. Hopefully whoever this Vampire is will bring the _donated_ bodies to the hospital, themselves."

"Victims!" I corrected him.

"Yes, Jacob, I'm sorry, 'victims'." He said, more to placate me than anything. "Carlisle have you noticed any pattern to the arrival of the . . . victims?"

"Not in the beginning, but as time has gone on, the arrival of the bodies has fallen into a pattern of sorts. Nothing too obvious, but they seem to arrive every four to five days if it is a single body. When two arrive simultaneously they appear every eight to nine days, but only after a ten day break in between a single to double deposit, then once a double victim dump has taken place three days will pass until the four to five day pattern returns."

Huh? Did that make sense to everyone else? Looking around the room, it looked like it did. Whatever.

"So based on that, it seems like the next body should arrive either Monday or Tuesday if they come after four or five days or Friday or Saturday if they follow the eight to nine day schedule." Edward mused.

"Of course, since I cannot be there all the time without drawing unwanted attention to myself, there is a chance more bodies, excuse me, victims, showed up while I was not at the facility, thus throwing my theorized timetable off." Carlisle actually looked like he was sorry that he was unable to be there 24/7.

"In that case, I guess we will have to have someone there all the time then."

"More than one of us, Jasper."

"And whoever it is would need to be able to handle the blood, right?" Bella looked over to Jasper apologetically for even making the observation. She knew how much he would want to be a part of catching whomever was behind this, but it didn't seem possible. He was the weakest when it came to blood and would probably be overwhelmed by the smell and forget all about the vampire we were trying to catch.

"Well, I think that takes me out." Nessie spoke up. Was she crazy for thinking she was going to be one of the ones going before Bella's statement? There was no way she was ever getting close to who was doing this. At least now I didn't have to try and talk her out of it. But I could help, though.

"No, Jacob. If whoever is behind this gets, even a whiff of you, before they get close enough to dump the body, they may change tactics and we would lose our shot."

"Edward, why would they even know I was there? After the army came for Bella and those four Volturi guards came they didn't recognize that the wolves had been there. They didn't know what we smelled like."

"Yes but we do not know who this is, it could have been one of those that witnessed for the Volturi and they would know your scent now."

Oh, I guess that was true. "Sure, sure. So who's left then?"

"I'll go." Bella offered.

"No, it's too dangerous."

"Edward, I'm not a weak little human anymore. I'll be fine."

"I know you could handle one Vampire, darling, but we don't know how many of them there are. I think whoever goes, we should all double up."

"Fine, then you come with me." She offered.

"And leave the rest of us defenseless?"

"Rosalie is right, we should make sure each team contains at least one person with a gift. I won't be able to join you since I work upstairs in the hospital already. Renesmee, Jacob, and Jasper are out. That leaves Esme, Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Emmett and Alice. Do any of you all think you will be unable to handle the temptation of all of that blood?"

"If we are going in groups it should be fine," Esme said hesitantly.

"You don't have to do this, if you think it will be too hard, I don't want you to make yourself uncomfortable, my darling."

"No, I can handle it." She assured her husband. "But we should all make sure we are well fed beforehand."

"A very wise idea. And we will need to make arrangements for everyone to begin working at the hospital. I've made some . . . connections there and believe I can get all of you jobs fairly easily, but the man in charge of the procurement department can sometimes be difficult . . . um, Rose, would you mind accompanying me."

What was Rose going to do, to convince this guy to hire the six of them?

"Rose is just as capable of _dazzling_ men, as I am with women." Edward leaned over and whispered an answer to my questioning thoughts once again.

"Yeah, and she better only be dazzling him." Emmett chuckled, but I could tell he was a bit disturbed at the thought of his wife flirting with another man, as well.

"Emmett, don't be ridiculous. I am more than capable of getting any man to do exactly what I want, without even having to lay a hand on them," she smirked.

"Alright then, if that is settled I propose the following coupling - Bella and Rose, Emmett and Alice, and Edward and Esme." Carlisle suggested.

"But I can't see anything." Alice whined.

"That is why I believe you would be best paired with Emmett, his size and strength should more than make up for it, and we are not sure why you don't seem to be able to see anything. If you are the one to confront them you may still be able to see something then, when needed."

Eventually, with a little more dazzling, everyone involved was able to rotate schedules with school and hunting but it turned out it was another dead end. The bodies were delivered by some intermediary, transport person. Edward was able to find out that he was a paramedic and this was just something he moonlit in. The guy would just receive a call on his cell phone to pick up a body, per usual. The only thing that was different when he was picking up the Vampires bodies was that no one was there to meet the transport person, his victims were just waiting for him on a gurney, all alone, with the completed paperwork laying on top.

Jasper tried running the number the transport guy had but the cell phone was traced back to a burner phone. He put a trace on it but the phone was never used again. Whoever was doing this was meticulous, and a genius. But that led to its own suspicions. They were almost being too careful, almost as if they knew we were trying to track them down and we're doing everything in their power to stop us.

At least Nessie and my plans to secretly help Seth, financially, were going well. Esme thought our idea to buy a house to have Seth refinish was perfect. She was able to help us whenever we had a question or needed some advise. She even found us the perfect house. It was a small place a couple of miles from where Seth was currently living. Esme checked out the place beforehand and let us know that the house didn't need that much work, some paint, spackle, refinishing the floors, updating appliances and lights, and fixing a few leaky faucets. AN easy flip. The only major thing that needed to be done was that a new septic tank needed to be installed. But we told the intermediary that we hired to represent us, so Seth would not know we were behind this, that they were to make it clear to Seth that he was to just contract someone to remove and replace the unit. All of the other things we were sure he could handle. Our intermediary, Jack Fisher, handled everything perfectly.

* * *

"Alright, honey. You understand the rules, right? Run at top speed, no holding back, to the old fallen maple tree by the river. No pushing, tripping, jumping on or over the other person . . . or wolf, no riding on the other one, and no knocking the other over. First one there wins bragging rights for all eternity. Or until you turn seven and we do this again." I laughed. Nessie was getting stronger and faster every single year. If I was ever going to win a race with her, I think it had to be now. She had gotten faster and faster over the years and could now outrun me while I was still human, but I was pretty sure I could still take her as a wolf. "Got it?"

"I think I can remember that, Jake." She snickered back to me. It was the first time Nessie and I were going to race while I was in my wolf form.

She would beat me all the time if I stayed on two legs, nowadays.

"Okay, then on your mark . . . Get set . . ."

"Go," Nessie yelled, as she took off ahead of me.

"Hey you, little cheat." I called after her right before I quickly phased.

As she ran, I faintly heard her chuckle and yell back, "you never said anything about me not getting a head start in any of your rules."

The tree we were running to was deep in the middle of the White Mountain National Forest. It took me nearly 35 minutes to get there, though she had gotten her head start. After phasing back and tagging the tree I could tell that I still managed to beat her here by a good 2 minutes, I think. My reputation and pride were intact for now, however slimly.

Not that I really minded. If Nessie could run fast, it meant she could escape an enemy, if ever needed. Which meant she was better protected. I just hoped it never came to that.

As much as I didn't like him, maybe it would be a good thing if Nahuel and I spent some time together to figure out how closely he, and Nessie by proxy, resembled a full vampire, physically at least. Was he as strong and fast as them? I didn't know and had never bothered to find out. But if it was a matter of Nessie's safety, I probably should. I know Nessie did have some limitations. She obvious needed to breathe and sleep, so she couldn't run forever; she would eventually get tired. And whenever we had done any type of fight training she'd be sore the next morning and her muscles would ache, not for long though, she healed as quickly as I did. And I didn't mind giving her massages, but it was a reminder of her human side; her weaker human side.

That was one of the weird things about being a wolf. I could run, and run, and run and my muscles would be fine. Sure my mind would get tired from a lack of sleep, but my muscles never tired or burned. I was an endless ball of energy.

On the other hand, mentally Nessie was far superior. Her mind never shut off or stopped working, even while she slept. She was always learning and remembered everything.

That was why we stopped fight training last year. There was nothing left to teach her, and it's not like she would forget anything that she did learn. But maybe we should keep going if she was getting stronger. Perhaps she could learn to fight now, not just escape from a vampire and run away. Should we move from evasion to attack, I wondered?

"Hi, slowpoke." I jeered over to Nessie as I saw that she had finally arrived. I can tell she was panting and really out of breath. I hadn't even run that fast. I know I was faster as a wolf, then on 2 legs, but I never really stopped to consider how much faster I was.

"Hey, . . . Jake," she wheezed.

"Are you okay?" I chuckled.

"Me?" she questioned, while still gasping for breath, "never better. I almost . . . had you there, . . . I bet by this time next year, . . . you'll be trailing . . . my dust . . . the whole way."

"Really, 'cause to me, it looks like you're about to keel over, Nessie honey."

"Just give me a minute . . . Jake . . . to catch . . . my breath, . . . you'll see, . . . I'm fine."

We rarely ever competed over things, but I could see how badly this was getting to her. Probably because of how utterly I had beaten her.

"Sure, sure. So you're ready to hunt then?" I asked after exactly one minute. I knew she needed at least a few more to rest and get her breathing under control, but she was just being so stubborn, like she could be sometimes. I thought I'd tease her a bit, and give her a bit of a hard time. I didn't think there was anyway she'd take me up on it.

"Ready when you are. I bet I'll get the largest deer."

"You're on," I said, as I held out my hand so we could shake on it. But as she lightly touched my fingers, she was off in a blur. Aurg, she did it to me again!

I briefly thought about letting her win this time, but she was so cocky. Right that second the wind changed direction and I picked up the scent of a heard of a deer. It was like it was destined to be. I immediately phased and took off running in their direction. I pushed my legs as hard and fast as they would go. Even at high speeds I was eerily, deadly silent, especially for something my size. The deer didn't even know I was there. Quickly but quietly, creeping closer, as to not spook them away, I spotted a large male on the edge and pounced. He tried to run but I got him.

Eight minutes later, not only had I successfully taken him down, but eaten a few bites as well. I wasn't really hungry but didn't want to waste the animal. I believe this was my fastest time yet. Nessie had run the other way and was no longer in sight, but I knew I had won. The rest of the herd had taken off somewhere, I'm not sure exactly where to, but I think it was in her general direction.

A few minutes later, I got my answer. The herd came running back, almost directly towards me, but veering off to the side slightly, they had been scared off by something . . . Nessie, I'm assuming, and I was right.

Off towards the distance I could see her just as she was chomping down on some large Buck. As I jogged over to her to gloat, she proudly proclaimed herself the winner.

"What are you talking about Nessie? I clearly won. I brought down my deer at least ten minutes before you."

"Jake," she looked at me like I had two heads, "the contest wasn't about who could do it the fastest. Don't you remember, I said - who could bring down the _biggest_ deer."

Thinking back on it I knew she was right, her deer was clearly bigger than mine, I screwed up and I only had myself to blame. Do'h.

At least she thought it was funny, but did she have to laugh quite so loudly? I guess it was a little funny, and I began laughing myself.


	56. Negative after Negative

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Six**

 **Negative after Negative**

Renesmee's Point of View

Come on, come on. Five minutes was an eternity to wait. Couldn't someone invent a ten second pregnancy test or something?

Refusing to spend another minute waiting for the stupid thing to give me another negative result, I ran out of the bathroom, to distract myself, until it was time. Jake had run to the store and my father was in class. The house was empty except for me and my mother. I found her in the library upstairs, but she was on the phone. I thought everyone else in the family was hunting or in class. Who could she be talking to?

Not wanting to interrupt I just hovered by the door until she was done.

"No, mom, that is not what I am saying. Of course we would love to come visit you. But we just can't right now." She was talking to Nana Renée. She must be calling to give her the prearranged excuse as to why she and my father would not be visiting like they previously agreed.

" _Why not sweetie? I thought everything was all set?"_ I heard my Nana's voice say through the phone.

"It was, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Internships like this don't come along every day. I was lucky to have been chosen to work with such an esteemed team."

" _An internship? But I thought you were majoring in art?"_

"Close. I'm an art _history_ major, mom. And this trip will give me the opportunity to study some major works of Renaissance Art up close, that I would not be able to get any other way."

 _"Can't you just go to a museum if you want to look at a bunch of old paintings? We have museums in Florida, too."_

"These aren't paintings that are shown in museums, mom. They are too delicate for public viewing. I'll be watching an entire restoration process. And if I'm lucky they might even let me help."

 _"Oh, I see. And how long is something like that going to take."_

"It's a fairly long and delicate process. One painting could take three years or longer, depending on size and condition."

 _"Three Years! You don't intend to stay that long do you?"_

"I was planning on it. Like I said, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

" _But what about school? And your husband? Won't Edward miss you, being gone so long?"_

"He's coming with me. And there is a college there that we are going to transfer to. Mom this is really a wonderful opportunity, and I am very excited about it. Can't you just be happy for me. It's not . . . forever. I'll see you when I get back."

" _Oh, alright. Well I guess you've made up your mind about this."_

"I have."

" _Well have fun, then. I miss you and love you Sweetie."_

"I love you too mom."

" _Bye, sweetie."_

"Goodbye, mom." My mother said then turned off her phone and walked over to where I was standing, wrapping me in a tender hug.

"You didn't tell her what school it will be, or even what country you're pretending to go to," I pointed out to my mom.

"That's right." She responded sadly. I guess that her goodbye was really her last goodbye to her mother. "Can I see you phone for a second?"

"Um, sure. Why?"

"I am updating my and your father's cell numbers. The current ones won't work after today. This way if she tries to call again, she won't be able to get in contact with any of us. Charlie and almost everyone else who needs them has already gotten our new phone numbers. Please let Jake know about the switch when you see him."

"Alright. Are you okay mom?"

"I'll be fine. I knew this was coming for awhile now. What's going on with you? Did you need something?"

"Err, well I just was waiting for something and needed a distraction." I didn't want to really bother my mother with my problems now. She had enough on her mind. But she was a vampire and I knew how her brain worked. She could think about multiple things at once.

She could be upset about the loss of her relationship with her mother, read _Wuthering Heights_ for the millionth time, and compose an essay for school in her mind all at once, while also having a conversation with me.

"Oh," she said as the realization of exactly what I was waiting for hit her. "Well would you like me to check the results with you?"

"Yes, please." I said as I braced myself for the results. Maybe this time would be different.

Twenty-two seconds later we saw the results.

"What is wrong with me, mom?" I was now sitting on my bed, pathetically crying into my mother's shoulder.

"There is nothing wrong with you. These things take time. It doesn't happen right away for everyone. Sometimes it takes years."

"I don't have years. I'm almost six. What happens if I don't get pregnant within the next few months? I wasted so much time with Nahuel. This is all my fault. I'm being punished for what I did, making Jake weight for me. Now we'll never have a baby and it is all my fault, because I could not be satisfied with how perfect Jacob was, I wanted more than I deserved. Now we are both paying for it."

"That is not true. You took the time you needed to find who you truly wanted to spend your forever with. There is nothing wrong with that. Jake understands that and he loves you. Just relax, you are not helping yourself getting all worked up like this."

"But it happened right away for you and dad to get pregnant with me, Right? Like the first time you did it."

"Well yes," my mother looked a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I heard the stories, and had figured out the timeline. "But that is just my point. I wasn't putting pressure on myself to get pregnant. You should not either."

"That's hardly a fair comparison. You didn't even think you could ever conceive with dad."

"True, but beside the point. Renesmee, honey, if you are really worried something may be wrong why don't you have Carlisle take a look at you, make sure that you and Jake are compatible and nothing is wrong. If there is something, maybe he can fix it."

Grandpa Carlisle had been my doctor since I was born. It was not like I could go to a regular doctor, what with my half-vampire side and all that it entailed. I guess some would feel weird having their grandfather also be their doctor, but it was just normal for me.

The following morning my grandfather had freed up his schedule and met Jake and I in his office.

Jacob was just as worried as I was. It was now June and we had been trying to get pregnant for five months, to no effect. Each month I took a test and each month it was negative. I thought it must be my fault, while Jake, of course assumed it was his. I just hoped whoever it was, my grandfather could fix it. Did I just need some vitamins? Or maybe drink more blood? Or cut it out entirely? Should we be doing it in a different position? No that couldn't be it, there wasn't a position we hadn't tried, much to my and Jake's amusement. Mmmm, happy memories.

At least I was able to control my new cravings to drink from my Jacob. It had been two months, since the kite flying afternoon when I first had a problem. I had hoped it would be nothing more than a freak onetime thing, but it wasn't, and I was too ashamed to mention it to anyone. But I didn't need anyone's help. I was able to control my thirst for him. It was not exactly uncontrollable, but merely uncomfortable, and mostly, only when Jake's wonderful scent was combined with actual food. I just needed to avoid kissing him while he was eating.

"Renesmee?"

"Huh? Sorry, what?" What had I missed? I never lost focus like that normally with my vampire brain. Normally I could concentrate on many things at once, just like a full vampire. I must really be preoccupied.

"I was just telling you and Jacob that I will need to draw some blood from both of you, if that is possible, I already have a small sample of Jacob's blood, but I would like to get a larger one to look for some specific things, as well as needing to get a few other samples from both of you, and do an internal exam on you, Renesmee. Is that alright?"

"Oh yes, that's fine with me. Jake?"

"Whatever you need, Doc," he responded.

"Alright then, shall we get started?"

After my grandfather was done running all of his tests on us, he concluded that there was nothing physically stopping us from getting pregnant, as far as he could tell, anyway. We just needed to keep trying. He suggested we get away. Take some time. Go on vacation and relax.

"But what about the bodies that keep turning up?" I asked him. "Do you think it is safe?" More bodies, as much as two per week, were turning up now. My grandfather was getting worried the humans would notice something was up. We were all worried in all honesty. And Jacob was getting more and more upset with the loss of life. Doing nothing went against his very nature. Unfortunately there was nothing to be done yet. We had no idea who was behind the body dumps or why.

Uncle Jasper was trying to follow the paperwork back to the source, but whoever was behind this had covered their tracks completely. Uncle Jasper, and everyone else, kept running into dead ends.

"All the more reason for you to not be around here," he assured me.

After I thought about it some more I realized it sounded like it was a wonderful idea and Jacob was in complete agreement with me. The school year had just wrapped up so we would not miss any classes and if we left soon we could be back before it started up again in September.

"So Nessie, where would you like to go? France? China? Egypt? The moon?" Jake chuckled.

"Um, La Push?" I asked. I wasn't sure how possible it would be and seeing Jacob's reaction I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. His face fell and his once happy grin now looked so sad. I know we both wanted to go back but it was too big of a risk, me being a half-vampire and all. Who knows if my vampire half would trigger a new round of young wolves to phase for the first time. What was wrong with me? Why did I even have to suggest that? I should have been thinking. But I know he missed his home and I really did want to go and see everybody, too. I miss them and my Grampy Charlie. And I know Jacob missed his family and Pack even more than me. Maybe . . . someday, it might be possible to go, or for them to come here, like Seth and Leah did. Not permanently, like them, but maybe an extended visit.

"Well if there are no objections I'm sure Esme wouldn't mind lending you Isle Esme for a month or two." Carlisle offered.

Jacob and I just looked at each other and smiled. We thought that it sounded like a wonderful idea.

Then my grandfather added, "And if I may suggest, on your way back you might want to stop off, on a bit of a detour, and visit the Amazon Coven. Zafrina, Kachiri and Senna would love to see you again, Renesmee."

I haven't seen Zafrina in so long. Since I was a baby, almost. And I did promise to keep in touch. This seemed like the perfect time to visit. If Jacob was okay with it, that is.

"Zafrina was the one who could put images into people's minds, just like you?" Jake asked me.

"Not exactly. She could project illusions to multiple people at a time without having to touch them. I wish I was as powerful as she is."

"Nessie, you show people your thoughts and memories. That is real. What she makes people see is fake. Your gift is so much more special." Jake said trying to make me feel better. But he was wrong.

"Almost. I could show people things that are not true if I choose to, but again I would have to touch the person while doing it and can only show one person at a time." Maybe while we were visiting she could help me develop ,y gift further, to be more like hers.

"Well if we are going all the way to Brazil I guess we should start making some travel plans. When did you want to go?" Jake asked me seeing my renewed happy expression.

"Is next week too soon?" We would need to book plan tickets, arrange for the housekeepers to open the house and stock the frig, and a few other things.

"I believe that is doable." My grandfather informed us. "Let me just make a few calls and I will arrange everything for you. You'll only need to pack and show up at the airport at the appropriate time." Then he looked like he thought about something for a second. "Jacob, when you went fishing with your father, did you ever learn how to operate a boat? I know Renesmee, you have not. Am I correct?" I just nodded. "Well Jacob, if you are not able to drive it I can arrange to have someone meet you at the dock and shuttle you back and forth, to the Island."

"What kind of boat?"

"Just a speed boat we use to take us back and forth, I believe it is a 2007 Doral Elite 235. It is fairly new. You may remember Edward replaced the one that seemed to disappear after his and Bella's honeymoon."

"A speed boat? I think I can handle that." Jake chuckled, but by the look on his face, I could tell he was excited to drive my grandfather's boat. It was probably really nice, much nicer than the one Billy had. I wonder if he would be upset if I got Billy an early Christmas present? But that would have to wait until we returned. Right now there was so much to do if we were leaving in a week.

"Well if we're going to Isle Esme I need to go buy a few new things to wear," I said.

Jacob gave me the strangest look, like I suddenly grew horns or something.

"Hasn't Alice already bought you all the clothes you'll ever need for a lifetime, three or four lifetimes actually?"

"Yes, for cold rainy weather. but this is different, the weather is actually warm down there. And I'm going to need her help." It was partially the truth, but I didn't want to tell Jake what I really wanted to get, I wanted it to be a surprise. I thought it would be nice to get some stuff that Jake had never seen before . . . some _night time stuff._ Lacey, Slinky, maybe even a little Sleazy. I normally never wore anything special to bed, just my cotton pajamas. I wanted to find something he would really like. I wanted to look nice for him.

"Alice?" I called with a slightly raised voice. She was next door, at her house, so I wasn't sure if she would hear me or not, but two seconds later she appeared in the doorway.

"What is it sweetie?" she asked me.

"Can you take me shopping?" I half asked, half cringed.

She broke into a smile and began pulling me towards the door while asking, "Do you want to go right now?"

Ha, I never would have called her if I wasn't planning on leaving right that very second, knowing Alice and her nature.

"Sounds good." I chuckled as she practically shoved me into her Porsche.

The Alice shopping trip turned out to be everything I had hoped, and partially dreaded, it would be. I thought we would just go to the mall and hit Victoria's Secret and a few other stores and be done with it. But Alice, being Alice, had other ideas. Especially when I told her what I needed to get. After the mall, which of course contained a Vickie's we drove down to Boston and went to La Perla, and a couple other places, I had never even heard of before, and then back to Nashua, NH to go to Frederick's of Hollywood. But it was worth it in the end. Of course it took all day, but I got the most amazing things, including some summer ware and beach clothes for Jake and me. I think Jacob is going to be very, very happy and hopefully some of my new bedtime wardrobe will even survive this trip. Jacob had a tendency of getting overly excited and I have had to replace more than one pajama set. But then again I ruined more that one of his special "Alice shorts". That was a less than fun day, having to go to her and request some replacements. I assumed she knew what had happened to them, even if she could not _see_ us. She knew what we were doing at night now. The whole family did.

Emmett had been overjoyed at our new relationship status. For some reason he was forbidden to harass my mother about her sex life, but mine and Jake's seemed to be open season for him. Maybe when we get back I will have to have a talk with my mother and see what exactly she said to him to get him to leave her alone. Not that he ever said anything to me, but I heard him giving Jake a hard time, every now and then.


	57. Don't Make Us Go Home

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Seven**

 **Don't Make Us Go Home**

Jacob's Point of View

"Esme said to tell you to stay as long as you like." Bella told us as she wrapped Nessie and I in a hug after we exited the car. "And don't worry about being back in time for the school in September. Come back when you're ready."

After I grabbed our luggage out of the trunk we began to walk towards the airport entrance. I had fit all of my new clothes that Nessie had bought me, and my toiletries into one bag, but Nessie for some reason needed three suitcases not to mention her carry-on and the "extra bag" from Rose. She had practically thrown it at Nessie right before we got into the car to come to the airport.

"Here don't forget these," Rose had gleefully exclaimed. Looking in the bag, Nessie and I saw it was full of pregnancy tests, which caused Nessie to blush and Edward to cringe. At least he didn't start growling. "Make sure you take one every week, darling" she added.

I guess Bella's statement about us staying as long as we wanted wasn't exactly true. We would need to return home pretty much immediately if Nessie did become pregnant. That was the point of our trip after all. And nobody knew what Nessie's pregnancy would be like, so there was no way I was taking any chances. Rose was correct, she would need to take one every week, while we were gone, just in case.

Nessie used to get her period for only a few hours every five days when she was younger, and grew faster. Over the years, as her aging slowed down, so did her periods. Now she got them every ten days and it lasted for (almost) half a day. I don't know if that was better or worse than having it once a month for four or five days, like I had found out, most women experienced. Either way they would be gone forever in about a year and a half, when Nessie stopped aging, as she turned seven.

"Thanks Aunt Rose," Nessie had said while still looking slightly embarrassed.

Just as I was about to get into the car behind Nessie, Emmett pulled me aside.

"Hey, Jake? I noticed you could use some help in the whole 'baby making process'," he snickered. "I put a few things, for you, at the bottom of the bag as well. I wouldn't open it in front of Edward though," he added with a wink while playfully punching me in the arm.

Oh, great! What did he do? I guess I would have to wait and find out though, since he had grabbed the bag from me and put it in the trunk of the car with the rest before disappearing back into the house with Rose. He must really not want me looking in that bag right now.

But what on earth could be in the rest of Nessie's bags? She knew we were going to a private, secluded, deserted island, right? I wonder if Alice _helped_ her pack? Probably since Nessie had asked her to take her shopping.

"I've contacted the Amazon coven, they're expecting you but not at any particular time, just give Alice a call and she should be able to tell you approximately where they are, then you can just show up whenever you feel like it. And have fun." Trying (and failing) to be discrete, Bella leaned in and whispered into Nessie's ear, "Please just try to relax, everything will work out. I know it."

Sure, just relax and pee on this stick every Thursday, no big deal. No pressure. Right? Wrong. Hopefully I would be able to fill Nessie's days (and nights) with enough _fun_ activities that she would be able to relax, at least 6 out of every 7 days.

"There will be a new cleaning crew at the house for you, they are scheduled to arrive every two weeks. After seeing the previous crews reaction during Bella's and my last visit we thought it best to replace them," Edward said a bit apologetically. We all knew the story of what happened with Bella when Nessie was conceived. The cleaning lady was terrified of Edward and worried over Bella's imminent demise, at least that's what she thought at the time. I could not imagine what she thought seeing Bella returned, this time as a Vampire, during their trip last summer.

"Thanks, dad. I love you guys. We'll call as soon as we land." Nessie said giving them one last hug, before we went through security and waited for our flight to be called.

The flight to Rio was long, but not as bad has going back to Forks. This trip took only about half the time and we arrived in Rio a little after seven in the morning on July 23rd. Even being in the larger first class plane seats, my overgrown frame was always uncomfortable in the still-too-tiny seats.

"Hey, what do you think about staying in Rio for a week or two?" I asked Nessie. "We could rent a hotel room around here, and enjoy some of the festivities that are going on." It looked like there was a giant party happening in the streets. I wonder if this happened all the time here or not, but whatever it was, it looked like it could be fun.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jake."

We ended up finding a nice hotel right in the heart of Rio de Janeiro. I didn't really enjoy living out of a suitcase, so once we got up to our room I went to unpack my bags, and Nessie probably wanted to hang whatever clothes she brought (she was being secretive about two of her bags for some reason, but I didn't want to push). And I was more than a little curious about what Emmett had hidden under the pregnancy tests. Once all of my clothes were put away and Nessie hung most of hers, she didn't even touch the two others, I dumped the contents of Rose's bag onto the bed.

Now I knew why Emmett didn't want Eddie seeing what he packed for me. There was a bottle of Viagra, a pump - with a note, explaining that I should use it if the pills didn't work, and a couple of books. One was a copy of the _Kama Sutra_ , and the other was one of those yellow and black Dummy books. This one was titled _Procreation for Dummies_.

"When we get back to New Hampshire I'm going to kill your uncle" I half joked over to Nessie.

"I'll help," she said while twirling around, looking a bit confused, at the pump. Not wanted to explain, I just grabbed it from her, broke it in half and threw it in the trash, along with all of Emmett's other _helpful_ gifts. After a second of thought I retrieved the _Kama Sutra_ book, and placed it on the nightstand. That could be rather inspiring and enjoyable, actually.

We thought it would be fun to hit at least one club or bar or music/dance place each night, we were on vacation after all. The drinking age here was only 18 and we both looked like we were in our twenties, which our IDs confirmed, not that anyone checked.

On the first night we both tried our very first alcoholic beverages. They didn't seem to do anything to either of us but they tasted really nice, especially the fruity one that Nessie ordered. I had a sip of it, just to see what it would taste like. While she normally didn't like human food, she surprised me by even ordering it in the first place. I think she really just wanted the colorful umbrella that it came with, which she immediately took and placed in her hair. But then she surprised me again and ended up finishing the entire drink, before dragging me up, onto the dance floor. That was another first for us, if you didn't count us dancing at Sam and Emily's wedding, which I did not. My god, she was sexy when she danced.

When we got back to our hotel room I found out what was in the two bags Nessie had kept hidden from me. Well, I got to see one thing anyway. It was light blue, lacy, and more see-thru than not. If she had two entire bags full of outfits like that then I was the luckiest guy in the world. Well, that's not true. I already was the luckiest guy in the world, this just brought things to a whole new level. Nessie was naturally, completely, beautiful, but seeing her in the nightie she wore to bed was just beyond amazing.

The next eleven days, well days AND nights, were a wonderful repeat of our first one in Rio. Most nights we went to the Lapa Neighborhood where a majority of the samba and choro bars were. Each night the music and dancing spilled out onto the street, turning the entire area into a giant party.

Since we ventured out to the bars and clubs late at night, we ended up sleeping in, until about 11am. Once we woke up we made love, called room service, ate, and then made love again before finally leaving the hotel room for the day.

While Emmett's book was put to good use, we didn't just drink and have sex the entire time we were here. Nessie and I spent our days exploring some of the attractions offered in Rio.

We swam in the Lagoa Lagoon and surfed off of Arpoador beach. And, of course, we had to catch at least one soccer, well "football", game at Maracana Stadium.

After one particularly long but fun night we were both a little worn out, so the next day we took an easy walk through the Jardim Botanical Garden. They had some beautiful flowers and trees there.

We climbed Sugarloaf Mountain, the back side, facing the ocean, as to not be seen. I don't think many people actually climbed it. Most took the cable cars to the top, but we weren't most people. _We_ were a werewolf, and half-vampire.

We ran, at a slow boring human speed, through Tijuca National Park. We ended up turning our run into a game. Since there were so many humans around we couldn't go fast so we did the opposite, seeing who could run the slowest, while still technically "running". It was hilarious at first but that, too, got a bit boring, until we started making stupid faces at each other, while doing our slo-mo running.

I was going to suggest to Nessie that she might want to stop and hunt while we were in there, but it was currently daytime and there were just too many other tourists walking around, so I asked her if she wanted to come back that night. It had been over a week, at that point, since she had last hunted, back in New Hampshire. But she informed me that she wanted to try and live off of human food this trip. She seemed to be doing fine, and she assured me she was not having any problem with her thirst. Nessie hadn't mentioned what her reasons were, but I had not seen the harm. Nahuel had been able to make the change, without any ill side effects.

At night, once it started to get dark, we would pick a local restaurant, for dinner. We tried to hit a different one each night. The food around here was amazing; nice and spicy, just like the way I liked it. Even Nessie seemed to like it, or at least she didn't make a disgusted face as she ate.

After dinner we would hit some of the bars or clubs before returning to the hotel, making love one or two more times, and then finally falling asleep, before we woke up the next morning/afternoon and started all over again.

Tonight, we decided to go to this nice restaurant, on the corner by our hotel, partially because it was conveniently located near the club across the street, where we had planned on also going to see a Samba Band play.

Since we arrived in Rio I had been pretty much living in tee shirts and jeans, just like at home, but we got dressed up tonight. It was warm here, so I went with a light blue button down shirt and rolled up the sleeves, paired with some beige dress slacks, but I paled in comparison to my angel. Nessie was in this crimson red, incredibly sexy, slip dress that hugged her curves in the nicest way. For the millionth time I wondered how I got so lucky that this beautiful goddess fell in love with me.

The food at the restaurant was great, but our waiter, Antônio, kept ogling Nessie all night long. He was really getting on my nerves. Nessie noticed his leering, and my reaction, of course, but she, thank goodness, laid her hand on my arm and sent me some calming thoughts and feelings, just in the nick of time, so I didn't rip his head off, right then and there. She could _usually,_ always, get me to relax; which I kept trying to do with her help, but then, Antônio would brush up against her when he walked by the table. Every. Single. Time. And I got all worked up, all over again.

"Jake, do you want to just go?" We had just finished our entrée and were waiting for the dessert we ordered earlier.

"Yeah, I don't think I can tolerate that sleaze ball anymore."

"I'm sorry Jake, honey. Did you want to get the desserts to go?"

After I paid the bill and we were waiting for our dessert, Antônio, came back, minus our food. He had a bowl in his hand, which I figured he was suppose to be delivering to some nearby table, but instead he was preoccupied, trying to look down Nessie's dress, so much so that he ended up dropping the bowl of soup down it.

That was it, I had had it and was pissed! I knew I couldn't make a scene and was working hard to just not phase right in the middle of the restaurant.

A scene – HA!

I really wanted to bite the guy's head off. But he was only human and I couldn't. Well, technically I could, but I shouldn't. Nessie, of course not being hurt in the slightest by the scaldingly hot soup, managed to drag me outside before I phased. Once out, I was able to take a few deep breaths and calm down enough that we could walk back to the hotel.

Okay, I might have gone down an alley and punched a brick wall or two, first. Getting some of the aggression out made me feel much better. Then we walked back towards the hotel.

"How are you doing, Jake? Are you . . . Should we go find some woods so you can phase?"

"No," I took a deep breath just to test myself, as we approached the hotel. "I'm fine now, just let's never be anywhere near that _waiter_ again." I said with an emotionless chuckle. Of course I had seen other men looking at Nessie before, most of the time I could just deal with it, however this one, there was just something about _him_ that pushed me over the edge. And then of course there was the spilled soup. But it was mostly over now. I did not want this ruining this trip, much less the night.

Tonight was the last night that the Samba Band, would be playing and we really wanted to see them, so I didn't want this incident to ruin our plans.

After seeing some flyers earlier in the week, we had asked about buying tickets. But the club, well it wasn't exactly a club, it was a nightclub of sorts, they didn't sell tickets, you just paid a cover charge when entering. Inside there was a bar, and small tables for couples to sit at, but the main thing was to watch whatever band was playing.

"Crap, there's already a line," I said looking over across the street. If we didn't get a table early, we would be out of luck.

Anyone wanting to get into the club had to line up outside and just hope you got there early enough that you got a seat. The club manager had mentioned that there was a fire there a few years ago and now they were very strict on the occupancy limits. He said that there were a few injuries back then, which they didn't want repeated. I'm sure there was probably more than injuries, for them to be taking things so seriously, but I didn't want to push the matter.

Nessie looked over to me seeing the line as I did. "Why don't you go get in line so we will get in, while I run up to our room and take a quick shower. I'll come back down and meet you in a few minutes."

"Or I can come up and jump in the shower with you." I said, hinting at something more. I didn't really _need_ to see the band.

But she touched my arm and shared her feelings with me with using her gift. _"Jake, I love you, but I'm kind of pissed off and a little grossed out, myself. And I really just want to be alone for a few minutes."_ Damn. I was so angry at the waiter, and focused on calming myself down, that I had not even been in my right mind to consider how upset she must be. So if she needed a few minutes without me I could give it to her, I would give her anything, I loved her so much. _"I hope you don't mind."_ She added, which of course I didn't.

"All right darling," I said. "I'll see you in a few."

"Great! Thank you," she replied. "If you get in before I'm back, see if you can leave my name at the door and order me a Lemon Drop. I'll meet you at the bar."

After kissing her lightly and watching her, through the glass door, head up to the elevator, I jogged over to wait in line, which actually moved quickly. After spending less than a minute there, where, _thankfully_ , the doorman/bouncer took down Nessie's name so she could join me later, I went to the bar, and saved her a seat, then ordered her drink and something for myself. I really wasn't impressed with any of the beers I had tried already but was determined to find something that I liked. And maybe if I drank enough of them I would no longer want to go back to the restaurant and maim that waiter.

I asked the bartender to bring me one of all of the different varieties of beer, so I could try them. He didn't seem too willing, but then I slapped a few hundred dollar bills on the counter and he readily obliged.

After 14 different beers I still hadn't found anything I liked. They all still tasted like gross bitter medicine, but fortunately I was a wolf, with a ridiculously fast metabolism. I had seen in other wolf's mind's, back in La Push, that a few of the guys tried to get drunk, now and then, but it took massive amounts of alcohol and even then they only ended up buzzed. Since it was not like I was getting drunk, I decided to keep experimenting. I was out of cash but handed the bartender my credit card and I asked him to switch over to some harder liquor.

I started off with whiskey, one shot of each of the different varieties the bar had to offer. After the third one I could tell this was definitely not the drink for me, but there were six others sitting on the counter that I already paid for, so I figured I may as well drink them. They didn't feel like they were affecting me at all, anymore than the beer.

After downing them quickly so I wouldn't have to taste them, as much, I switched to Gin. Nope, I didn't like any of those either. Vodka? Strike three.

"Your funeral," I heard the bartender mumble to himself when I asked to keep going and switched to Tequila. He started filling shot glasses while laughing to himself.

Whatever.

I think halfway through the Tequila shots, which were at least tolerable, the alcohol finally started to hit me, but just a little, so I decided to keep testing. I was sure my metabolism would burn it off soon anyway.

Once I moved on to Rum I could tell I finally found a drink I could not only bear, but I thought it actually tasted pretty good, especially the spiced ones. The bartender had only given me a small variety of the ones they had. I guess Rum was really popular around here. There was about, at least 20 other varieties behind the bar and I thought it would be best to try them all. What the hell. I was a wolf. I could handle it.

Halfway through the rest of the Rums I realized how much they were actually starting to hit me. It felt like the room was spinning so I put my head on the bar and when I tilted my head to the side I looked over and saw Nessie's Lemon Drop still sitting there.

Where was she? This place was air conditioned but I could see that all of the ice in the glass had melted. How long has she been gone? Where was she? Had something happened to her? I suddenly started to panic and at the same time the room was getting a little more spinny.

I intended to leap off the bar stool to go find Nessie but instead I fell and landed, on the floor, flat on my face. What the hell? For some reason I found it incredibly funny and couldn't stop laughing until I remembered my objective – to find my angel.

I tried getting up but stumbled back down; not once but twice. I think.

Wait. Where were my feet? I couldn't see them or even feel them. Did they disappear? Maybe this was some new type of Quileute magic going on here? Was I disappearing? Maybe I shifted mid-phase. Not that I even . . . whatever. What was happening to me?

After some searching, which took longer than expected, since the room kept spinning, I managed to find my left foot. It was concealed under my other leg.

Awesome! It hadn't disappeared, it was just hiding.

"Ha, ha, ha."

Soon after I found my other foot I finally managed to stand up. But as soon as I did I had to grab onto the bar. The floor here seemed really wobbly. Why hadn't I noticed that before? Looking around, nobody else seemed to be having problems with the shaky floor. But a lot of them were staring at me, I guess they didn't get a lot of 6'7" wolves around here.

Wait. What was I doing? Oh right, I needed to find Nessie. My Nessie.

Ha! I named the love of my life after the Loch Ness Monster. My Loch Ness Sea Monster. Ha, ha, ha. My Ness Sea Monster. My Nessie Monster. But she wasn't a monster. Sort of. She was my angel. My Nessie Angel.

That's right, she was an angel and what was I worried about? More than likely she was fine. If it was Bella, she probably would have run into the only evil vampire, or witch, or zombie on the entire continent, while trying to cross the street from the hotel to this club, and gotten herself killed. But it wasn't Bella, it was my Loch Ness Angel.

Then suddenly things started making sense. Bella hadn't encountered any monsters in her life until she met me. Maybe Bells wasn't the one attracting the monsters. Maybe I was. I was a werewolf after all. I was a monster. Maybe Nessie really was in trouble, she was probably in danger right now, because she was with me.

Oh God! I needed to go find her. What if the zombies already had her . . . as soon as the room stops spinning I would go.

"Jake?"

"My Ness smonster. . . Angel, my Loch Ness sangel. Is zat you?" Everything was still spinning but I was pretty sure it was my angel.

"Jake, I'm so glad I found you."

"I's was so worr'ed. How'd you 'scape from the zwombies?"

"Huh? Jake what are you talking about. Are you okay?"

"I'm kay, I thaank, but da rooms pinning and za floors weally wobbly overs here." For some reason I found that incredibly funny again. "Be carefuls. So glad you'res afe." I said wrapping her in a hug.

"Are you drunk?"

"Naw." I'm a wolf. Wolves don't get drunk.

"Come on Jake, let's go back to our room," she said while disentangling herself from my hold and grabbing my arm.

As we made it out into the streets I was glad to be away from that shaky floor. But the street seem to be having the same amount of problems and we ended up tripping a couple more times before getting into the hotel lobby.

I started heading to the elevator when Nessie started pulling me to the stairs. Were the zombies that way?

"Jake," she said, "didn't you get any of my texts? I left you about 18 of them. I actually wasn't sure they would go through or not. The elevator broke while I was coming down to meet you. I was stuck in that thing for over an hour. Didn't you notice?"

"Stexts?" I wondered.

"On your cell phone . . . in your pocket? Where did you think I've been all this time?" Nessie huffed a bit annoyed.

Why was she mad at me? I was the one worried about her being eaten by zombies and my rescue attempts were being foiled by the dumb jumpy, bumpy floors.

"Come on honey," she said, grabbing my arm and pulled me over to the stairs. Once we were in the stairwell she turned to me. "Alright Jake, now that we're away from people, let me pick you up so I can carry you up to our room."

"Nu un. Don't needs . . . carrieds," I protested, shoving her hand away. "Why do'u needs to carry sme ups za stairs?"

"Jake it's 12 flights and you can barely make it across the street." I was about to protest again, when there was a gust of wind, my head started spinning, and by the time it stopped, we were standing outside of our hotel room door. How did that happen?

As soon as we walk through the door and Nessie let go of my arm for a second, I fell down again. What was going on? What was wrong with my legs tonight? I could run through jagged forest with no problem, normally. An uneven floor should be no different, even if it did keep moving.

"Hey Nessies?" I said as she helped me off the floor and over to the bed. "We's sh'd call man'ger en complain."

"About the elevator, Jake? Believe me, I already did. They are well aware of the situation."

"Snot da l'vator, da shaky floorz. Zere as bad as ones in za club. I wonda if zere owned by da zame peeples?"

"Um, yeah Jake. That's a great idea."

"Yah, youz up for zome funs?" I happily asked as Nessie began taking off my clothes.

"Not right this second Jake, exactly how much did you drink?"

"Don't members," But I start naming off all the different liquors I could remember drinking, giving my opinions of each one as I went.

"Oh, we needs to call families, deal withs da zwombies." I reminded her when I finished my list.

"And what zombies were those Jake?" Why was she looking at me like she didn't believe me? Maybe she was in shock.

"Ones that zwere after yous, sillies."

"Oh, right. Those ones. Well . . . maybe we should wait until morning." she suggested.

"Nessies, you're rights. So zmarts" I was in no mood to go fight some zombies right now. And I was starting feeling a little strange. "We zwait 'til morrow to calls rents, rights now I has to . . ." I sprang from the bed and actually made it about halfway to the bathroom before I fell and vomited all over the floor.

Yuck!

I woke up the next morning, back in bed, with a massive headache. What the hell happened last night? I felt like I'd been hit by a Mack Truck or multiple Mack Trucks. But it was just my head, it was pounding. I remembered everything about yesterday until I went to the club. How did I even get back here?

I was asleep in the hotel room, in only my Alice Boxers as usual. But where was Nessie? Looking around I spotted her cleaning up something in the bathroom, I think.

"Jake, you're awake, finally," she said as she walked over to me.

"Hi sweetheart. What happened? I don't remember much about last night. Did we get attacked? Are you okay?"

"Jake you seriously don't remember? You went to the bar at the Samba Club and got massively, massively drunk. I had to carry you back up to the room, where you threw up . . . All. Night. Long. All over the place. I'm still cleaning up vomit." She said while throwing down an offensive smelling hand towel.

"Oh, Nessie. I am SO sorry." How could I have done that?

"How are you feeling?" she asked, handing me a bottle of aspirin she had just retrieved from her bag. She must have gone out and gotten it at some point during the night, in between vomit duty. I was really going to have to make this up to her.

While I swallowed almost a third of the pills in the bottle, not being sure how many I would actually need, Nessie gave me a recap of the night's events, as much as she knew anyway, based on what I had apparently told her and what she saw, as she did it triggered my own memory and I started to remember . . . everything.

At least she didn't look too mad. She kinda looked a little bit more worried than mad right now. I had a feeling that was, rightfully, going to come later, once my headache was gone.

"Jake?" She called, grabbing my phone.

"Um, yeah honey?"

"Do you happen to remember what you did with your credit card last night?" She asked,

"Um, no. I guess I must have left it at the bar. Did they call to return it?" I guessed that might be why she was holding the now ringing phone. But for some reason she neither answered it or handed it to me. What was going on?

"No, but you seem to have charged a lot of drinks to it, and . . . well you know how Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice keep an eye on all of the families accounts to look out for anything . . ."

"Oh, no."

'Yeah, well . . . Uncle Jasper called last night. He saw the charge and got worried that either something happened to us or that someone had stolen your card. Unfortunately after I explained that we were fine, my father heard, um, everything . . . and wants to talk to you. He's been calling every half hour waiting for you to wake up," she said sadly, handing me the phone.

Damn-it! I was not in the mood to deal with his over-protective, stick up his butt, attitude right now. I was an adult after all. I know I screwed up. I didn't need him giving me a hard time about it.

But he was Nessie's father, so I guess I needed to play nice. I decided it would be best if I sucked it up and apologized. At least it would be easier over the phone. And I didn't want him making us go home, not that I was sure I was really listen anyway.

"Hello, Edward."

" _Jacob Black, you are finally awake. It is about time."_

"I'm sorry . . " I began with as much apology in my voice as I could muster.

" _Ever since you imprinted on Renesmee you have never given me any reason to doubt your intentions or worry about your ability to protect my daughter . . . until now."_ Seriously? I mean I know I had never done anything to make him doubt me before, but he never acknowledged it before this. Of course I got accused, regularly, of doing things that only happened in his imagination. And now he was yelling at me for something that I did actually do. I cannot win with him. _"I am going to ask you a series of questions and I expect honest answers from you. Do you understand?"_

"Yeah. But Edward, first I just wanted to apologize. I completely understand that I let you dow . . .

" _Did my daughter witness your evening of debauchery?"_ he curtly asked, once again cutting off my attempt to apologize mid sentence.

"No," I was going to protest that it wasn't exactly debauchery, but thought otherwise about arguing with Edward right now.

" _Good._ _Was Renesmee in any danger, or possible danger, while this was all taking place?"_ I thought about it for a moment. She was technically safe while stuck in the elevator. Even if it fell it wouldn't have hurt her.

"No, she was safe." That was sort of truthful. I guess he would decide for himself when we returned home, which judging by the tone of his voice, seemed like it would be in a few hours.

" _Good. How are you feeling?"_ Wow, was he actually concerned about me? That was nice and very understanding of him, yet still a little weird.

"Like my head's about to explode," that was completely true. I don't think the aspirin was working at all.

" _Good,"_ he responded again. Yeah, that was more like the Edward I knew. _"Do you ever plan on doing something as_ _stupid_ _as that again?"_

"No . . . Sir," I added for good measure. I don't think I plan on ever even attempting to drink anything stronger than coffee, in the future.

" _Good,"_ he responded again. His voice betrayed a hint of amusement in it now. I hoped he liked me calling him that because I would NOT be doing it again. _"I think it's about time you headed over to Isle Esme, then. Don't you agree, Jacob."_ It was more of a statement, than a question.

"Okay, we'll leave tomorrow," I would probably feel well enough to travel by then. But I was in shock, now. I thought for sure he was going to try to make us go home.

" _You'll leave right now,"_ he corrected me.

Now? Now? Aurg, fine. I'm sure I could steer the boat even with a headache. "Sure, sure. Um . . . thanks and again I'm really sorry." But I think I heard the phone click before I finished.

I was sure some sort of reprimand would be waiting for me when we did finally return home. But I didn't care. The only one I really needed to make things right with was Nessie.

* * *

So, you may or may not have noticed, but I changed the wording of this stories summery a bit. The story is not changing, but I thought a better, less robotic description would get more people interested in reading it. I am getting a little saddened by the small readership, not that I know what a normal traffic count would be, (this being the first thing I've ever written) but I guess I was just expecting/hoping it would be a bit higher. Oh well. :)


	58. Trouble on Isle Esme

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Eight**

 **Trouble on Isle Esme**

 **Jacob's Point of View**

Nessie and I had been on Isle Esme for a little over a month. I think I had groveled and apologized enough over the past five weeks to make up for my awful night of drunken decadence.

Any desire I could, I resolved to fulfill for her, but she said she didn't want anything, so I decided to worship her body instead. And not just sex, but we did have a lot of that. We made love every night, every morning, and multiple times during the day. I threw myself into truly adoring and venerating every inch of her, the way she deserved to be. She was a goddess after all. My goddess. My angel. My Nessie.

But I wanted to do more for her. I gave her back rubs, foot rubs, leg rubs. Washed her hair, brushed her hair. Every night before bed and every morning when she woke I brushed her hair till it shined, I gave her full body massages daily, and practically waited on her hand and foot, among other things. I would have chewed her food for her if she asked me to. She constantly told me that there was no need for any of it, but there was. I had screwed up and I needed to make it up to her. If not for her, but for my own peace of mind.

As the weeks went on I slowly backed away from the over indulgences. But only because she wanted me too. I would have kept it up forever if she had asked.

But now we were back to normal, mostly. I still tried to do one or two special things for her every day, and she in turn had reciprocated. It wasn't anything conscious, we both just wanted to make the other happy. And we were. Happy and in love. Though still not pregnant . . . yet, but we were trying - more than ever.

If only the weather would improve. I'm assuming from the stories I had heard, over the years, that most of the family had not had such crappy weather when they came here. Well not all of it, just the past week or so was bad.

In the beginning it was truly amazing. An actual tropical paradise. It looked exactly like Bella had described. Beautiful white sand beaches. The house tucked away in the trees. And the water was a mix of crystal clear and the most magical shade of turquoise blue, nothing like you see at First Beach, back home in La Push. I'll definitely have to go swim in it few more times while we're here, if the weather ever clears up.

Currently it was still raining outside. Okay, "raining" was an understatement. It rained in La Push all the time. I was fine with rain. We were currently in the middle of a hurricane that had been ongoing for over a week and didn't show any signs of ending. Nessie and I were stuck inside. If we were not soulmates we probably would have been bored out of our minds. But we were made for each other. And loved everything about the other person. We played chess, watched TV, movies, read books, told stories, we even played charades.

Right now Nessie and I were watching one of the movies the Doc and Esme had accumulated, here on the island, while snacking on a bowl of grapes. We were actually almost out of food again and I was getting a little worried. I think when the Doc had told the housekeepers to stock the island house he had only thought I would be eating since Nessie normally preferred hunting for her meals. But that hadn't been the case this trip. We had gone back to the mainland once a week to restock the frig already but the storm was staying for longer than I realized. I guess I should have paid more attention to Alice when she called to warn us about it.

I was currently sitting on the left side of the couch and Nessie was on the other side, farthest away from me. It wasn't like I needed to be touching her every minute of every day. I know she needed space sometimes but she just looked so cute over there, popping grapes from the bowl, set on the coffee table halfway in between us, into her mouth. The way her lips puckered around each one, made me jealous of them, so much so that the next time she went to grab some more, I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to me. She was just so cute I couldn't help but kiss her.

"Jake, I . . ." she began, breaking the kiss and jumping off of the couch.

"What's is it honey?" I called as she ran into the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Was she sick?

But she's never been sick a day in her life.

Was it possible that this trip had done what it had intended? Was she pregnant? Could she be having morning sickness? The past few days she had been avoiding being close to me, more and more, especially while I was eating.

Maybe she just needed some space. Space that I refused to give her. I just couldn't get enough of her lately.

After waiting, rather impatiently for four minutes, and Nessie had not returned, I went looking for her.

She was still in the bathroom.

"Nessie? Honey? Are you okay?" I asked while gently knocking on the door.

"Err, I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute or two."

A couple minutes later she emerged. She didn't appear sick, but her expression was . . . I couldn't quite place it.

"Jake, um, I think - no, I _need_ to hunt - very soon."

I wonder if she had wanted to go for the past few days. The weather hadn't made it possible, though. When Alice had called to warn us about the hurricane last week, it was still early enough back then, that there was time to go back to the mainland, and restock the kitchen with food, but Nessie had still refused to hunt.

I knew she had been trying to only eat human food this trip. But it must not be filling her up enough and as much as she had tried to hide it in Rio, I know she didn't particularly like the taste of most of it.

It had been over seven weeks since her last real vampire meal; much, much longer than she had ever gone before. Looking at her now I could tell that she must be ravished. Up until this moment she had not complained once about the lack of blood in her diet. I guess this was perfectly understandable though, I just wished I had noticed her struggle earlier. I guess I had been preoccupied with other things. Now that I knew to look, I could tell she was actually very thirsty.

This was my fault. If I hadn't screwed up in Rio, we never would have had to leave so suddenly. Maybe I would have noticed something and insisted we hunt before leaving.

What were we going to do now? We had been stuck, not only on the Island, but inside the house for days and it didn't look like the storm was going to let up anytime soon.

Alice!

Alice would know when the storm would subside enough that we could take the boat and leave the island. At least then I could give Nessie an end date to look forward too. I just hoped that when I called she would not be anywhere near Edward. I really did not need him thinking I had screwed up again, even if it was true.

Thinking a text might draw less attention back home I quickly got out my phone and started typing.

A few seconds later my phone started beeping. Thankfully it seemed like luck was on our side.

"Nessie, honey. I just heard back from Alice. We will be able to go to the mainland to hunt tomorrow." According to her the storm was set to end shortly after 7am. Unfortunately now that I had my phone out I saw, that I had put into the calendar, a reminder that the housekeepers were scheduled to come tomorrow to clean the place and restock the frig. Knowing them, the storm probably would not alter their plans.

Damn!

I knew that if they had any chance of surviving long enough to actually _clean_ the house Nessie needed to hunt before they arrived. It was still raining pretty hard, but the wind wasn't as strong as it had once been at the height of the storm. I was pretty good at maneuvering the boat my father used back home, but the speed boat Carlisle had here was amazingly, but much more technologically advanced. I didn't want to admit it but it was a bit out of my league. I was able to figure it out enough to get us to the Island during the daytime but it was sunny out then. As a wolf I could see fine in the dark, but I was unfamiliar with the boats controls. This might be more than a little challenge trying to go tonight.

"Nessie what do you think about us leaving first thing tomorrow morning before the cleaning crew even gets here?"

"Jake I don't think I can wait that long."

"I'm sorry honey, I should have realized you were this thirsty, sooner. Is the pain in your throat very bad?"

"Oh, Jake," she sighed. "I never should have waited this long and let my thirst get so out of control. I thought it might have been the blood that was keeping me from getting pregnant. I was trying to see if going off it might help. But it didn't seem to work," she said holding up another negative pregnancy test.

That is why she had refused to hunt, practically starving herself in the process, just to try and get pregnant?

"Honey, why didn't you tell me?" Probably because she knew I would have objected.

"I'm sorry. And now pain is so bad, I don't think I can put up with it much longer. And I'm worried about what I might do, if we don't go soon," she continued looking so apologetic.

Why was she looking like that? Was she worried she was going to attack me or something? But I loved her. She must know I would do anything for her. If she was really that thirsty then I was more than willing to help her out.

"Here Nessie," I said, holding up my wrist in front of her mouth. "Just take as much as you need until tomorrow morning. I don't want you to be in any pain. I've got more than enough."

Nessie's eyes grew wide with shock. Oh, my blood must not be appealing to her. She use to bite me all the time when she was a baby, but she had never drunk from me. I wasn't technically human after all. I know she didn't have a problem with my smell, that and my high body temperature was a natural defense against vampires, but maybe it was more than that. The thought of drinking from me must be so unappealing to her even in her current thirst crazed state. Was my blood actually less appealing to her than human food? It couldn't be, could it?

"Jake are you crazy? I could never do that to you."

But she needed it. So what if it didn't taste great. We could get her something tastier tomorrow. And it wasn't like she was going to permanently hurt me.

"It's okay honey. It's not like you're venomous and I heal fast; don't worry about it. Just try, you might like it." Or at least no hate it as much as you think you will.

"No! That's never going to happen. If we can't take the boat until tomorrow I'll just deal with the burn. I can endure this until then, really. I'll just go sleep in the Blue Room, you sleep in the White one, that way I won't even be tempted. I never want to do anything to hurt you."

Tempted? Did she want my blood? She must be even thirstier than I thought. "Don't be silly, Nessie, you use to bite me all the time when you were a baby. And I can see that this is hurting you. It's partially my fault that you waited too long to hunt. I should have noticed and insisted we go before the storm struck. I should be the one to fix this."

"Have you even thought that once I start I might not able to stop? This is crazy, I'm not risking your life because I'm parched," Nessie said with a slight chuckle, but there is no amusement in her voice.

"Don't be ridiculous," and with that I ended the discussion and sunk my teeth into my own wrist. Red liquid started oozing out pretty quickly. I think I bit a little too hard, since it actually started gushing out a few seconds later and spilt over onto the floor a bit. But that did not matter because it had the exact reaction I was hoping for, as Nessie lost all control and practically jumped on my arm to start drinking from me.

Only a few gulps later, "Jacob!" she screamed, jumping off my arm and flinging herself clear across the room, once she realized what she, well, what _I_ made her do. But, just like I knew she would, she was able to stop after just a few mouthfuls that she had ravenously swallowed. I knew she was still hungry but she only took enough just to quench her thirst. Enough to be able to make it until morning.

"See? I knew you could do it. I'm fine, you didn't hurt me. The wound is already healing."

"Jacob how could you let me do that?" she screamed with more anger than I had ever seen from her.

Crap. She was pissed and refused to even look at me now, hiding her head in her hands and curing herself into a ball on the floor.

I guess I hadn't thought this through. I just wanted her throat not to hurt her, but I didn't think through what the emotional consequences might be.

"Nessie, it's okay really." I said as I walked over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"But I drank from you. How could you . . . how could I . . ." At least she was looking at me now. Sort of, but was also trying to wiggle out of my arms.

"You didn't hurt me, you never would hurt me." She barely took any blood after all.

"Are you sure you are okay?" She still didn't look convinced but at least stopped fighting to get away from me now.

"Perfectly." I assured her, while pulling her into a hug. "Are you?"

"I . . . I don't know. You taste just as good as I thought you would." She said looking rather ashamed.

What? "You have thought about what I would taste like?" And you liked it?

"No, well not exactly. There have been a few times recently, when we were kissing, and you had just eaten some human food I seem to _actually_ find tasty, like fruit," she nervously chuckled, "and the flavor was still in your mouth. Well the two combined - your aromatic scent mixed with the sweetness of the food, was what got me to start thinking of you like that. I'm so sorry. I've tried not to. Every other time I've been able to resist."

"Is it because you are so thirsty? Did you need some more blood, honey?"

"No Jake, I don't want to think of you like that. Like a meal. What if I lost control. I could never . . ."

"Okay, I get it. I'll never offer again." Unless you need it. "Just promise me then that you won't try to go off blood again."

"Deal," she chuckled, and I joined her. "But why can't I be strong enough to do this? Nahuel did." she cried suddenly growing serious again.

"Well, Nahuel is 150 years older than you."

"All the more reason for it to be easier for me. Not only has he lived on blood for so much longer than me, but he had the added challenge of giving up human blood, while I was only trying to resist less appealing, animal blood." I knew she could remember the taste of the human blood that was given to her as a baby. It was a struggle back then to get her to make the switch.

"But you are still growing," I countered. "If you really want to you can try again in a couple of years. Maybe you will be able to make the switch once you stop aging."

"By then my reason for attempting it will be gone though," she said, referencing her, as yet, unfulfilled desire to get pregnant. "But then again, if you keep tasting so go I may need to," she smirked.

That night was one of the hardest in my recent memory. Nessie insisted that we sleep apart, even after she barely drank from me. I thought she had taken enough that she would not act unintentionally, but she disagreed. She was under the impression that now that she had finally tasted me, she might not be able to stop next time.

The next morning I woke early so we could leave to hunt around 7am. It had taken me forever to fall asleep last night without Nessie in my arms, but I managed to eventually. Luckily I remembered to set the alarm on my phone.

Nessie must have had the same idea as me, because she was already in the shower.

I didn't think the housekeepers would be here this early, but I was wrong. Before we had even started to make our way to the boat, they arrived.

Oh, no! Was this going to be a problem? Great! Now what we were going to do?

"Ness. why don't you stay in the back bedroom until I let you know it's clear?" After my sweet, blood thirsty, half-vampire/angel was safely inside the room, (well, she was inside, and our housekeepers were safely away from her) I went to greet them.

I really didn't want them turning into Nessie's lunch, and it _would_ be lunchtime for Nessie if I didn't do something.

"Buenos días, señor," Luiz greeted me, while Gabriela shyly smiled next to her husband, as I opened the door.

"Um, hi. We weren't expecting you here already." What were they even doing here this early? When they came, two weeks ago, it was closer to noon.

"Yes, we assess damage from the storm. And begin to making repairs." Luiz replied in his thickly accented tongue. I was glad that Carlisle had replaced the old housekeeper's with ones that spoke at least a little English. My Spanish was basic and could not speak any Portuguese. Of course Nessie was fluent in both, not that that would have helped us now.

But it made sense though, for why they came so early. I should have thought of it.

"Well, we just need to head over to the mainland and pick up a few things, so I guess we'll just leave you guys to it. If you need any help when we get back, please just let us know. But, um . . ." think, think, think . . . oh, I've got it . . . "Nessie needs some err, female _stuff_ , right away. And we're, um, out." Yeah. That would make sense right? Without going into too many specifics. It was girly kinds of things. And it was something that another guy wouldn't want to ask too many questions about it.

Clearly by the look on their faces I was right. He was embarrassed and she was too shy in general to say anything.

After excusing myself from the two of them, I went and grabbed Nessie, still tucked safely in the back bedroom. While whispering for her to just try and hold her breath as much as she could, we raced through the house and to the boat as quickly as _humanly_ possible. For just a second, as we approached the couple, I saw a glint of fear in Nessie's eyes, as the woman looked like she was going to ask us a question. But she must have seen something on our faces that made her change her mind and we kept moving, straight passed them.

We did it. We were on the boat heading towards the mainland, our housekeepers were still alive. With any luck Nessie would find something appetizing to drink fairly quickly, and we could head back to give them a hand with the cleanup, if needed.

Naturally the wildlife was different here than back home, but Nessie found a pampas deer and a Brazilian tapir horse to feed on. I hadn't have a clue what the exact names of animals she was drinking from, but Nessie had read up on the local wildlife and told me about them on the boat ride back to the island.

Approaching the island from the boat we saw all the damage that the storm had caused for the first time. I knew the main structure of the house was undamaged. The Doc probably built it to be able to withstand his families, err . . . extracurricular activities.

The rest of the island did not fare so well. Since we had left in such a hurry this morning I hadn't even noticed, but there were trees knocked down everywhere. Part of the dock that the boat was tied to, or had been tied to, was missing. I spotted it floated in the water a few 100 feet away. It was easy enough to grab and tow back to shore. I am sure I could probably nail it or tie it back together somehow. I wonder what kind of supplies were on the island or if our housekeepers had brought anything with them? I'll have to find some tools somewhere.

I could see very easily that our two housekeepers were struggling to clear the trees away, it was too big a job for them. Nessie and I could handle it easily, and very quickly, but we can't exactly do that in front of them.

"Feel like getting your hands dirty?" Nessie turned and asked me, as we docked the boat on, what remained of the pier. It looked like she was thinking the same thing I was.

"Absolutely," I replied in agreement. "But how is it going to be possible?" I gave her a questioning look.

"Just leave it to me," she said, while walking over to Gabriela. Nessie whispered to her, of course I was able to hear, but she must have been speaking in the woman's native language, because I didn't understand a word of what either of them said.

I asked Nessie later what she had said to the woman and she explained that she asked her if she would be so kind as to find her some specific brand of tampon. I don't even know if it was even a real one, but Nessie stressed that she needed whatever that specific brand was, and we couldn't find it when we went over to the mainland.

Of course she must have heard my excuse, this morning, that I had given Luiz. Hopefully it would get them off the island to go hunt down the, most likely _nonexistent,_ brand of tampons. I know Nessie can be very convincing when she wants or needs to be, so it wasn't surprising when Gabriela walked over to her husband and they quickly excused themselves and left us, promising to return, shortly. .

Once their boat had disappeared from sight, we began making quick work of the fallen trees. Being unable to find a hammer, I was able to secure the dock back together enough that we could walk on it safely, at least until our next trip back to the mainland next week, where Nessie would hunt and I could pick up some supplies to fix it correctly.

At least that's what I planned. But of course, it was unnecessary. Our housekeepers returned, later that night, very apologetic that they weren't able to find Nessie's brand of tampons. Gabriela did offer her a bag full of every single other brand, probably available in the entire city. I felt a little bad sending them on a wild goose chase but reconciled myself that it was better than having them hurt themselves trying to clear all of the fallen trees.

Luiz also brought with him the correct supplies to fix the dock. Even though they had been gone for most of the day they were still surprised to see that we had cleared all of the trees. It actually had only taken us less than an hour to do and they had been gone for more than eight. I hope they weren't going to get suspicious about anything. Just in case Nessie and I feigned some exhaustion over our "long day of clearing trees".

The weather was perfect the next two weeks. We returned to the mainland each weekend so Nessie could hunt and I could pile the boat high with more food – mostly for myself, our housekeepers never seemed to bring enough, of course they would not be aware of my crazy wolf metabolism or appetite. And, I think after two months of eating nothing else, Nessie had developed a liking for at least some human foods, not just for eggs and fruit like previously. But there was no way I was letting her go back to an all human food diet, at least not anytime soon.

Once a week we also called home, letting everyone know that we were okay and that we missed them. Rose was constantly hounding us for updates on our progress, which was upsetting to both Nessie and myself, but at least we would call on the same day she took those damn pee tests so my sweetheart only had to go through one day of heartbreak. Sometimes I wished Rose could be a little more considerate. I know we had become friends over the years, but she could still be a little . . . aurg!

Anyway, we got updates from all of them as well regarding what was going on in their lives. Esme filled us in on how Seth was doing, refinishing the house Nessie and I had bought for him to redo. She was running things while we were away, communicating with our intermediary, Jack Fisher, and giving us updates on the houses and Seth's progress. She was happy to report that Seth seemed to be handling everything pretty smoothly and there were no major problems. In fact Seth was doing such a good job, Esme was considering hiring him herself on her next project.

Jasper and Carlisle informed us that the hospital body dumps seemed to have stopped once again. And just like before we left they still had no leads.

Alice still had no idea why we were going to be moving to France, but she did see that it would be within the next year. That was something at least. I'll need to concentrate more on learning the language when we go back home. Emmett was still being his normal helpful self though pressing her for details that she didn't have. Where was Rose to distract him, when it was needed?

Bella and Edward never seemed to want to get off the phone when we called. I know they missed Nessie, but I didn't remember them having this kind of problem when they were the ones staying on the island and Nessie was home. I guess there was more to distract them when they were here.

But now it was getting close to the end of August. I know Bella had said to stay as long as we liked but our Senior year of school was going to be starting in less than a month. We could have sex just as easily at home as we could here. And the change in location did not seem to be doing anything to promote Nessie's body to become pregnant, or whatever it was suppose to do.

Okay, I knew we were here so she could relax, thinking that all the stress was what was contributing to her not conceiving, but how could she not be stressed? What with her bodies deadline drawing nearer every day, and having to take a pregnancy test every week, not to mention Rose's incessant hounding. My poor Nessie was a bucket of nerves, no matter how hard she tried to deny it, or how much I tried to distract her. She had a vampire brain that never forgot anything.

I guess it might not happen after all. I had always wanted a child, but if I had to live the rest of my forever with just Nessie, I would still be perfectly happy. I just hoped I was enough for her.

* * *

Everything was packed and it was time to go. While I had easily fit all of my clothes into the backpack I would be taking into the Amazon, Nessie had a bit more trouble. We could not very well lug all of the suitcases she had originally brought with her through the jungle. I could live in just a couple pairs of the Alice shorts I was currently wearing while in the jungle but needed to bring at least one change of clothes plus shoes to get onto the plane to go home. Dumping out the rest of my clothes, I fit the remainder of the pregnancy tests in my bag so Nessie would have more room in hers, but she still had had to narrow things down considerably. I could ship the rest of my stuff home with all of Nessie's clothes she was not taking with us.

After dropping the bags off at the airport, to ship everything home ahead of us (I didn't even know you could do that, but Edward had made all of the arrangements) we headed off towards the Rainforest. We chartered a small plane to take us the almost 2000 miles, to the middle of Brazil, at the edge of State of Tocantins. The rest of the trip we would have to go on foot, since the Amazon Coven did not live anywhere near a town, or even any real civilization to speak of. And Nessie and I only had a general idea of where to find them after speaking with Alice. She was able to tell us generally where they were at the time of the phone call, but would probably have moved once we got close to their last known location. And we were unlikely to get a cell signal that far into the jungle.

Luckily after only a few days of running and searching we found them. I could see how excited Nessie was to see Zafrina again.


	59. Surprising Developments

**Year Six, Chapter Fifty-Nine**

 **Surprising Developments**

Renesmee's Point of View

I was so glad my grandfather suggested we visit the Amazon coven before going home.

I thought that while we were here maybe Zafrina and her sisters would take Jake and I on a few hikes to show us their home, but that was not the case, exactly. They didn't really run around the Amazon jungle, they swung.

I couldn't believe it. Being able to jump through the trees. It felt like flying, swinging from branch to branch, on the tree vines, under the canopy, created by the rainforest's trees. It was amazing! I kind of felt like Tarzan. And the way and the sun gleamed through the trees was magical. Seeing the silhouettes of each leaf with the rays of the sunshine poking through, lighting up different spots on the forest floor was like little spotlights highlighting a different thing. A new little treasure, something that I would never notice normally. It was amazing; all of the different creatures that were here, the bugs, the leaves, even the air smelt different. It was spectacular.

I loved getting the chance to reconnect with Zafrina, Kachiri, and Senna. While the past five years have seemed like nothing to them, it had been literally a lifetime for me, since we had seen each other. While I despised the reason for them being thrust into my life, when the Volturi came to Forks to destroy my family, I was glad that it brought the sisters into my life, especially Zafrina. Using her gift, she could make a person see anything she wanted.

Zafrina's gift had opened my eyes to an entire world outside of my tiny home, back in Washington, that I never would have even imagined existed if not for her. Sure I read about the places she showed me, seen them in movies and on TV, looked at them in photographs, and have gone to museums to see paintings of many of the places, but outside of getting on a plane and actually going there myself, her illusions were the next best thing. In some ways they were even better. I got the experience of going to the other side of the planet without having to leave my living room.

Being here in the Brazilian Rain Forest, after having already seen it through Zafrina's eyes, it made me feel almost as if I was home. Everything seemed familiar, even though it was technically brand new.

I wish I could do that, too.

I began working with Zafrina almost daily to expand my own gift. I'm not sure how effective it was. I spent a lot of time trying to concentrate on projecting my thoughts and emotions into others minds, like she projected illusions. I wasn't even close to being successful, I couldn't even get it to work with Jake standing incredibly close to me. I tried everything I could think of. I would think of his face and think of using my gift like I normally did . . . nothing. I would think of placing my hand on his face, like I used to have to do when I was little, to get an image to appear in his mind . . . it didn't work. I tried touching him and showing him an image and then slowly lifting away one finger at a time, continuing the images. It worked until the last of my fingers left his skin. Nothing I tried worked, but I was intent on continuing to experiment with different things until I was successful.

After a week I still wasn't having any luck and I was out of ideas. My father had told me that no two vampires had the same gift, but I still hoped I could show maybe one person my thoughts, without having to touch them. Just one at a time, standing a few feet away; that was all I wanted. Zafrina could show an entire group of people an allusion. I just wanted to be able to do it to one person, it didn't seem to be too much to ask. Did it? But apparently that was beyond my ability. For now, anyway.

For the time being I decided to take a break and just try to get better control of my current gift. I had slipped more than once recently, showing people things I had not meant too, when I was overly emotional. I guess I could use some work on my control. And luckily I had a more than willing partner, in Jake, to help me.

Just as Jake and I were about to start Zafrina appeared before me. She literally dropped out of the sky. Okay in reality she probably fell a few dozen meters down from the jungle canopy, landing stealthily behind me. But it appeared as if she and her sisters materialized out of nowhere.

"Well my Nessie, we must leave you for a little while." A frowned slipped onto my face at her words, but I didn't say anything. Why were they leaving us? Did we do something wrong? I had spent all morning with Jacob trying to get control of my gift. Were they upset? Did they thing I was ignoring them? "It is time for us to hunt, and I do not believe you and your wolf would care to join us. Am I correct?"

Oh, that made sense. She and her sisters were not vegetarians like my family. I could hear Jacob growling softly to himself, behind me, but he never said anything to stop them or interfere. I knew this was hard for him. The loss of human life went against everything that he stood for.

We were currently somewhere just south of the middle of the Amazon jungle. Zafrina and her sisters moved around a lot in search of prey. Human prey. They were not vegetarians like my family. Jake and I knew that.

They were typical red eyed vampires who saw no need to restrict their diet, and there was no reason for them to follow the agreement they made with my family back in Forks. They hunted humans living and working all around us, in full view of Jacob. This was the second time they were leaving to hunt since we had arrived. I hoped this would be, at least, somewhat of a distraction for Jake. Now was the perfect time or this.

"Okay, are you ready?" I asked him shortly after they left.

"Always, sweetheart," he seemed to drop the anger he was feeling and grinned back at me.

I knew this past week was hard on my Jacob, he hated the loss of human life, but he was putting up with it for me. And he never complained, or tried to stop them. Not once. I knew he hated doing nothing. It went against his very nature. But he put up for it, for me. He knew they were my friends, but it still went against his very nature to not intervene while they fed and killed.

At least I had not been craving Jake's blood anymore. I had no idea why though. After that night on Isle Esme, when Jake fed me from his own wrist, my desire for his blood went away. I had not realized it at the time, but over the next few days he would eat, I would eat, we would kiss, I would hunt . . . and nothing. Cravings gone, as suddenly and mysteriously as they started. Thank goodness.

"Alright, start talking to me. Say things, whatever you can think of that will get me emotional – happy, angry, scared. I don't care, you pick. Just let me know right away if you start seeing my thoughts, so I can see if I can put a stop to them without having to no longer touch you," I explained as I laid my hand on his arm.

"How about a something happy. I never would want to make you angry or scared, honey." I knew that, it was silly of me to even suggest it. I was unsure what would work best, to trigger an unplanned vision, but I was sure "happy" would work. When I accidentally showed him my thoughts before I was blissfully happy.

Jake started by telling me some memories of the two of us, recalling some of our happy times when I was younger and we hung out at La Push.

"Did you see anything, Jake?" He had been recalling different events from our past for about 25 minutes now.

"Nope, nothing. Do you think this means you are getting better control of your gift?"

"Maybe, but I'm not sure those were the right things to get me to lose my focus. I enjoyed those memories but they weren't anything traumatic or got me overly excited, as pleasurable as they were to recall."

"I see what you mean honey. Let me try again." And he began recalling the night of our first kiss. He had not gotten too far into telling me his version of it when he alerted me that he could see my thoughts.

Crap! That was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

"Okay, one more time. Give me another happy memory." I told him, while concentrating on trying to not get distracted, as ridiculous as that sounded.

Jake started recalling a very happy memory. It was our first night together, six months ago, when I had rented a hotel room for his birthday after a football game. He was currently describing our time together just after we finished soaking in the Jacuzzi tub and were making our way over to the bed. It was an amazing night, one that I would never forget, not that I would anyway, but it was one of my favorites that I thought about often. He kissed me with such passion that night, the way he touched me, the feel of his bare skin next to mine, I just knew that . . .

"Jake what's going on? Are you okay?" Was he having a stroke or something? Looking at him now I was full on panicking. His was still sitting next to me, but his eyes closed, and his mouth was hanging open. His tongue seemed to be wiggling back and forth slightly and his arms and legs were twitching. What had I done to him?

I grabbed onto his shoulders and shook as hard as I could, while calling his name. Thankfully that appeared to bring him out of it, whatever _it_ was. He still seemed dazed, but at least he was unharmed. I think. He was smiling now, so I guess I had not hurt him, at least.

"Nessie, I . . . that was . . . wait. What happened? How did we get back here?" he confusingly looking around. His happiness, seemed to give way to more and more confusion. The feeling was mutual.

"Jacob, are you alright?"

"Wow, Nessie. That was amazing," he said while shaking his head, almost like a dog did when they're wet. "At first nothing happened, then I started seeing your memory like I usually do, but then it changed and became almost real. It felt like it was real. I felt like I was right back in that hotel room. I mean I really _felt_ it. I could feel you touching me, and me touching you. It was amazing. It wasn't just your thoughts in my head. Everything seemed so genuine. The room even smelled the same.

"Really? But why didn't you tell me you could see and feel everything like we discussed?" Was he really enjoying himself that much? Probably.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you know, but at the time, I didn't realize it wasn't real. I truly thought we were back there. It wasn't till you shook me out of it that I realized we were still in the jungle."

Huh? I guess that was why he was moving so funny. He was reliving our time together, kissing me not only in mind, but body as well. I guess if he could feel things, and his mind thought it was happening, his body would become animated as well, if only slightly.

"This is wonderful Nessie. You expanded your gift just like you hoped."

He was right. I had expanded my gift, just not in the way I had thought. And my desire to control my gift and keep from sharing my visions seemed to backfire and go in completely the other direction. Weird, but good I guess.

Jake smiled over at me as I tried it again. I was able to recreate experiences we shared together eight more times with varying degrees of success. The next day after three more successful memory shares, the 4th time I switched it up a bit. I tried showing him something we had never actually done before but that I had wanted to try. I didn't think it was anything bad but he just gave me a weird look.

"Nessie are you trying to show me something, because nothing is showing up."

"Nothing? Not even a little bit?," I asked, explaining what I had tried to do. "I guess it doesn't work with made up events." But not willing to give up so easily we tried a few more times, all with the same non-existent results.

"I seem to only be able to do it with memories that I've had. Oh well." I sighed as we went back to practicing sharing some of our favorite memories. Jake loved reliving the experiences in his mind. He said it was like he was really back there.

Zafrina and her sisters had been happily surprised to hear the news of the escalation of my gift, and enjoyed the images and scenes I recreated for them; nothing like the ones I shared with Jake, just some of my everyday life, at school, at Dartmouth.

But they weren't used to having visitors and Jacob was a _smelly_ werewolf, after all. I knew they found Jake's smell offensive, and he theirs. We didn't stay with them, just nearby, but it was still more than they could put up with indefinitely.

"Perhaps, my Nessie, when you come back to see us again you might be able to leave the dog at home?" I knew Zafrina wasn't trying to be mean. It was just more than they could put up with. They were solitary creatures, set in their ways. Having me there with them was a lot. Having Jacob there too was almost intolerable. We had been here for only two weeks we had worn out our welcome.

Jake and I decided to rent a car and drive, instead of fly home, to give us a bit more alone time together. As soon as we returned to a _civilized area,_ one that had things like electricity and running water, the first thing I did, after calling my parents to check in, was find a convenience store, buy a pregnancy test, (a little mishap in a swamp had ruined the ones I had left) and run into the first public bathroom I found to take yet another pregnancy test. I had continued to take one every week, even while in the jungle, at Jake's insistence, but they all yielded the same negative results.

I tried to not even think about getting pregnant while we're down there except when I couldn't help it – peeing on a stick to determine whether I was pregnant or not did not leave a lot of options for other things to think about.

Jake and I had spent hours every night together and a large portion of each day too working on our _task_ , while in the Amazon. After catching up with the Amazon Coven, hunting they local wildlife, going for a few hikes to explore the terrain, and practicing my gift there was not a lot else to do. But it wasn't as if Jake or I minded.

I was praying this would be the time the test came back positive. But as I looked at the stick, only a single line appeared, I knew it was negative again.

Damn!

Jacob and I decided to take the scenic route home, and extend our trip even more. We planned on staying in some hotels along the way. Maybe . . . who knows, something will happen . . . eventually. That was my hope at least. But I was running out of time and options.

* * *

Thanks for reading. What do you think?

Oh, and BTW Nessie is NOT Pregnant . . . yet. Just thought i would make that clear, since everyone keeps reviewing speculating that she must me and the tests are just not working.


	60. Turmoil

**Year Six, Chapter Sixty**

 **Turmoil**

Renesmee's Point of View

We were about one day's drive away from returning home when my thirst just got to be too overwhelming for me, again. I had gone back to hunting every week but was still a couple days shy of my normal schedule. We were currently somewhere in New York State. It had been just over twelve days since we left Zafrina and her sisters in the Amazon. While it only would have taken us three days, to get home, if we drove non-stop, we decided to do some sightseeing along the way. It would still be another four to five hours of driving if we didn't hit any traffic on the way home, but checking the GPS on my phone I saw that Harriman State Park was just a bit out of the way. It would be the perfect place to stop so I could hunt, and truthfully I wasn't ready to go home yet.

I had checked online and saw that there was white tail deer and coyotes native to the area, so once there I was sure to find something I could sink my teeth into. We were not sure how popular the State Park was to tourists or hikers, so Jake thought, and I agreed, to wait until nightfall, as to not run into any humans.

Normally I would not be worried about accidentally going after one of them, and even though I hadn't gone too long between feedings, my thirst was just so overwhelming right now and I didn't trust myself. Jake once again offered to "help out", just to tide me over, but I declined.

Though I still loved the way he smelled, Jake's blood was no longer appealing to me. And I was happy about that, though not entirely sure why, so I didn't want to do anything to make my cravings for his blood come back. I didn't want to risk hurting him.

Also, there was the odd passerby/witness to worry about. Even if I didn't attack a nearby human, I couldn't risk them viewing my hunting activities and the accompanying exposure either.

Hopefully once I stop growing, when I turn seven this will no longer be a problem. I had thought I would have gained more control over the years, but the opposite seemed to be the case currently. I hoped I didn't screw my body up trying to abstain from blood. It was too soon to be this thirsty this soon. Damn.

We still had a few more hours until it got dark, so to pass the time Jake and I checked into a local hotel. If I was going to spend the night hunting I would need a nap beforehand. My Jacob, however had other ideas of what we could use the bed for. I loved that mischievous smile he sometimes got, like the one he was wearing right now, right before we made love.

"Oh well, who needs sleep," I happily thought to myself. This was a much more preferable way to spend our time, anyway.

Actually we did fall asleep for a couple of hours afterwards, in the end, so I did get my nap. And when I woke up I felt more refreshed than ever. And Jake seemed exquisitely happy. I know living with the Amazon coven, even for a couple of weeks, was not easy for him, which is why I suggested dragging out our return trip even for just a couple of weeks. Some time away from vampires would probably be good for the wolf part of him. I know he had gotten use to my family, but I was not 100% sure how comfortable he always was around them all the time.

This time alone, just the two of us, seemed to make him happier, more carefree than I have ever seen him. Then again it could just be all of the sex we were having, I chuckled to myself.

Looking over to the clock on the nightstand I saw that we had slept later than I thought and it was after 1am when we finally woke. We needed to leave NOW so I could hunt before the sun came up and people began returning to the State Park.

Once we were a good ways into the forest I picked up the scent of a coyote, but it didn't smell as good as I thought it would. Its smell seemed to be mixed with the scent of rotting garbage. Was it already dead? I decided not to even bother investigating and tried and find a deer or elk.

My Jacob gestured with his large wolf head that he caught a scent over to the left. Sniffing in that direction I picked up the same herd of deer smell he must have and took off after them. After easily catching and drinking a large buck I was about to try and locate another when I heard a large bang.

What was that?

Was someone firing a gun? Was that the sound? Was it a hunter shooting at an animal? But hunting was not allowed here.

Wait. Where was Jake?

A split second later I saw Jacob charging towards me when another bang rang out and I saw him stumble to the ground. He had been hit.

"Jacob!" I screamed, running over to him. He managed to get up and we kept running until we were hidden behind some bushes. Once there I looked everywhere on him, trying to find a bullet hole, but only found a dart still sticking out of his hind leg. After pulling it out I saw that he had been injected with something. Except for whatever was in the syringe there was no other physical damage that I could see, at least.

" _It's out,"_ I said with my gift. _"How are you feeling?"_ I had no way of knowing what was in the syringe or how or if it would even affect him.

He didn't phase back but gave me a head nod to indicate that he was okay. I hope he really was and was not just trying to protect me from the truth. I knew he would always put me ahead of himself, but it was time I started protecting him. I knew my vampire skin was stronger than his and the darts could not hurt me.

" _Stay behind me."_ I told him, adding a mental image of the needles bouncing off of me, to which he shook his head "no".

"Yes!" I knew I could be stubborn sometimes, but this was the right thing to do.

Suddenly another shot rang out. They, whoever they were, seemed to be after us, or Jake at least. And they had found us. We took off, Jacob first with me behind, blocking his large frame as best I could, from the darts. We were running away from the sound of the shots, but another bang rang out in front of us. Whoever this new shooter was, was firing real bullets.

There were at least two of them. It was a trap! Or an ambush, or something. What was going on, who was this. They must have known Jake was not an ordinarily animal by now. He was wearing shorts for crying out loud, and I was with him.

This was planned.

Deliberate. On purpose.

But who?

The Volturi? No. They would not need guns. They had Jane and Alex.

Just that pervert, Demetri then? Maybe. But I was older now. He still couldn't be interested in me, could he?

I didn't have time to think about it anymore, we had to get out of here.

Shots started firing at us from multiple directions. At least three, as far as I could tell. Where were they? Whoever was doing this was nowhere even close to us. I could not see anyone to try and fight them. They were firing from far away. Anyway I could not leave Jake. I had to stay and try to block as many darts and bullets as I could. But we were pinned down and my heart sank a bit more every time I heard Jake cry out, every time he got hit. His cries were getting softer and softer. Eventually he just collapsed onto the ground and didn't get back up.

Oh no, my Jacob. Nooooooooo.

He phased back to human and I threw my body over his to protect him as best I could. Whoever was out there was still firing but they weren't doing any harm to me, just ensuring I couldn't leave. Was that their plan?

I could now clearly see all of the damage that had been partially obscured by his fur before. There were at least eight darts sticking out of various places on his body, which I quickly pulled out. His right thigh bone looked like it had been shattered by a bullet, and he had other bullet holes and grazes covering his body. But the worst of all was the wound I saw when I went to turn him over. my jacob had been SHOT IN THE HEAD!

I was crying uncontrollably. But Jacob just looked up at me as a single tear rolled down his cheek, as I heard movement closing in on us from all sides.

While putting pressure on his head wound as best I could, trying to at least stop the bleeding, I screamed at him, "Jacob, you're okay, you're going to be okay."

Jake just whispered back to me, "I'm sorry. I love you," before finally closing his eyes.

"JACOB! MY JACOB! JAKE . . ."

* * *

Sorry i was a day later than usual in posting this chapter, but yesterday was crazy.

Also i realise the length of this chapter is much shorter than my normal chapters, but i wanted to save what happened next for its own chapter, which will be postd on monday.

Okay - just one little spoiler alert below before I get a bunch of angry reviews and PM's

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Jake's not dead, but he's obviously not in great shape.


	61. Darkness

**Year Seven, Pregnancy**

Chapter 61, Darkness

Chapter 62, Shocking News

Chapter 63, Deer Blood

Chapter 64, Speedy Delivery

Chapter 65, Explanations

Chapter 66, Missing Everything

Chapter 67, Revelations

Chapter 68, David

Chapter 69, Christmas & Embry

Chapter 70, Dinner & La Push

Chapter 71, The Birth

Chapter 72, Felicity

Chapter 73, David's Difficulties

* * *

 **Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-One**

 **Darkness**

Jacobs's Point of View

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

"Aaaaahhhh," so much pain! What was going on? I had been jerked away from the blackness, the unconsciousness, I had been in, but I didn't know why, or how.

"He's awaking . . . turn up . . . drip, knock . . . back out, . . . I'll . . . resetting his leg . . ." someone shouted as I was pulled back under, back into the darkness.

* * *

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Everything was black. I couldn't see a thing. Then suddenly I start feeling the pain in my leg, and my back, and my head. Ouch, ouch, ouch. So much pain, still. What happened? And why can't I move?

There was a beeping sound coming from somewhere. It was slow and steady, but I couldn't place it, and it didn't stop. I needed to open my eyes and try to figure out what was going on. Nothing happened. What was wrong with me.

Come on, I need to open my eyes. I just concentrated on opening them just a little. They seemed so heavy, but eventually the lids slowly cracked open. The light was so bright but it looked like I was in a hospital room. With a bit more effort eventually I could turn my head, just slightly.

I saw that the beeping sound was coming from some machine that I appeared to be hooked up to. There was also an IV in my arm giving me some sort of fluid. I think there were at least two nurses moving around in the room somewhere, they seem to be talking to each other but I could not make out what they were saying. I don't think they noticed I was awake. Before I could try and speak everything went black again.

* * *

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

I think I was starting to wake up, the pain was back. But before I could even attempt to open my eyes everything sunk back into darkness.

* * *

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

I don't know how long it had been, but I slowly started crawling out of the darkness once again. And once again I started feeling the pain in my leg and head.

Every time I would wake up it started with that damn beeping and the pain returning. This was the fifth or sixth time, I think, but never for more than a minute or two. At least my back felt better this time. How long had I been out?

The pain in my head and leg had returned, but not as bad this time. It started as a tingling feeling this time, that kept building and building. If it weren't for the pain though, there would be no sensation at all.

Just as I was starting to try and open my eyes I sunk back into the darkness, once again.

* * *

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

That beeping sound I had been hearing off and on, for who knows how long now, was back. I think I had been going in and out of consciousness for a while now. Hours, days, weeks? I could not tell.

What happened to me?

The pain in my body was mostly gone now. Either the Doc finally got the morphine levels right or I was healing on my own. If that was true it had been at least a few days, maybe longer. I remembered now how badly I was injured. My thigh bone had been shattered, and I had been shot at least four times in the attack.

Oh crap! I hadn't even remembered the attack until this moment. I started to recall the ambush and how I had gotten hurt in the first place. Nessie and I were cornered.

NESSIE! Where was she? My eyes shot open and I frantically looked around but didn't see her. My movements were still pretty limited. I could not move my head more than an inch. Where was she? Was she okay. Was she in the hospital with me? Had she been hurt? Did they, whoever "they" were, did they get her?

"Nessie" I tried to scream, but it came out more as a whisper.

Where was Carlisle? If I was in a hospital I assumed he should be here somewhere. If I was brought to a hospital without him intervening there would have been a lot of questions about my 108 body temp. It looked like there were at least two women, nurses I guessed, floating around the room. They seemed to not notice or care that my temperature should have meant that if I were a normal person, I would be dead.

"Damn, he's awake, again." I heard one of them say.

"It must be his high wolf body temperature. It keeps burning off the sedatives." The other one added.

Everything was so fuzzy. What were they talking about? What kind of a hospital was this?

"Up the dosage. We don't want him escaping." The first shouted over to the other.

Sedatives? Escaping? What was going on? I was starting to panic. This wasn't a hospital. As my adrenaline started pumping things got less fuzzy and I could move a bit more.

I threw my head up a bit and spotted Nessie entering the doorway. "Ah," I signed with relief. She was alive. It didn't look like she was injured, but she looked deadly tired, and scared, and worried. And she was being held by her arm by some man, no . . . by some Vampire. But . . . who was he? I didn't recognize him. I started thinking back to every vampire I saw when the Volturi came. I don't remember him. Who was he?

"We're almost out, I'm going to have to go get more." The second voice countered back.

Wait! That voice. Was it possible I knew one of the nurses voices? I didn't recognize her but her voice sounded eerily familiar. Where have I heard her voice before?

The Motel Room. Oh My God! It was Maysun, one of Nahuel's sisters.

"There, you see, he is alive. We have seen to his injuries and even reset his leg." The Vampire said gesturing over to me. But I was pretty sure it was a lie, though he might have been telling the truth about my leg, I don't know. But I was being shot full of drugs through the IV, and not the helpful kind. I knew they were giving me sedatives, but what else? Nothing helpful. No painkillers, no antibiotics, not that I really needed them, but they probably would not know that.

"You know what I want, my dear. . ." The Vampire continued to whispered into Nessie's ear.

"Just don't hurt him again." She sulked back some tears.

"Off course not," he said in a slimy hushed voice, "your wolf is my assurance that, as long he lives, you will cooperate. Understand?"

Nessie just nodded to him, while never taking her eyes off of me.

Cooperate? With what?

"Think of the possibilities of our vampire/half-vampire offspring, and probably a gifted one at that. Shall we get started?" He said as he grabbed her arm and led her out to somewhere else, beyond where I could see.

It finally dawned on me who this must be. It was that sicko, Nahuel's father. Joham!

NESSIE! I had to get her, save her. But I could barely move and Maysun was back with more of whatever they were pumping into me. A few seconds later, I could feel myself starting to lose consciousness again.

I could not yell, could not get up, could not even move. Everything started to get fuzzier. I could not even keep my eyes open. I was trapped. And that Monster had my Renesmee.

I was sinking deeper and deeper into the blackness. The pain was disappearing again, I could not even hear that annoying beeping anymore.

* * *

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

I was slowly coming out of the forced darkness again. How long was I out this time?

Had everything I had previously seen and heard been real or was I just imagining it? Everything was so fuzzy, again.

I was not even sure what day it was or how long I've been here, wherever here was.

Was Nessie really here? Was that really her? With Joham? What was he doing to her? I needed to wake up, get up, get her, escape.

"Damn, he's waking up. Turn up that blasted drip again." Someone's voice shouted.

"No," I tried to yell to no avail.

"If we keep this up . . . he's already been given so much, he's not going to last much longer. This much is going to kill him." The voice I now recognized as Maysun's, replied.

"Who cares, he's dead anyway, as soon as . . ."

* * *

I know, you all probably hate me right now, again. But please just hang in there, i think it will be worth it.


	62. Shocking News

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Two**

 **Shocking News**

Jacob's Point of View

Beep, beep . . . beep, beep . . . beep, beep . . .

". . . important . . . she's alive," I heard a voice say. Was it Bella's? No it couldn't be. Whose ever it was, it sort of sounded like hers, but it was fuzzy, and seemed so far away, almost like if they were in a tunnel. ". . . both alive, even if . . . rough shape."

". . . how could she do . . . was _enjoying_ . . . monster." That voice sounded like Edward's. I must be dreaming.

"Was it . . . he drugged . . . made her do . . . have a gift . . . didn't know about?"

"Not . . . aware of . . . run a blood test . . . drugs in her system . . . don't smell . . .can normally. . . aroma of a body, . . . might have worn . . ." I think that was Carlisle voice. Maybe it really was them. But what were they talking about?

" . . . going to . . . broken when he hears . . ."

The voice that I think belonged to Eddie spoke next. "Wait, . . . starting to wake . . . think . . . hear us." Everything still sounded so strange, all muffled, going in and out, and none of the words made much sense to me. But then the darkness returned, and I couldn't hear anymore anyway.

* * *

Beep, beep . . . beep, beep . . . beep, beep . . .

Eventually, I'm not sure how much time passed, but the darkness lifted just like it had so many times before, the fuzziness I felt in my head cleared up, and I woke up once again.

Damn it! I was still trapped in Joham's fake hospital room. I thought we had been rescued. I thought I heard my family's voices. It seemed so real, but I must have dreamed it. Nessie and I were still trapped.

Nessie!

I was actually able to open my eyes and move my head to look around, without much difficulty, this time. I saw her lying in a bed to my left. IVs were in her arm as well. What had that bastard done to her?

"Jacob it's alright. You're both safe."

Huh? Edward?

As I looked around I noticed this room was not exactly like the room Joham had set up. It was Carlisle's office turned into an infirmary, of sorts. We were safe. Nessie was safe. But what happened to her? Did they get to her in time, when I couldn't? Did they save her . . . in time?

"Did he . . .?" I looked to Edward, he probably read her mind and knew, but I could not bring myself to say the words.

Edward just nodded his head solemnly.

Nooooo! I screamed in my head. "Are you certain?"

"Joham was . . . they were . . . while we were closing in on you." Edward barely managed to choke out.

Arrrg, of course he did, that's why he did all of it. I heard what he said to her. I was barely conscious at the time but I remember how he had convinced her to go with him and not put up a fight. It was the sole reason he kept me alive; just so he could have some sort of mutant spawn with Renesmee.

I tried to go over to my sweet angel. I wanted to be closer to her, to hold her. But the hospital beds, we were currently in, were too far away from each other, and we were both hooked up to so many tubes and machines. I didn't really care about myself, but Carlisle stopped me as I tried to get up. And in truth I almost passed out just trying to sit.

"Jacob, your body was pumped full of an extraordinary amount of drugs – tranquilizers, sedatives, muscle relaxants. You need to remain hooked up to the machines while they remove the toxins from your bloodstream. You almost died. You most likely would have if we had gotten to you any later."

If I had had the energy, nothing Carlisle had just said to me would have mattered, but I was too weak and could not even attempt to move for the time being.

The rest of the family came into the room now. They must have heard that I was awake. But I could not be bothered with their well wishes right now. I needed to make sure Nessie was not suffering.

"What is she thinking about, right now? Do you know? Can you tell?" I asked Eddie, cutting off whoever was talking to me. I would have pressed her hand to my face to see her dreams if I could get to her.

After a minutes or two of silence I pushed him further. "Please I have to know." _Is she having nightmares?_ I didn't care if he had to pick me up like a baby, and carry me over to her bed, if being closer to me would take her pain away.

"She's worried that you are going to be disappointed in her . . . in what she did. What she had to do." Edward reluctantly answered me.

Disappointed? In her? There was no way. I was angry though. At Joham, and his daughters, and myself. I was angry that I wasn't there for her when she needed me, angry that I wasn't strong enough, angry that I didn't protect her, angry that I let this happen.

"Carlisle as soon as it is safe we need to determine if she is pregnant . . . with Joham's child." Edward seethed through a growl. Actually everyone in the room looked stunned, I guess he had not shared that bit of information with them yet. No one said a word, but Rose had to step out, with Emmett following close behind her. I could hear some of the nearby forest getting destroyed as the trees fell, one by one.

It seemed that even her baby crazed mind had its limits.

With a sullen expression the Doc whizzed around the room and set up the ultrasound equipment he must have kept from when Bella was pregnant.

As he lifted up her shirt to run the scan I could plainly tell that her stomach had already started to grow larger, but no one said a word about it.

"Unfortunately her skin is too much like our own, I cannot tell if there is indeed a fetus in there or not." He sighed after a minute.

Did he really need a test to confirm what his eyes could see? I know the Doc always liked to be thorough but this just seemed ridiculous. But then again, it was too early for her to be showing anyway. Right? And there could be other reasons for her stomach to look larger. She was still aging, after all. I'm sure not very many woman keep the perfectly flat tummies, in their twenties, that they once had as a teenager. And it was only a slight change.

"What about a urine or blood test? Esme suggested as she stroked Nessie's hair.

"She is currently still too dehydrated right now for a conventional pregnancy test," the Doc informed us.

Dehydrated? How long had Joham held us before we were rescued?

"A little over a week," Edward answered my thoughts with the most strained voice I had ever heard him use. Worse even than when Bella was pregnant. "He brought in a few people every now and then, but she refused to feed from them."

More than a week, that long? How many times had Joham . . . and my innocent angel . . . I grew more furious and nauseated at the same time. If he's not already dead, if he somehow managed to escape, I was going to hunt him down and kill him.

"You're too late, she already did."

"Nessie killed Joham?" I asked Edward, in disbelief. What? How? She killed a full vampire? By herself? Pride, sadness and anger filled my mind and heart.

He neglected to answer me though and I didn't push it this time, so the Doc continued when neither Edward or I, or anyone else still in the room had said anything for more than a minute. "I could, however, try a blood test, but I am uncertain if it will work."

Could you tell if someone was pregnant that way?

"Yes," Edward again returned to answering my unspoken question, "but it will take about twenty to thirty minutes to get the results, and that is if we can get enough blood out of her."

"Is that safe in her current condition? How badly did he hurt her?" I asked with a gulp. Having just woken up myself, I didn't even know. Actually I was not even sure how we got here.

"Physically she is . . . she will be _fine_. As you are aware she heals just as quickly as you. She was only minorly injured when the two of you were found, and mostly healed by the time we brought you both back here. She's just sleeping, now. It doesn't appear as if she's slept in days. That is _currently_ the worst of her condition, besides the dehydration. It would be helpful to know how long it had been since she last hunted?"

"She had just had a deer, right before we were captured." What had he done to her, that she was like this? She had gone a lot longer between meals before. Seven weeks, when she thought it was the blood preventing her from getting pregnant, but then she was eating human food to make up for it.

"We will have to work fast. Alice could you use your nail and make a small incision in her arm? I will attempt to insert a needle before the wound closes up." Carlisle instructed.

There was already a couple tubes running into her left arm, one giving her, what I assumed was blood, and another giving her some clear fluid, so Alice sliced a small scratch into her right, just large enough for Carlisle to insert the needle. He managed to get enough blood out of Nessie, miraculously without even waking her. I hope that did not signal that there was something else wrong with her. But I knew that if she was just tired after all she had been through she deserved to sleep now. I didn't want to disturb her for any reason. I just hoped Edward was telling me the truth and she was not having any nightmares.

While we were waiting for the results I saw someone else enter the room.

Jennifer! Nahuel's other sister. What the hell was she doing here? It had been about an hour now, since I had first woken up and was feeling much better, , physically at least. Not completely 100% but enough that I was able to leapt out of the bed. I phased mid-stride into a wolf and started growling at her. Why was she here? How could the Cullens allow this? She was one of the ones that was behind this!

"No Jacob, she wasn't part of this." Edward warned, cautiously stepping between us, cutting off my direct line of sight to the third treacherous sister. "She came and found us. That's how we found you. As soon as she learned of her father's plan she tried to warn us."

" _Liar!"_ I growled passed Edward. It was a trick. They were ALL behind it.

"Jacob, it's the truth. I know you imprinted on Renesmee, but she is my daughter, and I love her just as much as you."

" _Not likely,"_ I growled back.

"If Jennifer was in any way behind this, I would know and she would already be dead by now. Believe me," he stressed.

Aurg. I was beyond irate and really wanted to rip someone's head off. But could not attack her, if she was innocent and was responsible for our rescue. After calming down enough to phase back I spotted Jasper in the corner. I needed answers.

"Jasper," his massive screw up was what led to this, "you assured us that Joham was gone," I yelled.

"We didn't know he had anything planned when Maysun and I talked to Alice and Jasper," Jennifer responded instead, looking down at her feet. "It's not their fault. It wasn't until two weeks ago that he informed us of his plan and tried to get us to help him. I immediately refused and he locked me up in one of his experiment facilities." Now that I really looked at her I could see she still had faint wounds on her wrists, like they had been in restraints. Nessie's skin heals as fast as mine, so if the marks were still visible they must have been pretty bad. "But Maysun was more willing to go with him, fearing his retaliation. I am sorry I was unable to get to your family earlier, but it took me awhile to break out."

"You had left South America by the time she located us and we didn't know where you were." Jasper finally spoke up.

"So why didn't anybody call to warn us?"

"We did, at least we tried to. But you see, Joham considers himself a scientist, among another things, and is as comfortable with modern technology as we are. He brought some sort of jamming device with him into the forest. We found it and your mangled phones alongside ammunition shells and vials of empty horse tranquilizers."

Horse tranquilizers? That's what I had been shot with?

"Jacob, please get back into the bed before you pass out again." Edward implored me. "The drugs that were pumped into your system have only partially been cleaned out. I need to re-insert the IVs back into your arm. You'll probably feel weak and tired for the next few days."

"I'll be fine." I said. I didn't really care about me, it was Nessie I was worried about. She was the only thing that mattered. But he was right and I was suddenly lightheaded. I almost passed out, I did actually fall but was caught by someone before I hit the floor.

I guess phasing took more out of me than I thought.

"Come on, back to bed with you." Bella said as she easily picked me up and placed me back in the bed while Edward reinserted all of the tubes that I had torn out.

"I have the results." Carlisle announced, a few minutes later, no hint of emotion in his voice or demeanor to give me any clues as to the outcome.

I didn't need any though. Even before he spoke Edwards face winced. It took on the appearance of the burning man look it once held when he thought he would lose Bella, back when she was pregnant with Nessie. I knew what that face meant without having to hear the words from the Doc.

The test was POSITIVE. Of course I already knew that, just by looking at her swelling stomach, but now that it was confirmed by the test, it somehow made it more real.

I heard Bella whisper to Edward, "We need to get it out of her."

No, not this again!

"No you can't!" Was that my Nessie? She's awake.

"Renesmee we have to." I softly spoke to her as I tried to reach out to her, tubes and distance getting in the way. I didn't want her to have to go through anything more, but Bella was right. We needed to get that thing out of her before it hurts her more than she has already been.

"But the baby - it's yours, ours, my Jacob," she cried back, placing her hands protectively over her stomach.

"You don't know that, honey." I was barely able to respond. Was she right? I guess there was a very slight possibility that could it be mine. Of course there was a chance. But we had been trying for months and the tests always came back negative. It was as if our DNA was not compatible. And it was too big of a risk if it wasn't.

"Yes, I do. You have to believe me, my Jacob."

"You're willing to take a chance and have that monsters baby?"

"No, I'm going to have our child."

"We should know soon enough, just by how fast it grows. If it develops too fast well know it's Joham's, and then Carlisle can get rid of it." Edward suggested.

"Possibly," I heard Jasper seethe from the back of the room. I did not even realize he was still here after my little outburst. I'll have to apologize for yelling at him later. He looked like he was in pain from all of the emotions running through the room. "It may be too late by then. A 3/4 vampire could possibly grow in days. Bella was only pregnant for a month with you. And you're only half-vampire, Renesmee."

"Carlisle is there any way to tell whose child it is?" Bella asked.

"I'm afraid it's too risky in Renesmee's current state. And any test I could run would be potentially dangerous to the fetus. Regardless we could not do it yet, anyway. We would have to wait for the fetus to grow a bit. That is, if I can even get a needle through the embryonic sac.

"But please realize that even if the fetus does grow rapidly there is no way to know if it is, in fact, Joham's. It could just as likely be Jacob's. There has never been a part-vampire, part-shapeshifter baby. There is no way to determine how quickly Jacob's child could grow inside Renesmee, with their combined DNA."

Great, I never thought of that. Having my child could just as easily kill Nessie, too. No, I can't think like that. We were meant to be together. I didn't imprint on her to just knock her up, and kill her.

"You both have had accelerated growth stages yourself." The Doc added looking at the two of us.

"So there is no way to tell? There's nothing you can do?" I spat. I know I shouldn't be taking it out on the Doc but this was Nessie's life we were talking about. I wanted answers.

"Calm down Jacob. We will monitor Renesmee. I promise to keep a close watch on her. When the time is right I will attempt to determine the paternity of the fetus."

"Alice, can you see anything?" Bella turned to her with pleading in her eyes.

"I wish I could, but you know I can't see Nessie, or Jacob. Maybe that is a good sign. If it was Joham's I might be able to see something." She half smiled at that thought.

"Why won't any of you listen to me. This is Jacob's baby." Nessie nearly screamed.

"Nessie," I was about to argue with her, but then I looked into her eyes. I know she wanted it to be true, but wishing something, no matter how hard, didn't guarantee anything. But if she wanted to keep this baby, even if it was _his_ , then I would do everything in my power to make that happen. I knew she wanted a child, and it didn't seem like I was able to give her one. "Don't worry. No one is going to do anything without your consent." Not ever again, anyway.

Edward winced at my thought but nodded his head and reluctantly agreed. "But if this pregnancy puts Renesmee in any danger then we will be revisiting this topic."

" _You'll have to go through me first, before you lay a hand on her."_ I growled a warning in my head at him. I didn't want this turning into a fight right now. Nessie would not want that and she most likely would need all of her strength for what was to come.

"Yuck! I'm sorry but what is that horrible smell?" Nessie asked, holding her nose.

Smell? What smell?

"Oh, it's this, what is in here?" she pointed to the blood bag she was hooked up to. I wonder if the Doc had added some medicine to it that was affecting the smell. I didn't smell anything, but it was possible that her nose was more sensitive than mine. I had never thought to compare.

"We needed to feed and rehydrate you, Renesmee. Your condition was not improving as quickly as I would have liked, after your battle with Joham. In addition to the exhaustion, you were suffering from a lack of fresh blood in your system. I had been concerned that you had not hunted frequently enough, but Jacob said that you had just fed, . . ." he hesitated for a moment not sure how to phrase the next part, it seemed, "um, before everything happened, so I assume your weakened condition must be due to the pregnancy. The bag contains some O negative blood I acquired from the hospital. Since you were unconscious we needed to get it into your system somehow."

"Well it smells awful." I could see that everyone in the room seemed shocked by this. "Do I still need it?"

"I would like to get the rest of it into your system. Since you are awake now it would be much quicker if you drank it. Then we can try some human food and see how you do with that."

Carlisle handed her the bag once he had removed the tube from her arm, but she just made a face.

"Please, just drink it honey. It will help you heal."

"Oh, all right," she reluctantly agreed as she took the bag and practically gagged as she choked down the blood. This was so strange. Nessie loved blood, especially human blood, though she hadn't had any since she was a baby. Of course when Bella was pregnant her diet was all screwed up too.

Then right on cue, Bella showed up with a tray of food for each of us. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until now. But I guess it made sense, I technically hadn't eaten in over a week, while captured.

As I dug into the steak, that Bella made for me, I noticed that Nessie's tray had all different types of foods on it. The first plate she tried only contained scrambled eggs. Why would Bella think Nessie would want to eat that, right now? I know she liked them, but it didn't seem like something she would want to eat at the moment. Just like I assumed, Nessie spit it out as soon as it entered her mouth.

Next Bella handed her a bowl full of saltines, which was typical boring food given to women with morning sickness, even I knew that. Nessie pushed that away as well.

The third option was a bowl of fruit. She might like that. She had been eating a lot of fruit on the Island. I was so happy when we had found another human food Nessie had actually liked besides eggs. But not today. Not even her favorite strawberries.

The last plate was a steak, like mine. I couldn't see how Nessie would like that if the smell of human blood was offensive to her right now, but she practically gobbled it up in one bite. And then surprised everyone even more by lifting the plate up and drinking the juice left there. I gave her mine to drink as well and she did the same.

"How are you feeling, Renesmee," the Doc asked her while checking her monitors and taking her pulse. "Are you feeling dizzy or queasy at all?"

"No, that was just what I needed. Actually the juice was delicious. I could have done without the actual meat though."

"Well, perhaps in a few days, when you are feeling better, we can all go hunting." Edward chuckled, glad that his daughter was doing better. I was sure he was still concerned about her, and the pregnancy, just as I was, but he was at least trying to hid it, for now.

Now that Nessie seemed to be doing better, physically, my mind started to wander back to how we ended up back here. What had happened? How had they saved us? How had they even found us? Jennifer must have known where we were. Did she lead the family to us? If that was the case then why couldn't she just call them? Wouldn't that have been faster? I had a million questions.

"It wasn't us. It was Seth and Leah. Jennifer was able to lead us to your location but by the time we got there everything was pretty much over." Edward began to explain. "Seth and Leah were taking out Maysun and Selena. And Nessie was finishing off Joham."

Seth and Leah? I don't remember seeing them at all. I would need to talk to them later. Right now Nessie was my priority.

"How were you able to kill him?" I questioned her. I knew she was amazing, but was only a half-vampire, not as strong or fast as a full one. How had she done it?

"When I heard Seth and Leah storm in, I knew they could easily handle Joham's daughters and you would be safe so I didn't have to continue . . ." she caught herself before she could say what she was thinking next. I'm sure she didn't want to relive that, even in her mind. "Anyway, Joham and I were in another room . . . I had been using my gift to distract him, it worked for awhile before I lost focus, having to prepare to attack him, and I didn't want him to see what I was planning. But my distraction gave me enough of a lead that I was able to get in a few clean hits, he fought back, but the damage was done enough that I was able to rip his head off. "

"Really?" I looked at her in a combination of awe and disbelief. I was so amazed that I didn't know what to say.

"It's a good think you insisted on the additional fight training, Jake." Jasper reasoned. No kidding. Edward hadn't been happy with the idea at the time, but now I was so glad we had resumed our lessons back in April, focusing on offence attacks instead of just defensive moves.

"It really came in handy." Nessie admitted, sort of embarrassedly, but she had nothing to be embarrassed about. She was amazing, she's my angel. No wonder I love her.

She seemed almost happy, now. But she couldn't be, not after everything that she had been through. Soon we were going to have to deal with what happened. But not today. Today she still needed her rest.


	63. Deer Blood

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Three**

 **Deer Blood**

Renesmee's Point of View

"Nessie, darling, are you thirsty?" my mother asked me.

"To be honest, yes, actually. I'm ravished but I don't think I have the energy to hunt, yet." Jacob and I had only been back home for a day and I was still pretty tired.

"Don't worry," Aunt Alice chimed in. "Here at Chez Cullen we deliver. What are you in the mood for? Black bear, mountain lion, cougar, we have it all. Or at least we can get it all."

"Actually," I said hesitantly, "if it's all right with Grandpa Carlisle I'm kind of in the mood for deer."

"Deer? Really? Nessie sweetie you can have anything you want. I'll travel hundreds of miles to get you exactly whatever you desire," my father admitted.

"Thanks, Dad. But I really, really do want some deer blood. That won't be a problem will it? I know animal blood is all different, and it's an herbivore. Is that going to make me heal slower?"

My grandfather replied that it would be fine and just as good as a carnivores blood, although nothing would strengthen me as much as human blood. He offered me some more of the donated blood he got from the hospital, but the last bag tasted as bad as the cougar smelt in New York. What was this pregnancy doing to me? I knew pregnant woman craved strange foods, so I guess deer blood was my pickles and ice cream.

"Alright, Nessie, one deer coming up," my Aunt confirmed as she skipped out the door.

42 minutes later she returned with something that I completely was not expecting. She held, by the neck, an actual deer.

"Oh, I was expecting some blood in a cup, or donation bag, or something."

"Don't be silly Nessie. You're not some weak little human, like your mother was, when we had to give her blood through a straw." I shuddered a bit as I recalled the stories I had heard of my mother's distressing pregnancy and my traumatic birth. "This way it's nice and fresh, still warm and pumping, and you're more than strong enough to drink it this way. It'll taste a whole lot better, too, than from some styrofoamy, plasticky, gross cup."

She was probably right and I was so famished I wasn't about to argue. She easily dragged the still struggling deer over to the bed and I quickly sank my teeth into its neck. Yum! But that didn't even begin to quench my thirst.

"More, please" I said, slightly embarrassed.

"I had a feeling you might say that," Aunt Alice hummed, as Jasper brought in yet another deer for me. Sometimes it was almost as if she _could_ actually see me.

"So does this mean we're all better? Or at least enough that we can go recoup in our own room?" I questioned my grandfather. I really just wanted to curl up in my Jacob's arms and pretend the last week was just a dream, not the living nightmare it had been. But as long as I was in Jake's arms I could pretend, at least for a moment.

"I'd like to keep you hooked up to the monitors for at least a few more hours, Nessie. Drinking the blood has drastically improve your overall health but you're still suffering from your ordeal and you are . . . pregnant." He was trying to keep his tone professional but I could see the worry in his face and he looked slightly sad. Why was everybody upset about Jake and I finally getting pregnant? Wasn't this what everybody had wanted?

Then it dawned on me. My grandfather, and probably everyone else in the family, still did not believe me that this was Jake's child. But soon it would not matter. Soon our son or daughter would be born and they would see the truth. I didn't want to push the subject right now though because my grandfather continued to talk.

"And I'm afraid that Jacob is still in a less than desirable condition, he will need to stay here for the time being, a day or two at least, I would gather."

"Oh," I immediately felt bad for even suggesting it. I knew he had been given a ton of drugs, I had never seen him not heal immediately from something before though, well except his broken arm. That took a few days. Was this worse than that? It must be if my grandfather was being this protective of him. "Well in that case, I definitely want to stay here with Jake."

"Can we at least push the beds together so we can be closer to each other?" Jacob asked and I thought that was a wonderful idea. If I can't be in the same bed with him, I at least want to be next to him.

"That seems agreeable," my grandfather concurred. Before I knew it, my family had moved the two hospital beds so that they were joined. As soon as we were together Jacob and I embraced each other in a long-needed hug.

"Why don't we give them some time alone," someone said, I was too distracted from finally being reunited with my Jacob, to care who. But a few minutes, hours, days, I don't know how long, but when I looked up the room was empty, sans the two of us. The door had been left open a crack so they could still hear us, even with the soundproofing, not to eavesdrop, I'm sure, but just to keep an eye, or an ear rather, on our conditions.

Later that day Seth and Leah came by to check on us, and Carol even braved my vampire family to come too. I knew she was still slightly frightened by them, having heard the Quileute legends in her childhood about the Cold Ones, but I still held out hope that she would eventually get used to my family and not be so scared. The fact that she came here today gave me great hope, even if all she did was cling to Seth's side and not say a word the entire time she was here.

"So I hear I have the two of you to thank for our rescue," Jake began to Seth and Leah.

"No, we were just a distraction. Nessie did all the hard work killing that evil bloodsucker," Seth responded.

"Yeah Nessie, you could have at least left a piece of him for us. Those two half-breeds were too easy to take out."

I know Leah was actually trying to be nice to me for a change, but I didn't really like what she said. Did she really see me as a half-breed? And Seth calling Joham a bloodsucker? Was that what they thought of my family as well?

Not knowing what to say, and not trusting myself to say something, err, inappropriate, I just smiled back at her.

"How are you feeling?" Leah asked.

Was she asking about me or Jake? She hadn't looked at either one of us when she spoke. Maybe she was referring to Jake. He was still connected to more tubes than I was. Then again maybe she was asking me. Did she know about the pregnancy? Should I be the one to tell them the good news? I just looked to Jake for him to answer, which thankfully he did.

"Not too happy about all of the tubes running in and out of us, but other than that I think we'll be fine." Jake said, while pulling me into a sweet little kiss.

"So I hear . . . um . . . congratulations? . . . are in order? Is that true?"

"Yes, Seth. You heard right. Jake and I are having a baby."

"You and Jake . . . ?" he began with a bit skepticism in his voice, before Leah elbowed him. Not them, too! Why does no one want to believe the truth?

"YES, Nessie is pregnant and is very happy about it." Jake responded, emphasizing every single word for them. At least he was backing me up . . . verbally at least. I'm sure his heart and mind will follow eventually.

"Oh, well that's, um, great, then. Congrats." Leah said before throwing in an "I guess" under her breath. I think that was the best I was going to get from her. Personally I was shocked she even came to our rescue in the first place, knowing her feelings for me. But Jake was her Alpha, after all.

"Did you want us to call Billy?" she then asked.

"Does he know what happened?" Jake looked concerned.

"We haven't called him yet. We wanted to talk to you first." Seth replied this time.

"Thanks, let's just not mention this to him then. I don't want to concern him for nothing."

"Sure, whatever you say." Seth seemed relieved that that was one phone call he or his sister would not have to make.

"Can I ask you guys how you even knew we had been captured? Or where to find us?" I had not been able to figure that part out and had not had a chance to ask anyone until now.

"It was you, Jake." Leah responded.

Jake? But he was sedated the entire time.

"I never called you guys." He looked just as confused as me.

"No, you were probably way too distracted at the time to notice, but while you were being hunted in New York you were in your wolf form and I just happened to be phased at the same time. I saw everything. I immediately started running to you and howled for Seth to follow. I wasn't sure he could, having given up his wolf nearly nine months ago." She said throwing Seth an apologetic look.

"It's okay. I was able to stop phasing once. I can do it again. It's not like you would call if it wasn't an emergency. I knew that." Seth breezily replied.

"It took me awhile to figure out exactly where you were," she continued, "but once Seth and I found the spot where you were taken, it was a matter of following your scent to Joham's complex. It wasn't easy, you being in a truck, or van, or something. We kept losing your scent, but luckily Joham must have been paranoid, or whatever, and switched the vehicles that he was transporting you both in, a few times. If he had not kept stopping and moving you, letting your scent escape at the same time, we might never have found you."

I initially had not understood why we kept switching trucks, keeping us in one seemed like it would have been the smarter thing to do. But after awhile I began to realize that Joham must have stolen them and was worried about getting stopped by the police. I knew my family would have been able to pick up our scent too if they were close enough, but would lose it immediately if we were in an enclosed car. Thank goodness wolves sense of smell was better than vampires. Though the vans had no windows i could see when we were moved that we were heading back to New Hampshire, over 250 miles from where we were taken. I tried thinking of a away to escape back then, but Serena literally held a gun to Jacob's unconscious head the entire time, effectively ensuring that I would not try anything.

Once we arrived at Joham's complex, hidden in plain sight among other indiscriminate warehouse buildings, I understood why he had not just brought us to any old building, something closer by, and not bother with moving us. The place we were held in was a fortress, not the old fashioned fortified castle type, but a modern day version, a concrete building with few windows, protected on all sides with a security fence and cameras. Inside there was an entire laboratory, and Jacob's "hospital" room, amongst various others. He had obviously spent a lot of time setting this up. It made sense that he had to bring me back there, he had wanted to capture me closer to home and only have a short transport, but our vacation away from my family gave him the perfect opportunity to grab me, relatively alone.

"It took us longer than we hoped as it was. Sorry we didn't alert the Cullens, but when I saw what was happening I just phased without thinking and ran. Maybe Alice should add a pocket to my slip for a cell phone." she chuckled awkwardly, trying to divert some of the tension.

"Leah, don't even worry about it. You did great, you both did. We are here now because of you."

"Yeah but if we had gotten to you a little sooner, or I had thought to call the Cullens, then maybe Nessie wouldn't be . . ."

"LEAH! I said it was fine." Jake cut her off.

"Jake, don't yell at her." I didn't want Jake making Leah feel bad, she had saved us, after all.

"Maybe we should let the two of them get some rest," Seth suggested before they said goodbye and gave us some parting hugs.

* * *

That night, wrapped safely in Jacob's arms, I finally felt safe and was able to sleep. Really sleep. Not the short cat naps I had taken, while in Joham's hands, or when I passed out here from sheer exhaustion after getting rescued.

I finally, truly slept.

I was slightly worried about having nightmares but just as with the Volturi dreams, Jacob kept them away.

While my dreams never manifested into the nightmares I was so afraid of, they were however, still extremely strange.

I had drank three deers that day and was extremely full and I think my dreams reflected that. I had more than one dream where I was just bursting at the gut. Everything was so full and the tightness in my stomach was overwhelming. I knew I'd fed too much but I was so thirsty and it tasted so was probably the feeling movies and television shows aim to depict of people who have gorged themselves, and then felt disgusting, after eating an entire Thanksgiving dinner.

When I woke up the next morning I found a better explanation for my dreams though.

My stomach had grown and I looked like I was about four months pregnant, I guessed, based on what I'd seen in diagrams in my grandfather's medical books. It wasn't like I was huge, but the clothes I had gone to sleep in were too tight on me now, and I was rather uncomfortable. At some point in the night the zipper on my slacks had even ripped open, but did not offer enough relief to my bulging belly.

"Nessie, oh crap!" Jake uttered in shock seeing my expanded stomach, for the first time, when he woke, a few minutes after me. "Are you okay?" But he never let me answer because he started yelling for my grandfather. When Grandpa Carlisle arrived _he_ did not however seem surprised by my updated condition, and pretty much established that he already knew when he handed me a large dress to change into. I knew my grandfather would be checking on both of us throughout the night so I was sure he had seen the growth of my stomach, or rather the baby inside, before this moment.

"How are you both feeling this morning?" my grandfather calmly asked us.

Jake looked a lot better today and he confirmed as much to my grandfather.

"But I don't care about myself, look at her," he exclaimed gesturing to my stomach.

"Jake, I feel fine. Actually, I'm a little hungry, well thirsty, really." I was actually shocked that I was hungry already, after all that I drank yesterday.

"That's understandable. The fetus has grown extraordinarily quickly, even faster than your mother's pregnancy with you. I would suggest that we get more blood into your system as soon as possible. First though I need to ask if you are in any pain?" I just shook my head, no. "Please let me know if that changes, even in the slightest. Now do you mind if I do a quick examination?"

"Sure, go right ahead."

Grandpa Carlisle lifted my shirt a few inches to reveal my burgeoning stomach, I'd wait till he left to change into the dress. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jacob cringe, probably expecting to see the bruised splotches that had once covered my mother's stomach. But I was half-vampire, and much stronger and more durable than she was, my stomach looked exactly the same as before, completely unblemished, just larger, and I saw him sigh in relief.

"Everything appears to be progressing normally, if not rather quickly. You seem to be in perfect health. I'll inform Alice you are awake so she can go out and round up another few animals."

"Actually," Jake piped up, "do you mind if I get you something Nessie? I'm feeling better and would love to be able to provide this for you. I want to do something to help you."

"Jacob," my grandfather began to inform him, "you should stay in bed for the time being. I am not sure how much of the drugs you were given are still in your system."

"Come on Doc, I feel fine and . . . I bet phasing will probably help me heal much faster."

My grandfather seemed to consider what Jake said for a second. "You may have a point Jacob. You know your wolf form better than I do. All right, if you feel up to it, but stay in the area and turn around if you feel light headed or weak or dizzy in even the slightest way. Would you like someone to go with you?"

"Naw Doc. I'll be fine." Then he turned to me as he pulled the IVs out of his arm. I could see my grandfather was about to object to him doing that but the small puncture holes closed up by themselves, almost instantaneously. "Nessie, I'll be right back with a yummy deer for you. I love you." He said, placing a kiss on my forehead, like he use to do when I was younger.

"I love you too, thanks." I said as he left the room. "Where is everyone?" I questioned my grandfather. as soon as Jake was gone. I had assumed everybody would be in the room with me this morning as soon as I woke up.

"I sent your father and Jasper to the hospital to grab a few supplies that I will need soon. I'm afraid Rosalie and Emmett have not returned yet, but Alice assures us that they will be back by nightfall. She and Esme, along with your mother, are downstairs discussing a few things."

"What sort of things?"

My grandfathers response to my simple question revealed that he was hiding something from me. I had learned over the years that when he was trying to deceive someone, whether giving a patient bad news or trying to peacefully calm a stressful situation among vampires, the more agitated the situation the smoother he spoke. Charisma poured off of him in waves as stress levels increased.

"I don't believe your mother was quite prepared to be a grandmother this soon," he purred. He went on but I stopped paying close attention as soon as I knew what he was telling me was pure gibberish.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." I lied back when he had stopped talking. "Even if she had continued aging as a normal human, she would only be about 25 by now, that is rather young to be a grandmother. Of course, six is also pretty young to be a mother." Wait, what day was it? "Did I miss my birthday; am I six?"

"I am afraid so. Your birthday was yesterday. But we can celebrate it as soon as you feel up to it."

"Oh."


	64. Speedy Delivery

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Four**

 **Speedy Delivery**

Jacob's Point of View

I was able to pretty quickly nab a deer for Nessie. I knew she needed it so I wanted to hurry, but I was unsure of my strength at the time, not knowing how much of the muscle relaxants and tranquilizers and whatnot, were still in my system, and I guess I used a little bit too much force with the beast. I felt good, but the Doc said I could still be pretty weak. Apparently he was wrong. I didn't kill the deer, but it was definitely knocked out cold. I don't know for how long, but at least it made it easier carrying it back.

I had been in my wolf form while hunting and grabbing the thing, but it was easier to carry on two feet, arms were always easier for things like this, so I had phased back. I probably wouldn't lose that much time, this way.

As I was closing in on the house I heard Bella's voice. She was discussing something with Esme and Alice. I heard Nessie's name mentioned and that peeked my interest. Well, everything about Nessie was interesting to me, and considering all that had happened, it wasn't surprising that they were talking about her. I hoped everything was okay, and nothing bad had happened while I was gone, but I was still too far away and the forest was too dense that couldn't see them, yet.

I never should have left her, but I needed to get out of that room, just for a little bit. It was just too much like the other hospital-type room, the one Joham had kept me in. I couldn't take it, I needed to get away, I needed some air, just for little bit. I knew I would be right back, and getting this deer for Nessie had given me the perfect excuse to leave. I didn't think anything bad could happen to Nessie with me being gone for such a short amount of time. But what if I was wrong?

I remembered closing the door to the room Ness and I were in when I left, so if Carlisle was still in there and the door was closed, there would be no need for them to whisper, so they could talk freely, which they were. And since they weren't whispering it made it even easier for me to hear as I continued to carry the deer back to the house.

"I just don't understand how she could do it." Alice was chirping, or squeaking, or whatever, as she seemed to do in her high pitched voice.

"We don't know the whole story dear, but he could have made her, somehow, or Edward could be wrong." Esme countered. "He could have had a gift that we were not aware of."

"Nahuel and Jennifer swear he did not possess any."

"Perhaps he kept it hidden from them."

"Don't forget that no one has asked Renesmee her side of the story yet," Bella's voice now joined the other two.

"But Edward saw into her mind. I have never seen him falter like that when he was running, just as he heard what she was doing with Joham. There was no mistaking anything on his part. He is sure of what happened. What good would asking Nessie do? She slept with Joham and she _liked_ it. I just don't understand how she could do that to Jacob? I thought she loved him?"

"She didn't imprint on Jacob, Alice. He imprinted on her. It's different. Maybe Joham was more charming than we gave him credit for. Or, maybe when she got to know him, he was not actually a bad guy, after all. Or, maybe it was that Stockholm Syndrome you're always hearing about in movies and on the news."

"What are you talking about Esme? He nearly killed Jacob. He abducted both of them. No matter if she fell for his act or not, he was still a monster. And she didn't love him, she couldn't. She killed him, remember?" Bella countered to Esme.

"None of this makes sense. There has to be more to the story than we know about; more than even Edward got from the brief glimpse into her mind, as we approached Joham's compound."

"Jacob, you shouldn't be hearing this," Edward's voice came as a shock to me. Where had he even come from? He cautiously yet quickly approached me from . . . I don't even know where. I hadn't even heard him until he had started talking, I had been too focused on the conversation going on at the house.

The ladies were still talking, but I couldn't hear any more, I was stunned. I hadn't even been walking towards them for a while now; struck frozen by what they were saying. It sounding familiar, like the strange dream I had before I woke up in the Doc's room. But I guess it wasn't a dream, it was real and it was a waking, living, nightmare.

"Come on, Jacob," Edward began, taking the still unconscious deer out of my hands. "We'll figure out the truth about what really happened, but not now. Right now Renesmee needs us to be strong for her. And whatever did happen, we will have to wait to find out. We need to get this to her soon. I can hear how thirsty she is."

Huh? I had completely forgotten about the deer in my hands and what I was doing out in the woods. Edward grabbed my arm and started dragging me back to the house. I was in no condition to be able to even walk in a straight line on my own right now.

"Nessie loves you, I am sure of that, Jacob." Edward tried to reassure me. I knew she did, but I also knew that you could love more than one person. Suddenly the idea of her and Nahuel didn't sound quite so bad. No wait, yes it did. She was mine and the thought of sharing her, with _anyone_ , was repulsive.

Having Joham force himself on her was one thing, as repugnant as that was. The fact that she might have willing been with him, and enjoyed it, while I was in the other room . . . after all he did to her, to me, to both of us, it was just too much.

Resentment and rage boiled inside of me. I couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking I phased and ran. I just needed to get out of there for a little bit, clear my head, before I went back to Nessie. I didn't want to be angry in front of her and accidentally hurt her. I loved her. No matter what. I was angry at myself for putting her in that situation in the first place.

* * *

Just over eighteen hours later I returned. I hadn't meant to be gone so long, but by the time I calmed down I was pretty far away and then had to make the long journey back. Edward emerged from the house when I got close. I knew he, and everyone else most likely would be pissed by my departure, but his expression was a bit much.

"Jacob, it is good that you are back." He said very tight and controlled. He was probably fuming inside. "Nessie went into labor an hour ago."

"What?" But she has only been pregnant for a few days now. How is this possible?

"Carlisle believes she must have first conceived over a week ago. But her skin is so much like ours that it had been preventing any expansion up until yesterday, at that point the size of the fetus simply became too much to contain. Her stomach continued growing exponentially the entire time you were gone. Alice, Esme, and Jasper have been out looking for you for hours. If you had not come back now I was about to call Leah to see if she could find you."

I felt even more horrible for leaving now but I would have to beat myself up about that later. I needed to get up there, be with her, help her through the delivery. How could I have left? It was so selfish of me. But I was here now and I vowed to never leave her side again.

"It's all over Jacob, you missed it."

I missed it? The entire delivery? Already? Didn't these things normally take hours, or even days, sometimes? "Is she okay?" Did they have to cut it out of her, like they did with Bella?

"Nessie will be fine, physically at least . . . eventually. Come in the house and meet your son."

"Alright, but Edward, Nessie isn't here, you don't need to pretend with me, I know it isn't mine." This charade, that the baby was mine, that we were all pretending to go along with, for Nessie's benefit, was exactly that - for HER benefit.

"Well unless Joham had a tail that no one noticed I assure you he is yours, and he needs your help." Edward smirked. He actually smirked.

Wait . . . a tail? As in a wolf's tail? Huh?

"He phased half way out of the birth canal. I have never seen Carlisle so . . . shocked by anything before. I think the little guy needs your help figuring out how to phase back."

He phased? While still inside Nessie? And she is still alive? How? But Edward just said Nessie was fine. Well no. He said she would heal . . . eventually. Ouch! Images of Emily's scarred face and arm flooded my mind. That must have been beyond painful. How could she still even be alive?

"She is strong and heals fast. Carlisle is just finishing up doing what he can for her. It will take some time, but he is sure she will make a full recovery."

Even as Edward was finishing his sentence I began running back to Nessie and MY SON faster than I had ever run before.

"Hi sweetheart," she was still in the hospital bed, more IVs stuck in her arm, I'm guessing delivering her a massive amount of pain meds, while Bella was struggling to hold the baby wolf in her hands. Nessie gently was cradling his head in her hands, whispering, comforting words to him, but he was shaking like a leaf. I could see that he was truly terrified. Nessie was doing what she could, but phasing so young must have been more than a little confusing for him.

I kinda expected the rest of the family to be here now, Edward had called everyone, who had been out looking for me, on his cell as we ran back to the house. But the rest of the room was empty. Where were they?

"It seems that you son does NOT like Vampires, he was barking and clawing at everyone and we thought it best to mostly clear out." Edward answered my thoughts, again. "Bella is doing the best she can, since Nessie is unable to hold him right now."

In truth it didn't really matter to me where everyone else was. Nessie was the only one I really cared about. Well Nessie and the baby. But I had let them down.

"Please forgive me, Nessie. I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry I didn't help you. I'm sorry I missed it, I am so sorry you had to go through the birth of our child alone." In between every "I'm sorry" I was crying uncontrollably. I was so happy she was safe, and alive, but I had screwed up, big time.

"Jacob, your son needs you right now, we can talk about everything later, after you get your son to phase back." Nessie seemed to snap at me. This was the first time she didn't automatically forgive me for something I did, whether it was right or wrong. And she was right not to, I abandoned her when she needed me most, I deserved it.

But I did what she said and phased right in the room, it was large enough that I had plenty of space without having to worry about hurting anyone. Once phased I could communicate with my son using our shared wolf telepathy. It seemed strange, I wasn't sure he was going to be able to understand me but I saw in his mind how he seemed as intelligent as Nessie was as a newborn, and already had a basic vocabulary. I didn't actually need words though, I just thought about the feeling associated with phasing back and a few seconds later the newborn wolf was a newborn baby.

Actually no he wasn't, he was still a baby, but definitely not a newborn. I guess that would make sense. Bella was pregnant for roughly 1/9 the normal amount of time. And Nessie grew to adulthood just about three times as fast a human. She was only pregnant with our son for what? Ten days, at most? Combine her accelerated growth with wolf quickened growth rates and this kid would likely be an adult in the next 2-3 years if things didn't change.

A few years, that's all we got of a childhood with our son? That was not long enough. What if it was even shorter, and he grew at the same rate as a wolf when we first phased. I appeared to age almost ten years in a few months.

I wanted to look at him, now that he was back to human, and see his eyes. I was worried about this part. Well. I was worried about a lot of things, but this currently I was choosing to focus on. Everything else seeming too overwhelming, presently. Even now that I knew the kid was mine, and not Joham's, there was still a chance. Would he have eyes like mine and Nessie's? Or Edward and Bella's? I was bracing for the three possibilities I could think of – Brown, like mine and Nessie's. Golden, Like Bella and Edward's, since Nessie only drank animal blood, or . . . Red, like a newborn's.

Please don't be red, just don't be red . . .

And his eyes were . . . blue?

"Jacob most babies are born with blue eyes and then they change soon after. It is quite normal, I assure you." Edward explained.

As I reached out my hands to hold him, both Bella and Edward shouted in unison, "NO!"

"We need to check to see if he is venomous first. Nessie has venom in her, just because her bite is not venomous, does not guarantee a child between the two of you would not be." Edward added.

That seemed pretty farfetched. He was a wolf after all. But after everything I would hate to get bit by my own child and die, leaving my angel without me, if she still wanted me anymore, that is. I had abandoned her when she needed me most, and there was the whole Joham, love issue that I didn't even want to think about.

A couple minutes later, due to his accelerated growth, my babies eyes did indeed change to brown. And he was hungry.

"I grabbed some formula and O negative. Which should we try first?" Rose questioned from the doorway. I guess she had returned sometime while I was away.

"Formula! Definitely." I knew it was a long shot, but I could use another miracle around now.

But he wouldn't drink the formula, or the blood, and was screaming, more and more.

Poor little guy, he must be starving.

"Why not try animal blood, that's all I wanted." Nessie suggested.

Of course that made sense.

"We should get some for both of you," Bella recommended to Nessie.

Twenty minutes later Rose walked in with a deer for Nessie and a bottle full of deer blood for the baby. He stopped screaming and his face lit up as soon as the blood smell entered the room. I think this will work.

While Rose held the deer so Nessie could drink it, I held my son and was about to place the bottle in his mouth, but he surprised everyone when he reached for it himself and began drinking on his own.

He gobbled it up. I guess he really was half of Nessie and me. And then he drank another, and another and another. With every bottle he seemed to grow, and age, getting bigger before our eyes. He was growing much faster than Nessie ever did. I grew more worried as the minutes and hours passed.


	65. Explanations

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Five**

 **Explanations**

Renesmee's Point of View

It had been two days since I had given birth; I was still recovering and stuck in my grandfather's hospital bed. While I was still bedridden, he promised I could be moved to my own room tomorrow, at least.

My grandfather had given my an epidural as soon as I went into labor, so I had not felt the full impact of having basically my torso torn in two, during my sons, err, unusual delivery, but now that it was out and I was just on regular pain killers I was more than a little uncomfortable, to say the least. At least my grandfather assured me that the IV machine, that were delivering my pain meds would be just as easy to set up in my room as it was in his office.

My family had been busy transforming Jake's old bedroom into a nursery for our son. He was still anxious, if not terrified, around my family so Jake was shouldering almost all of the caretaker responsibility, while I recovered. But I needed to clear things up, with him, so I had asked my mother to ask him to come talk with me as soon as our son was asleep.

"Nessie?" Jake hesitantly approached me. I know he thought I was mad at him for leaving while I was giving birth to our son, but I wasn't. I knew his reason for taking off, and I understood.

We were both upset about what I had done with Joham, even though what he thought and what I knew had happened were not the same. I just didn't know how to talk to him about it, but I needed too. He needed to know what truly happened. I just hope I could bring myself to tell him the _whole_ truth. And I hoped that he would forgive me.

"Jake," I started, "we need to talk." I had wanted it to sound firm and strong, that I was sure about myself, but it came out more like a whisper - a childish, scared, whisper. Damn, I was not off to a good start, and I didn't think it had anything to do with the pain meds. Before beginning to talk again I steadied my resolve, I was going to make it through this. WE were going to make it through this.

"Oh, alright," he sighed. He seemed so sad, this needed to be done, now. "Nessie, I'm so sorry for everything. For leaving when I should have been there, during our son's birth . . ."

"Jake . . ."

"And for not protecting you from Joham, for even making the possibility of the two of you to . . ."

"Jake!" I tried again.

"You must hate me. I hate myself for what I've done. I'll understand if you want me gone."

Why wouldn't he listen? "Jake, I don't . . ."

"I'll start packing."

What? No! "How could you . . ."

"Would it be alright if I at least found a place nearby so I could see our son every once in awhile? I mean I know you wouldn't want to see me anymore, but I just . . ."

This is ridiculous. Clearly talking wasn't working. I slapped Jake right across his face. It hurt me to do it but it got his attention, I think. At least it got him to stop his insane ramblings. My turn now.

"Jake, what are you talking about? I don't want you to go anywhere, I love you, always." I could see how Jake look confused, then breathe a sigh of relief, and finally relax a bit. "Why do you always question my love for you? We were made for each other." Of course, this time I knew why. My father had mistakenly planted the seed of doubt in his, and everyone else's, mind.

"Sure, sure." Jake just mumbled. Damn-it, this was going to be harder than I thought.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. We need to talk about what happened," I began again, "with Joham."

"Nessie, that monst . . . Joham, had you, us, for over a week, according to your father. I was practically, well, almost completely unconscious the entire time. I don't know what happened between you and him . . . only what I overheard. You were the one who . . . If you fell in love with him . . . I guess I sort of had it easy until now . . . not having to witness . . ." He was having a hard time, forming complete sentences, probably not wanting to think about exactly what he thought had happened.

"Jake, you didn't have it easy! You were shot, and drugged, your bones were broken. What I went through was nothing compared to that."

"I'm sorry Nessie, I tried to get to you, before he . . . and you . . . but I failed."

"No, you kept trying to wake up, to get to me. So much so that they had to keep pumping more and more sedatives, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, and who knows what else, into your system that you barely made it. You tried so hard to save me that you almost died."

"But I didn't. And you and Joham . . ." I heard him choke on his own words, again.

"Why don't I just show you what really happened." This was ridiculous. He was upset about incorrect information, and I did not want this going on any longer. I would just have to be brave, put my own insecurities aside and tell him the truth. Too much time had already been lost between us, in the past, by confusion of our own creation, because we didn't talk to one another. I was not going to let that happen again.

After placing my hand in his, and he gave me a slight head nod, I began at the beginning.

"At first," I told Jake, "all Joham did was talk to me." He was actually strangely, oddly polite, at first, in his own psychotic way.

I showed him the explanation Joham gave me for his whole evil plan, starting all the way back with the first woman showing up among the body donations at the Hospital that Carlisle had found almost a year ago.

My father was downstairs with the rest of our family looking after our sleeping son, and I had a feeling he would be listening in on this conversation. I was showing Jake images with my gift, combined with telling him out loud different aspects of what happened. My father would be able to let everybody else know the details so I wouldn't have to repeat myself later.

I knew they would be interested in clearing up the body dump donation mystery, if nothing else. Though I also knew that they wanted to know the details about our ordeal more than anything.

The bodies were not part of a diabolical scheme like we worried. I used my gift to show Jake how it was just the easiest way for Joham to dispose of the bodies, he fed from, without exposing himself and provoking the Volturi. He was a scientist after all, sort of, so of course he was used to the medical world.

He did of course stop and switch, as we knew, and dump bodies off at Nahuel's doorstep, for a while. But we already knew why he did that - to try to get Nahuel back to his normal vampire diet. But once Nahuel moved back in with us Joham went back to his previous disposal location of the hospital, since he knew he would be in the area for a while.

Apparently he, or one of his daughters, had been tracking me for months, getting to know my habits, and looking for an opportunity to take me when I was alone. But I never was; Jake, or one of my family members, were always, always with me. So Joham was very patient. But as my fertility deadline approached he knew he needed to act.

Jake and I going on vacation together gave him the perfect opportunity. I wasn't completely alone, but one was better than nine protectors. And Jake not being a vampire gave him a much better opportunity to grab me, since his skin was not impervious to needles or a gun's bullets, so he wouldn't even have to get close to us, just like with his surveillance using binoculars, combined with vampire eyes, he could see me from many miles away, just like a guns bullets, he didn't need to get close to disable Jake.

And as long as Joham stuck with one of his daughters, he knew Alice would not be able to see anything he was planning; having learned most everything needed to pull his plan off, unwittingly from Jennifer, already.

I didn't really need to show him how we had gotten captured. Jake was there, and conscious, for that part. He knew what happened, and I'm sure my father had already seen it, in both of our minds, so he could tell everybody that didn't already know.

Okay, now that the easy part of the story was over, I took a few deep breaths before continuing again.

Once we were in Joham's lair, or laboratory, or fortress, or dungeon, (whatever you wanted to call it) Jacob was, _thankfully_ brought to some sort of medical room that Joham had set up, to treat the injuries he sustained during our capture. This, of course, was only partially beneficial for him.

Nahuel's daughters made a show out of "treating" his wounds, - digging out the bullets, resetting his shattered leg, and patching his head wound, which turned out to be more of a grazed bullet that just took out a chunk of skull, and bled a lot, but didn't damage his brain.

Instead of giving him painkillers like they claimed, they were really pumping him full of the sedatives and muscle relaxants and a bunch of other drugs that my grandfather had found in his system, much like I had assumed at the time. But I had hoped he hadn't been in too much pain. I hoped that, at least, if he was unconscious, he wouldn't feel as bad as he looked, because he looked pretty bad.

There wasn't really that much I could do to help him, no matter how much I wanted to. No, the entire point of it was to keep Jacob calm and contained, because they didn't want him attacking them. They knew he would fight to the death to protect me. And they thought keeping him alive would make me more cooperative. Which, of course, they were right.

"Joham would bring in these young men and women, for me to drink, acting like he was being so benevolent. I tried, as politely as I could, to ask him for some human food, but he denied me that. Even the simplest request of a glass of water was rejected. You'd think, if he wanted me to be more 'cooperative' he would have done that, at least. But whatever sick, twisted mind he had, he basically had a temper tantrum, like a three year old, and refused.

"Besides that, and a couple other angry flare ups," which I thought better than to mention to Jake right now, I'd tell him later, if he asked, but I hoped he didn't, "it was weird. Those first few days, he acted as if we were dating, or something. Trying to get to know me, talking somewhat politely, asking about my family, my favorite books, what movies I had seen recently; things like that, like he was really interested, like he wanted to get to know me, almost like he actually cared."

I could see how he had seduced Nahuel's mother, and his sister's mothers, in the past. He was very charming, completely false but somewhat believable if you didn't know what to look for, when it served his purpose. I answered his questions but after four days, and getting nowhere, with me, which I made completely evident, in my tone of voice, and refusals to even acknowledge him at times, his kind façade started to drop. He was well aware of my fertility deadline, and he was growing impatient.

"Jake I never fell in love with him, I could not even tolerate him." I wanted to make that point perfectly clear before I continued.

"He told me he hadn't really even considered me until the Volturi forbad the making of any new half-vampires. He was working on a loophole in the Volturi's new rule. Apparently they never expressly forbid a Vampire, half-vampire creation."

The next words were hard for me to get out. I had been looking into Jacob's eyes this entire time and now I just had to look away. I couldn't say the next part to his face.

"He threatened to kill you, my Jacob, if I didn't give him what he wanted." Deep breath. "Jake, I couldn't lose you. You mean too much to me. You know that I love you, so much. I agreed to do whatever he wanted, as long as he wouldn't hurt you."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I finally found the courage to look back at Jake, again. I expected to hear him start growling, but instead he had tears in his eyes. I don't even know if he realized he was crying. I've never seen him so sad before. I needed to comfort and reassure him; let him know that everything was okay. I was fine, he was fine. We have a wonderful son. Everything would be good now, if we could just get past this.

"Jake, please don't be so sad. Everything is alright. Nothing happened between Joham and me. I know what you think happened, what my father told everyone what he heard - that Joham . . . what _we_ did. But it is not true. I would never let him touch me like that."

Jake, of course, looked confused now. I was expecting that, and even a little of the anger I saw building in him now, even though he was trying to hide it. He thought I was lying to him.

"But your father said he heard yours and Joham's thoughts, when he was closing in on our location. That the two of you," a slight growl finally erupted from his chest when he said that, "were happily" he growled again, "in the middle of . . . _things,_ when they closed in on us."

"I know, but that was only because it was what I wanted Joham to think at the time. It was just bad luck, with the timing, that my father approached right then and heard what he did." I answered, not that I didn't want to get rescued, but this misunderstanding was hurting my Jacob. "You know how I was working with you and Zafrina on my gift in the Amazon and how I expanded it to recreate events in your mind. Where things we had done, and experienced in the past, using my gift, you could truly, really experience them again, to a point where the images were tactile. Touch, taste, smell, see, hear . . . everything.

"Are you trying to tell me that you put false images into Joham's mind, of the two of you being intimate, in bed, _together_?"

I just nodded.

"Nessie, how is that possible?" he asked in disbelief. "You tried to make up images many times with me over the weeks in the Amazon, you can't . . . you weren't able to put anything that never really happened into my mind."

"I didn't," I confessed. This is what I didn't want to tell him. I hope he wasn't going to be too upset but I knew it would be better than him thinking I had slept with Joham, and enjoyed it. "I did the next best thing, that I could think of, at the time. Jake, I took some of our memories, our special nights together, and change some of the details, so that he thought it was him and I together.

"You know I've always been able to show people my memories and alter details," I reminded him. "Remember when we went to Sam and Emily's wedding, and I showed my family a replay, changing the hideous dress Aunt Alice had made me wear, to the one, you got me from your sister's closet. I had hoped it would work the same way and thankfully it did. I turned the image of you into him, our bedroom into his place, switched the clothes, and a few other small details, but kept the touch, my smell, the flavors, all the same. I needed to make it as believable as possible for him. I wasn't sure changing the memories were going to work on Joham, combined with my new tactile projections.

"It took immense concentration on my part, I couldn't lose focus or let anything slip. I knew that if my mind wandered for even a fraction of a second, the illusion would be ruined and he would know. It was exhausting, but I had to try." Because the alternative was too disgusting to even think about. "And thankfully it worked. He never realized we were not actually together. The most I did was touch his hand while I sent him the images."

And then just to give Jake some proof I used my newfound gift and sent him some tactile image recreations of him and I flying kites like we had in the past, but then changed it so I morphed into a kite flying clown/ballerina complete with clown makeup and purple tutu and he changed into his wolf form, but was still up on two legs, and was pink colored instead of his normal russet fur, still flying his kite, but then the kite morphed into our son, flying through the air on a cloud.

He started chuckling with his arms raised a bit as if he was really flying our son/kite, for a second before I dropped his hand, ending the tactile projection. Once he saw what I was able to do . . . what I had done, and thereby not done with Joham, he breathed a sigh of relief and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, thank god," I heard him mumble under his breath.

"I'm sorry," he continued now talking directly to me. "I should have never believed you would willingly be with that monster, but when I heard that Edward had heard it in your mind . . ."

"I'm sorry too. Even if what we did together was not real for me, it was for Joham, in a way. He saw . . . um, things, felt . . . things . . . " Yuck, even thinking about it now I still felt a little dirty. "I ruined our memories. That was why I didn't want to tell you right away. I know my father had the wrong idea about what happened. But I couldn't bring myself to admit that I destroyed our happy memories. I tarnished them, ruined them, us."

"No you didn't honey. You saved them and yourself. While I am not happy that he saw you . . . like that, it is a hell of a lot better than the alternative. And now we can make some new memories, right?"

"Absolutely. And I hope this puts away any confusion, any doubt you have or will ever have in the future. Just like you, I will never be with anyone else. No matter what. If my tactile mind projection gift didn't work on Joham, I would have found some other way . . ." I couldn't finish that sentence.

Thankfully Jake understood. "So, we have a son." He smirked at me, changing the subject to a much happier one.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "You wouldn't have any ideas for names would you? We can't keep referring to him as 'our son' or 'the baby' forever."

"Hmmm, maybe we should get one of those baby name books."

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie was doing better. She was still bedridden and probably would be for a few more weeks, according to the Doc, but she was healing. We were able to more her back into our bedroom which made her happy, and I was glad that we could share a bed again. Not that we would be able to be intimate any time soon, but it just made me feel good to be able to hold her as she slept.

It seemed like mentally Nessie was fine. I was worried about how our ordeal was going to affect her, but she was strong and Jasper had talked to her, he assured me that she would be fine.

My son loved his room. It was green and blue, with an airplane theme. The family had finished it quickly and did their best to air it out. While he was currently napping, he wasn't in there now. I managed to get him to sleep after a long morning running in the woods, and he fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the house. Since he was afraid of vampires, the only time the family was able to be around him was when he was asleep so I brought him over to the Doc's house. He should be out for a few hours, at least. They all immediately dropped whatever they were doing, and came over, just to watch him sleep.

I had taken the opportunity to do a few things.

I asked Carlisle if he had kept the test that he used, when he had drawn Nessie's blood, to determine if she was pregnant. I was looking for a little memento. But he informed me that it was not a typical pregnancy test, like the stick kind you get at a store. There was nothing for him to give me. I was disappointed. I wanted something to put in my memory box, the one my father had given me when I first moved in with the Cullens.

But Carlisle, was able to give me something else. A photo of my son, that someone had taken just after he was born, and another just after he phased back for the first time, when I held him in my arms.

And now, as I opened the lid, I looked at the box that contained so many things that were precious to me, and added these symbols of the latest precious gift that had been added to my life.

Then I saw it, the tiny box inside, tucked into the corner. If there was ever a time that Nessie would want something like this, it would have been now. But she wouldn't. I knew that. And I didn't need it either. She always said she didn't want to, didn't need to, but would her feelings change, someday? Should I keep it just in case?

I picked up the small box, rolled it around in my hands a couple times, opened the lid, closed it, and opened it again.

Would we ever really need something like this? Would it change anything between us? Was there any way that we could be closer than we are now?

No, of course not. I was just being ridiculous. She loved me, she was my soulmate. She's proven to me over and over again, how much she loves me.

And if this past horrific experience, with Joham, has taught me anything, it's that there's nothing that can ever separate Nessie and me. We didn't need a stupid ring, or ceremony, or anything more to tie us together. There was nothing that could tie us closer than we already were.

I knew us getting married was just something we would do to make everybody else happy. I knew my father, and Nessie's, wanted us to be, but it wasn't something you did for other people and I didn't want to make Nessie unhappy by forcing her to do something she didn't want to do.

As I continued to turn the tiny box over and over in my hand, opening the lid, closing it, opening it again, I knew that I would never have any need for it, but perhaps my son would. Maybe someday he could put it to good use. I think that would make Billy happy to know that someday someone would wear my mother's ring again.

After putting everything back into the Memory box, and placing that box back onto the highest self in our closet I went to check on Nessie. Having just put our son down for a nap, I could actually spend some time with my soulmate. Unfortunately with him be terrified of the rest of the family it meant that most of the time I was out of the house with my son. It seemed like the only time I got to see Nessie these past few days was when our son was sleeping.

As I stepped back through the door that separated our massive closet and our bedroom I saw that Nahuel was in there talking to Nessie. Damn soundproofed walls!

Why was he here? And why did she look pissed?

"So you've decided to take your lapdog back I see." He said spotting me as I entered the room. "Where have you been?" he asked me. "Don't you care about Renesmee anymore? You've barely spent any time with her since you've been back. Are you through with her now that you got what you were really after?"

"Excuse me?" I growled. Did he have a death wish or something?

"Nahuel, Jake is perfect. He has been doing exactly what he should be doing. And I didn't not need to take him back, since I never let him go. He is the perfect man, and wolf, for me. I love him. And he loves me. He almost died trying to save me."

"Yes, I am well aware of his failure to protect you. If the situation was different, if you had picked me, I would have been able to protect you, Renesmee."

A slight growl emanated from me again, but I said and did nothing . . . yet. I wanted to hear him out, let him dig his own grave. I knew nothing this jerk was going to say would change Nessie's mind. She loved me just as much as I loved her, and nothing Nahuel said or did was going to change that. It was the only thing keeping me from ripping his head off at the moment. But I also didn't think my temporary composed demeanor was going to last long.

"There is nothing to talk about, Nahuel. Jake and I Love each other, completely. We are together and always will be. He is my life. And we are a family, now more than ever."

"Yes, I see that the child turned out to be _his,"_ Nahuel seethed, eyeing me, "but that does not mean that you have to stay with the dog. You need to know that you have other options. I would be willing to help you raise your little mutt, if you would be with m . . ."

Before he even finished his insane thought I tackled Nahuel to the ground, and was able to get in a few punches before Emmett and Jasper showed up to pull me off of him. Then they dragged Nahuel out, to who knows where, to do who knows what, while Rose, Carlisle and Bella grabbed me and managed to talk me out of going after them.

If Jasper and Emmett had only appeared another minute or two later before bursting in on us, Nahuel would have been a goner. Edward had been nice enough to wait until I got in a few good swipes, to send the family over, while he stayed with our son. I think he would have been helping me, if he came up himself.

As it was I only had time to minorly harm Nahuel. But he deserved worse, much worse. Instead he was put under 24 hour surveillance by Edward, as he and the rest of the family tried to reason with him. Like that was even possible.

Nessie picked me, we belonged together. Why couldn't he see that?

I think it was time for him to leave. I could understand the reasoning for him to stay before, when his father appeared to pose a risk to him, but now, thanks to my angel, Joham was no more. There really was no reason not to throw Nahuel out.

Right?


	66. Missing Everything

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Six**

 **Missing Everything**

Jacob's Point of View

I gave myself a day to calm down, after my confrontation with Nahuel, before I called the family back in Washington.

Somehow I managed to get Billy, Sue, and Charlie all together on one Skype call to tell them the good news.

"Hey guys, so glad you all could make it, I'd like you all to meet . . ." Wait, where'd he go? "Sorry. He was right here. Hold on." Just then I saw him scamp across the room. "Come here, please," I called to him and he ran into my lap.

I was a bit worried he was going to put up a fight but he was actually behaving himself . . . pretty much.

"I don't get it." Charlie looked rightly confused. "You had us all gather around the computer on another one of these video calls to let us know you got a dog? Wouldn't a phone call, or text have sufficed?"

"That's not a dog. It's a wolf," Billy explained, wide eyed, himself while I smirked at my father's keen observation.

"I'd like you all to meet my son, David. Sorry he's a bit nervous. I'm sure he'll phase back when he calms down in a minute." We had finally picked out a name, well a first name at least.

"I'm a grandfather?" Billy finally smiled after getting over the initial shock.

"Yup. What do you think, can he call you Gramps?"

"Sounds good to me." He smirked through the screen.

David started giving him a happy yelp, too. "I think that is a 'yes' for both of you." I chuckled.

"He kinda looks like you."

My father was right. David had almost the same russet colored fur I had as a wolf, just a touch lighter, and he had a small patch of white on the top of his head.

"So, who's the lucky lady," Charlie asked, with a mixture of skepticism and anger.

Was he kidding? He knew I imprinted on Nessie, and all that that entailed. I hoped it was just that he was in a bit of shock.

"Renesmee, of course," Sue answered for me.

"But I just did one of these Skype calls with her, both of you, while you were on vacation, three weeks ago. She was NOT pregnant." But as he was saying this I could see him figuring some of it out in his head. He knew I was a wolf and that Nessie was half-vampire, who grew incredibly fast. I'm sure that whatever explanation he came up with was close enough to the truth, for now, that I would not have get into all of the exact details now.

Suddenly Davie phased back, while still on my lap, waving and saying "hi" to the three of them.

"Hey there, little guy. You're bigger than I expected." Renewed confusion shown on Charlie's face. "How old are ya, kid?"

"I'm four days old, how old are you?"

"I'm, um, 47."

"Wow. Daddy, will I look like that when I am 47 days old?" he innocently asked me, but it felt like I was being punched in the gut. Just like with Renesmee, we had no way of knowing if David's rapid growth would slow down, speed up or stop all together when he reached a certain age, like Nessie's will next year. And this time there was no one like him we could turn to for answers.

"I don't know Davie, we will have to wait and see." I didn't want to scare him, but didn't think lying would help him either.

"Huh, 47 is way too young to be a great-grandfather." Charlie huffed, probably still too much in a daze himself to really begin to ponder David's possible miniscule life expectancy. "So . . . um, where's my granddaughter?" I knew Charlie wasn't big on talking, especially for heavy subjects and was looking for anything else to talk about now.

"She's in bed, still recovering." I answered honestly, trying not to cringe as I spoke and not wanting to get into too many details. No need worrying them for nothing.

"Daddy, I'm thirsty." David interrupted the conversation, tugging on my arm, to get my attention.

"Alright, we'll go hunting in a few minutes. Just let me finish talking to everybody."

"Can't you talk to them next week when you see them in person?" he asked me.

"What are you talking about Davie?"

"We're coming for Nessie's birthday party. I know having a new baby is a lot of work, son, but did you forget?" Billy asked me.

Nessie's birthday? Wait, what day was it? I had completely lost track of time with everything that had happened these past few weeks. But how could I have forgotten? I guess I had a good reason this time, but still there was no excuse for it really.

"Did Alice talk to you about the party?" I asked David.

"No," he scowled. "That bloodsucker didn't tell me anything. It was Aunt Leah."

"Son, you can't call your family bloodsuckers. Where did you even heard that term from?"

"Aunt Leah was thinking about it, just now, when we were both wolves. She doesn't want to have to come here for the party either. She thinks they stink just as bad as I do."

"So the little tyke doesn't like your in-laws, I see," Charlie gathered, slightly amused.

"Err, nope. His wolf side seems to have been born with a natural prejudice against vampires. I'm working on it with him though. We'll turn things around." I answered Charlie before I turning back to David, "You know your mother is half vampire right?

"Yeah, but she's nothing like them. She's warm, and her eyes aren't that funny color, and she sleeps, and everything's just different about her. She's just like us. Not frozen like them."

"We'll talk about this later." I can see that I'm going to have to have a little _chat_ with Leah.

"So the little guy hunts?", "Hunting? Like a vampire?" Charlie and Billy asked me almost simultaneously.

"Yeah. Don't worry, just animals," I replied. It was a little strange. He only seemed to like the taste of non meat-eating animals blood, currently. But after all, he was only 4 days old. His tastes could change. I was still holding out hope, trying to get him to eat some human food."

After finding out when the party was I quickly ended the Skype call with everybody, telling them I'd talk to them on Sunday when I saw them in person. I needed to take my son out hunting . . . again. His appetite was insatiable right now, which made sense with the rate he was growing. Would they even recognize him when they showed up here in six days? He might look like a teenager by then.

"Alright, let's go find Bambi." I said as I picked him up and carried him outside before he leapt out of my arms and phased before even hitting the ground. It's not like I could say "No" to him, for anything. If he continued at the rate he was aging - he already looked like a one year old and he had been alive less than a week, he would be an old man before he had even had a chance to really live. What could I do but say "Yes" to whenever he wanted. Especially if he only had two or three months before . . . No, that wasn't going to happen. We would figure out what was going on and do something about it, even if that meant . . . changing him.

I didn't even know if that was possible or not. Could you change a quarter vampire into a full vampire?

And what would he think of me if we did that to him? He currently hated vampires, but if it was between him dying before his first birthday and changing him, then I would do whatever it took, if it was even possible.

But what about the venom. I knew he had some in his system, but like Nessie his bite was not venomous. It was strange, though. As a wolf, venom was like poison to me, not that it would kill me by itself, but it would prevent me from healing. I had no clue how the venom could coexist with his wolf side.

The Doc had tried to run some tests, but he would not let Carlisle get close enough to him to try. David wouldn't even let him take any measurements to check his rate of growth. That fell on me, with Carlisle calling out instructions to me for everything he wanted from outside the room.

Rose had tried to begin a photo album to document my son's childhood but it was hard with his accelerated growth. She was doing the best she could, without getting too close to him. I could see the disappointment in her eyes that she was not able to hold him, his fear, almost to the point of hatred of vampires making it impossible. She had settled on buying the newest, best, most advanced telephoto lens for her camera so even if she had to take pictures of him from yards away they would appear close up when printed.

After we returned from hunting I turned my attention to Nessie's birthday. I couldn't believe I had missed another one. How could I have not even realized what day it was. As I thought about it I realized that we had been rescued the day before my angels birthday, found out she was pregnant on her birthday, and I took off the day after her birthday. Nessie delivered our son two days afterward, and now, another four days later, on September 17th, I finally figured out what the hell day it was, after the Skype call with my family back in Washington.

I quickly tracked down Nessie to apologize but she said that it was okay, that it didn't matter; that there were more important things to think about. But what was more important than the day that this magnificent creature was born?

And I missed it.

Again!

Damn-it!

The last time being her third birthday when we had to be away from the family for Embry's court hearing. At least then we were able to have somewhat of a birthday dinner with my father and Pack. But this year I hadn't even realized the date had come and gone.

What was wrong with me?

I needed to make up for so much. I had gotten Nessie kidnapped, almost raped, left her when she needed me most – during the delivery of our son, didn't believe her when she told me she was not unfaithful with our abductor, not to mention my drunken night in Rio.

I was the worst imprinter ever.

This birthday needed to be spectacular. And thanks to Alice it would be. I would expect nothing less from the little pixie. Thank goodness.

The present I had prepared to give Nessie, before we had set out for Rio did not seem appropriate now, so I set it aside for a later time. Luckily, in a small way, since I was spending so much time with our son, and hence away from Nessie, I had time to get, well make, her a new gift.

I was busy taking care of my son, the entire time Alice arranged everything. I was going to owe her big time and knowing Alice she would be collecting – eventually. Eternity offered a lot of opportunity to repay debts, which she was well aware.

The party was perfect. Completely over the top, just like I knew it would be. In the eight days since Nessie had delivered our son she had recovered enough that she was able to attend, though not walk around but was well enough that she was still able to interact with everyone. Nessie needed to stay sitting down so Alice, being Alice, found the perfect prop. She had set up a throne, of sorts, in the middle of the Doc and Esme's living room for Nessie. With her being the birthday girl, it didn't look too strange, and it made her the center of attention.

There was a lot to be dealt with this past week. Nessie was mostly still bedridden, but needed to feed daily to help her heal more quickly, which meant tracking and retrieving fresh animals to bring to her room. Her parents took care of this while I spent almost all of my time with David. He also needed to hunt daily, actually multiple times a day, due to his rapid growth, and would only go with me.

I loved my son but the only time I got a moment alone with Nessie was when he went to sleep, which the Cullens loved because it was the only time they got to spend some time with him. But if he happened to wake up, and I wasn't there he would through a fit. I had not made as much progress as I had hoped getting him to accept his family. Yet.

Trying to get Leah on board was also not easy. David had never even met her in person yet, but had enough conversations with her while they were both phased that he had picked up, not only a ton of bad vocabulary – calling the Cullens leeches, bloodsuckers, and a whole list of other derogatory names, but a warped sense of their principles and morals.

" _Leah I have never given an Alpha order to you or anyone else. Do not make me do it now. You need to stop poisoning David's mind against the Cullens."_

" _Hey, it's not like I'm trying to do that intentionally. I can't help the way I think."_

" _I know,"_ she had a point, _"but could you at least try not to intentionally use certain words when the two of you are both phased?"_

She promised to try and that was really all I could ask, well that, and try to be phased whenever David was, for the time being at least. Not that I didn't trust Leah, but a person couldn't always help their thoughts.

Nahuel and Jennifer were another matter. They were still hanging around, I wasn't sure why exactly, Hopefully they were just staying through Nessie's birthday party.

I thought I had made my point pretty clear to Edward, about Nahuel needing to leave. I had thought he had agreed with me. It irked me that he was still here. I wanted him gone, I didn't want another incident between him and Nessie.

At least he and his sister had both genuinely appeared to have taken a liking to David and he seemed to enjoy being around them as well. After what Nahuel had said to Nessie about David being a mutt I had my doubts but once Nahuel got to know David they got along really well. And it didn't look as if David had a problem with their smell anymore than with Nessie's.

It also turned out to be nice having Jennifer here at least. She offered to hang out with David for an hour or two whenever needed, if I wanted to spend some time with Nessie.

She was actually at our house right now, babysitting David. There were a lot of humans at the party and her control was not great yet. _Vegetarianism_ was harder than she thought it would be and everyone thought it was best for her to stay away from the humans, so no accidents occurred and she was more than happy to play with our son. She assured us that his mix of vampire and wolf aroma meant he did not smell like food to her.

Nessie's party was in full swing. She was currently chatting with Charlie, Sue, and Billy, Alice had flown them here, first class, which I was pretty sure was a new experience for them, that they all loved. And I know Nessie missed seeing them as much as I did.

But where was my Pack? Okay. So I really didn't have a Pack anymore. Sort of. I had Leah still, as my second. And Seth, even if he had given up his wolf. And technically Embry, but he was still in Texas. But where were Leah and Seth?

The party had started over an hour ago. They promised me they would be here.

Where were they?

I didn't _need_ them here, but I _wanted_ them here, for Nessie. And Sue would want to see her children.

"Are you having fun?" Nessie asked me after I had made my way back to her side, after quickly checking on David.

"Nessie, it's your birthday. You are the one who is suppose to be having fun. Not me."

Alice had invited everyone, in every single one of our classes at Dartmouth. Not everyone came, of course. Some of our lecture classes were comprised of 100+ students each, many of whom we didn't even know their names. I had no idea how Alice had found them out, let alone there addresses or phone numbers to invite them to this party. Not to mention that we had pretty much put college on hold for the time being. It technically started two weeks ago, but we had no plans on returning, this semester at least. None of the Cullens had gone back yet, either.

"I know, but you did all of this for me and I wanted to make sure you were enjoying yourself as well."

"I honestly didn't do anything. Alice took care . . ." I started to explain but couldn't finish my sentence, because out of the corner of my eye I saw that Seth and Carol had arrived.

Good I was glad they were here. I wanted us all to slip out at some point and introduce them, Billy, Sue and Charlie, in person, to David.

But their arrival was not what had stopped me. It was Leah, she entered right behind Seth and Carol. I saw as her eyes had scanned the room and locked onto Nahuel's. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Or he, her.

Had she just imprinted? On him? I could not believe it. Please no.

Well, at least if she did, he would get over my Nessie. But this could not be the first time she had seen him. Could it? Thinking back over the past six years, I guess it was.

I just watched as she walked slowly across the room. Her eyes never leaving his, stopping just in front of him, she smiled and . . . punched him square in the face.

Ha, nope. I guess not.

* * *

This Chapter was originally much longer, but as I re-read it, doing some final edits before posting, I decided to break this chapter into two. So if you are following along with the chapter titles I listed at the beginning of Year Seven (the top of Chapter 62) you will see that I went back and added one - Revelations.


	67. Revelations

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Seven**

 **Revelations**

Renesmee's Point of View

"I wonder why I was finally able to get pregnant." It must have happened that night, shortly before Jake and I were taken by Joham and his daughters. I was beginning to think wolves and vampires were not capable of reproducing together.

"It's probably like I said, you just needed to relax honey," my mother suggested.

"I believe I have another theory," my grandfather countered. "Actually it is closer to yours, Nessie. Judging by your sons adverse reaction to us, even as he was exiting the womb, and his ensuant instinctive mistrust and hatred of us, I believe it might have been impossible for you to have conceived with Jacob, if you remained near the rest of us."

"But how does that make sense? I'm half vampire after all. That would mean my son is a quarter vampire, wouldn't it?"

"We don't know the exact extent, well . . . division of his genetic make-up. He won't let me get close enough to test his blood." I know my grandfather had asked Jake to do it, but David freaked out, fearful of what his great-grandfather wanted to do with his blood. I wonder if he would let me draw it. Perhaps if he saw me first take some from Jake first? I no longer craved his blood, though I still don't know why, but after that one taste my cravings went away, so this would not cause a problem for me. I'll have to suggest it later.

"He may only have a small part of your vampire DNA," my grandfather continued, "the one that is allowing him to grow so quickly, and drink blood. But he does not seem to have a gift, like you or your parents, his skin is not impervious like yours, nor does it shimmer in the sun. He has the same elevated body temperature and heart rate as you and Jacob, but it is impossible to tell which side he inherited that from, possibly both."

"Maybe in a few more weeks he will calm down enough that you can test him," I think my mother was one of the few in the family that still believed, like I did that David just needed some time to get use to everyone.

"Nessie when did you do that?" my father asked me, now entering my grandfather's office, with us.

"Do what dad?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard what you were just thinking. I was unaware that you drank from Jacob."

"You did what?" my mother practically screamed at me.

"Oh," this was embarrassing, "just a few sips, when we were stuck on Isle Esme for a week and couldn't leave when I needed to hunt." I cringed a bit, bracing myself for my father to reveal the entire truth to my mother, but thankfully he kept quiet, so I continued. "It was just to tide me over until the morning when Alice assured us the hurricane would end. That was the only time, I promise. I won't do it again. It was just an emergency fix." Jake was fine, I never drank from him after that one time. Why did my father care? And why had he brought it up in front of my mother and grandfather?

"I brought it up, Renesmee, because it may be important. It may have been a contributing factor in you finally being able to conceive with Jacob."

Huh. I never thought of that. My father and grandfather began taking amongst themselves about the possibility of what my drinking Jake's blood might have done to contribute to my getting pregnant. Honestly as intelligent as I am, a lot of what they said went over my head. My mother's too, judging by the look on her face, and lack of contribution to the conversation.

I picked up some random bits of what they were saying regarding "missing enzymes present in Jacob's blood that I lacked" and "cell structures might have been reconfigured" but while I understood the words, how they related to each other were still a mystery.

My grandfather seemed a bit upset with himself for not figuring all of it out earlier. Apparently now it was obvious to him that my drinking just a bit of Jake's blood was the key to my conceiving.

Jacob and little David, not that he was so little anymore, but they were currently outside running around as wolves. David hated being inside, what with my family and their, too sweet to him, smell. Jake had realized right away that the fresh air would do him good. They spent most of their time out there.

As the days, and weeks drew on David had grown more and more uncomfortable around the family, his family. We barely ever saw them.

Jake would take our son out and they would stay in their wolf form for hours, sometimes all day, even. Once David was so worked up coming across Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett as they were hunting that Jake had to keep him away for three days. He called to let me know, but I missed them so much, and I was stuck in bed, a lot, still recovering from David's delivery.

I was getting worried about how all of the stress and tension my son felt being around my family was affecting him. And I missed him, and Jake.

A family meeting was called one night when David was asleep so Jake and I could be there as well.

Aunt Alice began. Apparently she saw, what those of us she could see were going to decide, so she thought it best to just jump to the end. "For the good of David we are moving to France in four days," she announced.

"Aunt Alice how is moving going to help my baby?"

"I'm sorry Nessie; you, Jake, and David will not be coming with us. You knew how I saw all of us living in France, but didn't know when or why we moved, or how I didn't see you with us. At the time I just assumed it was because I cannot see you anyway. But now that I know why we are going, to give David a chance to grow up unencumbered, everything is falling into place."

"But you can't leave me," I said looking at my parents. "I need you. What am I going to do without you?"

"Nessie this won't be forever." My mother began wrapping me in a hug. I knew she would be crying now, with me, if she could.

Why were Jake and I the only ones who seemed surprised with Aunt Alice's announcement? Had the rest of them already discussed this move. Seeing as how readily my parents were accepting things, I guessed the answer was yes.

"Renesmee, I've seen you son's thoughts. He's terrified of us. Our staying wouldn't be fair to him." My father sadly offered as an explanation.

"He just needs to get to know you. Get used to you. Like Jake did. Right honey?" I asked looking over at Jake. I knew he was not completely comfortable being around my family, all the time that first year back in Forks. Not like he was now.

"Nessie, sweetie, you know I can see into David's mind, too. I've tried my best to explain to him how the Cullen's are not a threat, how they love him and would never hurt him. But it is no good. Maybe when he is older he will understand and can deal with things better. But for right now I agree with them, that their moving is the best thing for David.

"Hey don't worry, little girl," Uncle Emmett said trying to cheer me up. "At the rate Davie's going, he'll be an adult in a year or two. Then we'll all be back together."

While his growth had slowed considerable from when he was first born, where he aged entire weeks and months every single day, he was still growing incredibly fast, much faster than I ever did.

Would he really be an adult in a year or two? That is it of my son's childhood? I only had four before I looked like an adult, sure I still have one more to go before I stop aging altogether, but David would not even have that. He had been born just under one month ago yet already looked to be somewhere between a five or six year old. It took me an entire year to reach that age physically.

I was so frightened that first week. Now I have a better understanding of what my parents must have gone through with me. After David's first week he appeared as a two year old. By his second week he added just under another two years to his appearance. But by then, we at least could By three weeks he had aged another year and a half. At least this past week he only added one year to his short life.

"Well that is another reason for us to leave. Without us here, your son's growth rate may slow down." My grandfather offered. " Of course that is only a theory, and it's a long shot, but we should give him every opportunity to have as normal a childhood as he can, for as long as he can."

"Also all of this stress is not good for him." Uncle Jasper added. How was he dealing with all of this? Having to feel all of the hatred and fear coming off of his own grandnephew.

I know what they were saying was true and I felt horrible. No little kid should be this terrified all of the time. Practically the only time he was even slightly relaxed was when he was outside with Jake, and even then Jake informed me that he still, partially had his guard up.

Deep down I knew my family's leaving, however temporarily, was best. They had already done everything they could think of to make things easier on David.

My parents had moved out of the house they shared with us and into the attic, turned bedroom at my grandparents house.

We aired our home out as best we could, none of my family had set foot inside since then, in an effort to not re-infect it with their too sweet, vampire smell. After Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett's hunting incident in the woods with David, everyone agreed to feed further away.

Either Jake or I would wash any new clothes the family bought for David. As much as my family hated it they tried to avoid him as much as possible. But they could not stay cooped up in the other houses 24\7. They needed to leave occasionally to hunt, or shop, or whatnot. But even then, the scent trail they left in the area was too much for David, it seemed.

My poor little boy.

"So October 12th?" That was the last time I would see my family? My parents? For who knows how long?

"It won't be so bad, my darling," my mother tried to comfort me. "We'll Skype every day, multiple times a day if you want. And Nahuel and Jennifer will be staying here with you, in Carlisle and Esme's house, when we leave, so they'll be around if you need any help or just someone to talk to."

"What? They're staying? Why?" Jake was pissed. So was I . What he had said to me and Jake just after I had given birth to David was totally uncalled for. I hadn't talked to him since. And if I hadn't been still recovering, if I could have gotten up, and out of bed, to throttle Nahuel myself, back then, I would have. But Jake more than made up for it. He had managed to punch Nahuel a few times, before my family interceded.

It was strange. My father must have read Nahuel's mind. He would have known how he felt and what he was going to say. But he didn't stop him, or kick him out.

"You knew!" I gasped over to my father. But instead of answering me he just looked down at the floor. Then, as I glanced around the room and saw everybody else's faces, I realized that they all knew. Realization dawned on me. "This was why you didn't let Jacob get in more than a few swipes at Nahuel back then, that's why he's still here, that's why you haven't sent him back to Brazil or turned him into a pile of ash. You knew you were going to have to leave . . . and you wanted Nahuel to stay. Why?"

"All I care about is your safety Renesmee," my father sighed. "His being here will offer greater protection for you. For all of you."

"I can protect Nessie. We don't need him here." Jake grumbled.

But I could see it in his eyes now, after what happened with Joham, my father no longer believed that Jacob was capable of protecting me, which was completely ridiculous. It wasn't Jake's fault what Joham had done. And what were the chances of something like that happening again?

"I know you are. But there is strength in numbers. And it's not just Nessie. You have David now, Jacob. With all of us gone, I would feel better if there was more people here, more eyes to watch out for them." My father tried to reassure us that they had managed to convince Nahuel that he and I were never going to happen and Nahuel should be allowed to stay. "Renesmee, I would never leave him here with you if I did not trust that we had finally gotten through to him."

"I concur, darling," Uncle Jasper added. "I have spoken to him daily. We've talked extensively on the matter and I no longer feel the same level of inappropriate emotions radiating off of him. Now the feelings I get are more disappointment, but acceptance. He would like to be your friend." It looked like my uncles degree in philosophy was being put to good use. And thanks to his gift I knew I could trust him.

Uncle Jasper explained that the main thing was how he just needed to remind Nahuel that vampires and half-vampires equally mate for life. My feelings were never going to diminish for Jacob, and they would never transfer to him.

Uncle Jasper had recalled for him a story, a memory actually, that my father had long ago seen in Nahuel's mind, back when he first told me about my fertility deadline, about what happened to his eldest sister Serena. The story she told him of her baby (he never learned if it was a girl or boy) and her mate, the child's father. How she fell in love with and mated with a human, Joham of course disapproved, but it was too late, or so she thought. She had fallen in love with him, and would never love anyone else again.

She had gotten pregnant by him when she was six and while Joham, was livid about the fact that she fell in love with a man and not a vampire, he had initially been overjoyed at the fact that she was fertile. His joy was short lived though, once he discovered how her body had changed, and became frozen so that she was no longer able to reproduce, once she turned seven. Also he was disappointed that the child was apparently too human, and not immortal, having only a _diluted_ one quarter vampire side. The child and its father were both deemed unworthy and Joham had disposed of them, instead of changing them like Serena had asked.

While Serena had apparently, slowly, recovered from the loss of her child, she had never gotten over the loss of her mate. But she also learned to never go against her father again.

Her story reminded me a little of the one I heard my father mention, once, about Marcus, of the Volturi. While I hate them, as a whole, I feel a bit sad for Marcus. He lost his mate, so long ago and had lived over 1500 years without her. Serena had only existed for 200 years without her mate. If she had lived longer, would she have eventually turned into the same empty shell that Marcus had? I knew she was bitter, and vengeful, and just plain evil, but was that the reason?

What would happen to me, or Jacob, or anyone else in my family, if one of us lost our mates? No I didn't, couldn't, think about that now.

The recalling of the story, however sad and tragic as it was, was at least enough to convince Nahuel to give up on me. Nahuel already knew all of this, but I think he just needed to hear it, out loud from someone else, to make it real for him. I was sad that the story caused him pain, pain that his sisters were gone, but at least Nahuel was free to move on, now. My father seemed to think that Nahuel's feelings for me were not so set that he would be able to get over me in time.

It wasn't like we had ever mated, or even came close. But neither had my father, with my mother, back when they went to highschool together in Forks, Washington. But he had fallen in love with her, so completely, that he may as well have, even back then. He would have never been able to move on from my mother if she had not returned his affections. They were truly soulmates, just like Jake and me.

My father, gave me a quick wink, picking up on my thoughts as he and Uncle Jasper were currently explaining that in Nahuel's mind, apparently _we_ , the entire Cullen clan, were his and Jennifer's family now, even if he was never to be my mate. But since his family (Huilen and Jennifer notwithstanding) were gone, however horrible they were, and the Cullens had taken them in, they had, in a way adopted us.

After hearing everything, and since my father and the entire rest of the family thought it was a good idea to have the extra protection around while they were gone, that fact alone went a long way with Jake, we agreed to let them stay.

And David had taken a liking to Nahuel, as well as Jennifer, which I think was another reason Jake had given in to the decision, provided Nahuel stay away from me, if no one else was around.

It was an uneasy agreement, but he was going along with it, for the good and safety of me and our son.

I would have mentioned that I was more than capable of protecting myself, but I didn't think Jake's ego could handle that at the moment.

Maybe the move wouldn't be so bad, like Uncle Emmett said, I could handle a couple of years. Jake and I had gone away for three months and I was fine, time would fly by. We would teach David that my family were wonderful and nothing to be scared of. I was sure that as he aged and matured he would come to see them as Jake had. He just needed some time.

"And Seth and Leah are close by as well," my father reminded us. "I was thinking they might like to visit you more often. I know Leah doesn't care for us, but once we are gone, it might be nice for you to see more of each other."

" _Visit?"_ Yeah right. _"You mean babysit."_ I thought over to my father. The idea of Jake needing to be taken care of by his own Pack would not go over well with him.

"Yeah, I guess you are right, it would be nice to see them more," Jake agreed not catching on to what my father had implied.

That was going to be interesting. Would Leah even come? I mean rescuing us and then checking in once afterwards was one thing. Jake hadn't ordered her, but he almost had to, just to get her to come back here for my birthday party.

While Leah never really bonded with me, she hated Nahuel. I had thought that those two might actually make a good couple, but she could not stand him. She had never even met him before when she punched him at my party. Apparently she had seen enough in Jake's mind to form a negative opinion of him and had no qualms about hurting him. As she saw it Nahuel had hurt her Alpha and she was not going to stand for that.

I hoped that since Nahuel and David had bonded, and now that, my family had assured me that, Nahuel had finally seen that he was not going to be able to worm his way between Jake and me, the reason for their animosity toward each other would be gone, and they might become friends.

After Leah and Nahuel's fight, if you could even call it that, they had agreed to stay away from each other if they could not avoid any more violence. Jake assured me that he had talked to Leah, and she wouldn't attack him again, at least not until provoked. But Leah didn't seem like the type to drop things easily.

Hopefully those two could grow to tolerate, if not like each other someday. too.

* * *

Before my family left everyone had spent some special one-on-one time with me. Jake too. They were going to miss him just as much. And he them. They had become his family over the years, too.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked Jake after spending the afternoon with my grandfather. We had spent hours going over the first aid and medical equipment he had at the house, including everything he knew about Jake's wolf side and showed me, as best he could, how I could treat him, and David, if the need ever arose. Along with some special medicines he had been working on for Jake, that would work with his wolf chemistry.

"I'm not sure exactly. But nothing I would consider fun," he winced. "I'm scheduled to hang out with Alice in the morning."

"Oh, well good luck, and wear comfortable shoes." I just chuckled back to him. She was probably going to take him shopping like she did with me. Apparently it was vitally important that she completely redo my wardrobe and to stock us up on a lifetime's worth of clothes for my son. While I appreciated the clothes for David, I think I would have managed to survive the next two years with the overstuffed closet I already had.

It amazed me that Aunt Alice had been able to wear down my mother over the years and was now her regular shopping partner. But I guess it was to be expected. Since Aunt Rose and I had pretty much claimed all of Jakes free time, and had stolen her best friend from her, she needed someone else to hang out with, other than my father, and they were already friends . . . it was inevitable. And I think my father appreciated the upscale in her wardrobe.

Each of the four days, between the time of Aunt Alice's announcement and the day of my family's departure for France, were spent divided between a different family member. One in the morning, one in the afternoon.

Nahuel and Jennifer had agreed to keep David entertained at their house. Jake and I checked in on them regularly, but this was the last time I was going to have with my family for a while and I needed to spend some quality time with them before they left.

I spent an entire morning with my father, playing duets of all of our favorite songs and then wrestled with Uncle Emmett in the backyard after lunch.

Everyone's good-byes were perfectly tailored to them, each unique and special, and just what I needed to get through the next couple of years.

But this really wasn't goodbye then, was it? Wasn't it just more of a see you later?


	68. David

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Eight**

 **David**

Jacob's Point of View

"Hey Dad." We Skyped every day, so he could see David, but today he looked like he was extra happy or something. "What's going on?"

"Lots." he smirked. "I've got a surprise for you." Before I could ask what it was I saw Rachel and Paul poke their heads into the screen.

"Hey little brother," my sister cheered, while Paul just grinned like an idiot behind her. What was up with the two of them?

"Hi guys." It was great seeing her even if it was only on the computer, we had only talked online a few times over the years. She claimed that her son, Jeremy kept her too busy. Whatever. I had not realized I missed her so much. It even made dealing with Paul tolerable. Almost. "How's everything going?"

"We're pregnant, again," they both screeched.

"Really? Congratulat. . ."

"And it's twins!" They exclaimed, cutting me off, in unison. I wonder if they had rehearsed this? It wasn't surprising though, twins ran in my family. Well twin girls anyway.

"That's great guys . . ." I began to say again before being cut off by Paul.

"Hey, where's my Nephew?"

"Here I am." David exclaimed, running up behind me. "Dad, I want to talk to Uncle Paul . . . ALONE." It seems we were going to have to have a talk about manners later. "Please," he added after seeing the look I gave him.

It was so hard. He just grew so fast. There was so much to teach him. He had only been alive for ten weeks, even if he did look like an 11 year old. I guess I could not expect him to know everything. Just like Nessie, he absorbed everything he had been shown and taught, never forgetting anything, and understanding almost everything. But he just had only been exposed to a minuscule amount of things compared to everything that there was we needed to teach him. There were only so many hours of the day though.

We filled his days with book learning, but I think his social interactions were lacking. Neither Nessie or I dared take him out in public yet, while he was still growing so fast and he phased at will, or anger, or excitement, or a number of other reasons, too numerous to count.

"Alright, but after this, we are going to have a little chat about manners. I'll be in the library. Come find me when you are done." And with that I kissed him on the top of his head and went to find Nessie.

* * *

A couple of days later Leah had called to let me know she was coming over . . . again. I wasn't sure what it was, but she was spending more and more time at our house. Maybe it was like Edward had said, the Cullens were gone and the house no longer smelt like Vampires.

I had gotten so accustomed to everyone over the years that I barely smelled anything anymore. When the Cullens came back from France I was probably going to have to readjust my nose to them all over again. But that was fine, it would be worth it.

But why would she want to come all the way here just to see me? We still phased once a week. If she needed to talk to me she could do it then. But we barely spoke when we did. I knew she didn't want me in her head, but it was like she was keeping it more tightly closed and guarded than usual. Of course I had practically jumped down her throat for corrupting David's mind against the Cullens back in September.

Okay, so that was not entirely true. David had an inborn hatred for Vampires before he ever saw into Leah's mind and picked up a whole host of derogatory vocabulary to describe them. I was glad that she was at least trying now to keep her thoughts in check. But she was going a bit overboard. She wouldn't share anything with me, and I didn't want to push or invade her privacy and pull her thoughts out of her mind. There was no danger lurking anymore, nothing to be on the lookout for. I didn't really need to know what she was thinking or why. If she didn't want to tell me something that was fine.

It was just bugging me. I know she was not coming here to see Nessie. As much as I hoped, she just couldn't bring herself to make friends with my imprint. Why couldn't she see how wonderful Nessie was?

She didn't want to talk to me. She didn't want to talk to Nessie. I guess she was coming to see David. It must be David.

Just like Rose, Leah had been devastated to learn that she was a "genetic dead end" as she put it, not being able to have children of her own. I had long ago theorized that she might be able to once she stopped phasing, but she thought differently.

She had no intention of giving up her wolf. I wasn't sure why exactly and didn't want to press her. I always thought she resented, if not hated being a wolf, at least she did when she first phased, all those years ago, back in La Push. I wonder if she had grown to love it as much as I had over the years – the freedom, the speed, the strength, the heightened senses; never getting cold, or sick, or aging, not to mention the super fast healing. What was not to love?

So now she was coming here again, probably to see David. She never did this when Nessie was a baby. When she had to be at the Cullens while awaiting the arrival of the Volturi it was almost like a prison sentence for her. She could not wait to get away. And even in the months after they left she never voluntarily wanted to be around Nessie. If she wanted a child of her own I would have figured she would have been drawn to other babies. But not her, at least not with Nessie.

Yet here she was, or would be any minute now. Coming again to see my son. Why? He wasn't even a baby anymore. What made him so special for her? She had not imprinted on him like Nessie and I had joked/hoped/thought she might.

But, negative opinion of the Cullen's aside, it was good that she was around. He could use more people in his life besides Nessie and myself. And Jennifer and Nahuel.

Tomorrow night she would be back again, we had invited her and Seth, and of course his imprint. Carol was perfectly relaxed coming here now that the rest of the family had moved to France. Nessie and I were currently doing some prep work for the giant dinner we were planning in the kitchen right now.

There would be eight of us in all. Nessie, David, and me, along with Leah, Seth and Carol. And we had invited Jennifer and Nahuel, they lived next door and as much as I hated to admit it we needed them here tonight

That didn't seem like a dinner for eight people would require an entire day of prep work but everyone who was left here in New Hampshire, ate human food. Or at least tried to. And three wolves could eat a lot. Even Seth still packed it away, even though he had given up his wolf. I think his metabolism had kicked up again after phasing in April to come to my and Nessie's rescue.

Jennifer was still struggling with getting use to human food. I know it didn't taste as great to her, compared to blood, but she was trying. Personally I was just glad she had given up human blood.

Nessie's appetite for carnivore blood had also returned with a vengeance shortly after giving birth. And her repugnance for most human food had reappeared in spades. But she was determined to eat it and like it . . . eventually, she hoped. She just kept telling me, and herself, that if Nahuel could do it so could she. But this time, at least for the next year anyway, I made sure she was also drinking animal blood, at least once a week.

Tonight's dinner had an ulterior motive, besides just all of us getting together for dinner. We wanted to all EAT in front of David. Show a good example and all that.

He saw Nessie, Jennifer and Nahuel hunt all the time. Hell, he even saw me hunt occasionally, though I would eat and not drink whatever I caught, so it was a little different, but he still didn't see us eating human food as much as I would like.

"Hey Jake," I heard Leah call from her car as she pulled up. "I'm here. Where's my favorite little guy?" She asked as I poked my head out the window to wave hi.

"Oh, um, he got thirsty so Jennifer and Nahuel took him out earlier to hunt. They should be back soon. Sorry."

I knew that Nahuel was not her favorite person in the world, either. Actually, I believe she was currently worse than me and could barely stand him, but he and his sister had asked to take David hunting this morning and David seem so excited about it, I couldn't refuse.

"Oh, well, In that case, I'll just go phase and look for them. I'm sure they can't be too hard to find." She said as soon as she parked and took off running.

Wow! Leah must really want to hang out with David more than I thought, that she is willing to put up with Nahuel.

It was strange. Sometimes I felt as if my dislike for him was waning. I think I was actually starting to believe him; I was starting to believe that Nahuel was over Nessie. And I had slowly started calming down around him.

Something, I didn't know what, but something was different. I guess I should have believed Edward more when he said that they had gotten through to him, and made him realize that he and Nessie were never going to happen. That she loved me, not him, and nothing was going to change that. Ever. Now that I realized he was right, that fact, alone, made Nahuel infinitely more tolerable.

Now that we weren't competing over my imprint, I was beginning to see a whole new side to him. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was actually a nice guy. I would still rip his head off, gladly, if he gave me a reason to, but there was nothing really _evil_ about him, I guess.

The only thing he was guilty of was loving Nessie, and that was understandable. He clearly had overdone it, but she was wonderful, so I partially understood and could rationalize his behavior, to a point. And now he had moved on. Well he had at least moved on from Nessie. I wonder if there was anyone we could fix him up with?

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

I was right, about time flying by. My family had been gone for just over two months now. I missed them terribly but knew it was for a good cause - the mental sanity of my son.

This morning I had more or less absentmindedly wandered up to the music room, that still held some of my parents things. My father had left his journals here, knowing that he would be back soon for them and not wanting to lug them all the way to France, I asked him and he said he didn't mind if I read them, but oh my goodness, I didn't realize that they would be this boring.

Some of the events were interesting, but his entries were less of a story, they were more of a daily recounting of everything he saw over the years, and decades, from the time he was changed up until he met my mother - those journals he had taken with him.

Hmmm. I wonder if there was something in those that he didn't want me to read? Probably.

The ones he left began in 1919, shortly after he was changed. I'm guessing about a year later, I heard that life as a newborn, that first year was a little chaotic to say the least – for everyone except my mother, anyway.

Things were pretty blasé for him in the beginning. His struggles with his thirst. Tribulations with trying to control himself. The realization that he could hear thoughts. The slow acceptance of his life as a vampire. Nothing that I wouldn't expect.

1921 saw the addition of my grandmother to the family. Strange, my father thought of her as a mother back then, he still does, but they were parading around as brother and sister, to the humans.

Then, as the 1920s rolled on, I found it a bit amusing how he was actually appalled at the change in fashion back then. He didn't seem to like the short skirts or short hair the ladies began sporting. Apparently seeing a woman's calves was very distressing for him.

Hmmm. The journals from 1927 to 1931 were missing. I searched around the room to see if they had gotten misplaced and found them wedged high atop the farthest corner bookcase.

As I read I was shocked to learn of my father's rebellion at the end of the decade. He never told me he hunted humans. We were going to have a talk when he came home. I wanted more details than he wrote in these journals. His account of his time back then was less than any other point so far. When he returned home my grandfather had welcomed him back with open arms. I would expect nothing less knowing him, but my father had actually been worried that my grandparents might not want to have any more to do with him after what he had done.

I decided to just move on, for now, after returning those books to the top of the bookcase. I would not want anyone else viewing them, especially David.

1933 was rather, um . . . interesting - my grandfather had changed Aunt Rose. I already knew the story about what her ex-fiancé had done to her but I couldn't believe my grandfather actually thought that she and my father . . . that the two of them might make a good couple. It was almost laughable in its absurdity. I mean I love them both, but could never picture them together. Thank goodness Aunt Rose found Uncle Emmett just two years later. The tone of my father's entries had been getting me worried.

But Uncle Emmett's addition to the family was another bump in my father's life, not exactly a low point, just more of an irritation. Not Uncle Emmett, specifically. My father just heard things in my Aunt and Uncles minds that were, err, disturbing. It got so bad that my grandfather actually kicked them out of the house. Okay, so he didn't actually kick them out. Grandma Esme built them their own house about ten miles away where they could be as loud and destructive as they wanted.

Yikes. I thought Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett were bad now, what must it have been back then? Nope, I definitely don't want to think about that.

That was enough reading for today. I had lost track of time and had missed lunch, not that I ate that much anyway, coyote was my current meal of choice nowadays. But it was almost two in the afternoon anyway, and my family would be calling.

Just like my mother promised the entire family Skyped every day and made sure David did as well. I think we were making progress. At least a little bit. We would have to wait until David was fully grown and my family returned to see how he handled them. But I knew we could get him to come around.

At least he didn't fight us to talk to them online after the first few days, and my family looked for any excuse to get him to engage with him. Jake and I thought that if they could interact with him in a more professional, detached way, and take over some of his education a bit, sort of a 21st century internet classroom, he would not get so upset.

My family agreed and focused on much of the same subjects they had with me. Not everything of course, they just augmented and reinforced what Jake and I were already teaching him, but it gave them a justification to David for them to talk to him.

Jake had already taught him the Quileute language, and about the legends and histories of the tribe, which he loved. And just like with me, no one needed to teach David how to read, Jake and I simply read to him every night before bed and then a week later he started reading to us.

David didn't share my mother's and my love of the classics, well no one shared my mother's love of the classics like she did. His interests tended more towards comic books, and then graphic novels as he grew. I wonder if that was a boy thing? But I didn't care, as long as he was reading, not that we let him solely read comics, he needed to read two to three actual books every week, but as fast as he read it didn't take him long.

Once he was able to gain some control over his phasing, we made him a deal, for every ten books he read from our library he was rewarded with a trip to the local comic book store. Until then we bought them ourselves and brought them home to him. His favorites were those based on werewolves, naturally. Yesterday for the first time Jake took him and turned him loose in the store, (not really, he closely watched him the entire time) and we reserved some veto power on his choices.

We did not want him reading anything that demonized Vampires, at least not yet. Perhaps when he was older and realized that our family was not his enemy, we would allow him to read them, for fun, not mis-education. He understood comics were just make believe, but I didn't not want them unduly influencing him.

My mother tried getting him interested in English Literature, they would discuss the books he read and I heard her try to relate them to his comics. She even got him to read Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ , with the understanding that they would then both read _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ afterwards.

My father began teaching him French and Music Composition, just like he did me, while I taught him the piano.

Uncle Jasper worked with him on History, - both vampire and human, as well as Psychology and Philosophy, attempting to diminish my sons revulsion for our kind. Sometimes I thought there Skype time felt more like therapy sessions, with Uncle Jasper trying to work out exactly where my son's hatred stemmed from. We all knew it was a genetic predisposition of the wolves, but Jasper was trying to use Nurture over Nature to override it. Logically it seemed likely to work - over time.

Before my family had left we had learned that my son did indeed have a gift. Uncle Jasper had never been able to get my son to relax. It seemed he had a shield of his own, weaker, but similar to my mothers. We were not sure exactly what the full extent of his gift was, but we knew one thing - Uncle Jasper could not alter his moods. My father could read his mind and I could share images with him, but not my tactile projections and nothing that I made up, or even anything where I tried to alter a single small detail. Aunt Alice could not see him either, but that was not something we had expected she would be able to do, since she could not see Jake or me.

David's mind could not, or would not, be changed from what he knew to be the truth. It was almost as if his mind was guarded against falsehoods. Nothing unnatural could get in. Not my altered images, or Uncle Jasper's mood altering emotions. It was strange. He could feel what David felt, but not do anything about it. If he could, my families moving might not have been necessary.

And if I was right Zafrina's gift probably would not work on him either. That was too bad, because I loved the worlds she would show me.

Anyway they were gone and we were all doing our best to get through the next few years apart.

Aunt Rosalie loved my son. I was worried that he was too much wolf, and she would dislike him as much as she initially had Jake. But my fears were for nothing. She had some sort of obsession with babies and loved him as if he were her own, even if he grew incredibly fast. Currently she was teaching him science over the web chats and would eventually move onto Chemistry and Physics, as he aged, like she did with me.

He didn't exactly like the subject but at least he wasn't fighting her on it, like he did with other subjects. I think it was only because he had a little crush on her. It had taken me, and everyone else by surprise. But I guess it was not so unusual, she was extremely beautiful after all. Uncle Emmett found it hilarious, and would slip in some inappropriate cougar innuendos daily, normally yelled out during Aunt Rose's lessons, which she often responded to with a swift smack to the top of his head. Luckily David never caught on, at least not yet. Everyone else in the family was smart or kind enough not to say a word about it to David. I'm sure he will grow out of it eventually, and it was only now, that she was on another continent, that his feelings for her had emerged. I'm sure if she was still here and he could smell and touch her, his natural revulsion for vampires would return and his feelings would vanish. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not though. The crush was harmless, it's not like anything would come of it, and it wasn't like they were actually related. And maybe it would help David work through some of his issues with the family.

The Art Appreciation that Grandma Esme tried to teach David wasn't going well, so she shifted focus from paintings and sculptures of antiquity to architecture, which David seemed to enjoy more. He could spend hours building towers, castles, and forts with the model sets we got him. As Grandma Esme suggested we only bought him models of actual, real buildings, that she could then talk with him about – how they were constructed, what materials were used, what innovations had to be made at the time to make the construction possible, including things like domes, arches and flying buttresses. She told me that she was hoping to segue into design, and sneak in some art in there too. Neither Jake nor I saw that happening, but we thought better about trying to dissuade her. Who knows, in a few months or a year he might be more open to the idea.

Aunt Alice focused on math. I think we finally found a subject he really liked with that one. He was a natural; calculating complex math problems in his head easily. Aunt Alice planned to move on to advanced Algebra and Geometry by the month's end. And then Calculus, Trigonometry and who knows what else after the new year.

Grandpa Carlisle was teaching him Anatomy and Biology of humans, vampires and shape-shifters (what little he had learned from Jake over the years), while Uncle Emmett, since he couldn't very well teach him "Gym", over the computer like he did me, focused on tech stuff. It made sense, he loved television, video games, computer games, stereo equipment and the like. I think David was enjoying learning about all of the mechanics of stuff. He hasn't complained, at least.

Things were going so well online I was starting to think that my family really didn't need to move after all.

* * *

"Hi dad," Jake said to Billy during his daily Skype call to his father.

We thought it was best to call Billy and Charlie, just like my family, every single day to connect with David. He grew so fast, we knew the two of them would not want to miss any more of their grandson and great-grandsons childhood than necessary and this was the best we could do since we could not move to La Push.

"So how is the little bugger doing?" Billy asked

"Davie is great," I replied over Jake's shoulder.

"David Black, hmmm, did I ever mention how much I liked that name. Nice and strong," he said. I shot Jacob a look that I hope Billy didn't pick up on.

Jacob and I weren't married or have any plans to be currently. Our son's name, well his last name, had not been discussed, exactly. Everything had happened so fast we barely had time to pick out a first name. David was growing so fast. He was only three months old and already looked like an eight year old. What his last name would be had not really come up.

"No dad. It's David Cullen, just like Nessie, not Black."

Hmmm. I guess Jacob had thought about it.

"What?" Billy seemed shocked.

"Dad, you know that Nessie and I are not married. It just wouldn't feel right giving him my name."

I know that my grandfather had mentioned that in hospitals babies are always given the mother's last name, on all paperwork including birth certificates, if the parents are not married. But I was doubtful that Jacob knew of this practice, but then again, maybe he did.

"Then I guess this is the end of the Black line. Paul and Rachel's boy is a Lahote, even if they didn't get married yet, either. At least they're engaged." Billy huffed.

But they had named their son Jeremy Black-Lahote. Wasn't that enough? I guess the hyphenated last name didn't count in Billy's mind.

The look on Billy's face was so full of sadness. I knew how Billy felt about Jacob not continuing to be a Black sometime in the near future. His unpleasant reaction to Jacob's "Wolfe" IDs, back during my 3rd/15th birthday dinner, after Embry's court hearing, saddened me then, and it still does.

Right then and there I made a decision. I half expected my phone to light up and start ringing, or vibrating, or something. But Aunt Alice couldn't see me or what I decided. Which was good because I needed to talk to Jacob first anyway.

"But we will be," I affirmed. Jacob seemed confused, of course. I had always told him, regarding marriage, how I just didn't see the point behind it. But now I had a reason. _"That is, if you want to,"_ I hesitantly added with my gift to Jake. _"But I think it would be best if we waited a year or two until David is grown and my family is able to attend the ceremony."_

"Um, dad? Can we call you back?" Jake said giving me a strange look.

"Err . . . sure, no problem, son." Billy mumbled as he disappeared off the screen.

"Nessie? Do you want to get married?" he gently asked, while fingering the promise bracelet he had made me for my first Christmas.

Years ago he had told me it was representative of his promise to always protect me, but I knew it meant something more. That it was a signification of his promise to someday marry me. Did he still feel that way? He had never brought it up, not since the day I had it out with my father that I never wanted to get married.

"You know, we don't have to just because we have David, right." he continued. "It's not like it's the 1800's. No one is going to judge you for being an unwed mother, if that's what your worried about. And we shouldn't get married just because you think it's what my father wants."

"Jacob, would us getting married make you happy? Don't tell me what you think I want to hear, tell me what you want. Please."

"I'm already happy, Nessie. I don't need to get married. I just need you, and for you to be happy."

"Are you sure you're happy, Jake?"

"More than anything," he smiled.

"Good because I am, too. But let's do something to make Billy happy as well."

"Nessie, we don't have to . . ."

"No, I know. But we can still give our son your last name."

"Really? You would be okay with that?"

"Of course, honey." I smirked. I loved Jake, and Billy, and would do anything to make them happy. And what difference did a last name make.

"So should we call him up and tell him now or surprise him with the good news when he gets here for Christmas?"

Hmmm? Nine days. Was that enough time? It would have to be. No matter the cost.

* * *

Hi all, thanks for reading. Thank you to everyone. And thank you for all of the reviews

Just a FYI, I added a growth chart, of sorts to my profile page that shows how I worked out how David grows and ages over the months. Please let me know if you think this is helpful, confusing, uninteresting, etc... I labeled it **Progenies Aging Breakdown of Growth** so those who have not read up to this point would not get any sort of spoilers.

Also would anyone be interested in seeing the one I made for Renesmee? Let me know.

Thanks


	69. Christmas and Embry

**Year Seven, Chapter Sixty-Nine**

 **Christmas and Embry**

Jacob's Point of View

Christmas seemed a bit bittersweet this year. I mean I had Nessie, and David. And Nessie's parents had sent Charlie and Sue, Billy, Rachel, Paul and Jeremy all plane tickets so they could come here, to celebrate the holiday season with us, this year. And Seth and Carol, and Leah, along with Nahuel and Jennifer would be joining us as well.

The rest of the family – Bella, Edward, Rose, Emmett, Carlisle Esme, Alice and Jasper, were still in France. Even though we Skyped with them and sent pictures of David, every day, the holidays just didn't feel the same without the entire family together.

I know Nessie still missed them terribly, heck, even I missed them. As strange as it was to think, I actually missed the Cullens. They had become my family, over the past seven years, and it didn't seem right celebrating the holidays without them. And of course as bad as it was for me, I knew it was much harder for Nessie. I just had to make sure this Christmas was extra special for her.

But it's not like the house would be empty.

I don't know how Rachel had convinced Paul to come, but they arrived yesterday along with everyone else. He had been a little apprehensive, not wanting Rachel traveling in her condition. But she was only five months pregnant, it was still perfectly safe for her to fly. And then there was Jeremy to think about. Their son was an un-phased boy who would be around Nessie, Nahuel, and Jennifer, and their half-vampire sides. Not to mention David's roughly one quarter vampire side.

I don't think anyone really wanted their children to phase, in a way. I mean it was cool being a wolf and everything that entailed, but it was also a lot of responsibility, at the same time. But Paul really didn't have anything to worry about, not yet anyway. Jeremy was only five years old. It's not like he was going through puberty any time soon. Coming here would not cause him to change. It was way too early for that. My son being the one exception to this rule, but there were other reasons for that.

The earliest anybody had ever phased, before David, were Collin and Brady, when they were 13. But there was a massive amount of vampires in the Washington area at the time and they technically were starting puberty, even if they were just at the very beginning of it.

My other sister, Rebecca and her husband, Solomon, had also being given plane tickets to fly to New Hampshire, all the way from Hawaii, but they had, err . . . _politely_ declined. But that was probably better with all of the craziness going on in a house full of wolves, half vampires, and my son, who look like he was practically shooting up, from a boy to a man, right before my eyes. My sister, and her husband, weren't a part of the supernatural world and it was probably best if it stayed that way.

At least that Jenks guy was able to come through for us. Nessie had to go to Seattle last week to place the order. When she came back she let me know that she was a bit worried about Jenks. I couldn't understand why though.

"I guess seeing me in person, this time . . ." This time? When had she contacted him before? "it suddenly hit him. I was the same little girl in the passport picture he had obtained, for my mother, six years earlier. He couldn't get his mind to make sense of how it was possible. I was just a toddler back then and now, before him, appeared an adult. He must have realized before that the name I was using, Vanessa Wolfe, was the same as the one he placed on the passport, but had not connected things in his mind until now."

"He already knows there's something odd about our family, Nessie. I wouldn't worry about it."

Luckily Jenks was a professional and delivered the order as promised. He had even agreed to messengered over our "special order" – a birth certificate, passport, and other documents for David, so neither of us would have to make a return trip out to Seattle to pick everything up. Though that might have been so that he would not have to see any of us again in person. I know Bella had mentioned that Jasper terrifies him.

I wrapped up the envelope from Jenks, adding the information Nessie had found online, regarding the origins of our son's names, for my father. I hoped he liked it.

It was Christmas morning and everyone had gathered in our living room to exchange gifts.

Even though David was only three and a half months old, he looked and acted like a 13 year old boy. Of course, then again, so did Emmett, and Paul for that matter. Most of his gifts were his "visual age" appropriate - some books, comics, and video games, mostly. But there was one more gift for him to open. I was a little nervous, not sure how he would take it.

"Here you go, Davie. Merry Christmas." Nessie said handing him the box that contained a handmade scroll. On it Nessie had written David's name, in her perfect calligraphy, that she somehow managed to inherit from her father; I didn't even realize that kind of a thing was hereditary.

Actually she had written his complete name – first, middle and last, along with the meaning and origins behind all of them. She had done an amazing job. It was something that he could hang on his wall if he wanted to or just keep rolled up in a drawer.

After tearing open the wrapping paper and lifting the box's lid, David unraveled the scroll and slowly looked it over. His eyes grew wide in amazement. I was still a little nervous whether he would be angry or not, learning what his entire name was and what it meant. We had never discussed it before, just calling him David or Davie. This was a first for him, as well as Billy. But slowly, I saw the edges of his mouth curl up into a smile. I guess he liked it.

"Look Grampy. My name means 'Beloved puppy with dark hair'. That's me." he said, running over to Billy, while pointing to the parts of the scroll that Nessie had made bold.

As Billy held the paper I could see him carefully reading the entire thing.

.

 **David**

Name Meaning

 **Beloved** ; Friend; Well-beloved, Dear

Origin

Hebrew

This name has been used in Britain

since the Middle Ages.

It has been especially popular in Wales, where it is used in honor of the 5th-century patron saint of Wales, as well as in Scotland.

 **One Borne of Two kingdoms.**

.

 **Cullen**

Name Meaning

Handsome; Young Animal;

Good Looking Lad,

A byname of Coileán, meaning **Puppy** or **Young Dog**

Origin

Irish

Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coileáin.

Derived from the pre 8th century Old Gaelic name

O' Cuileannain, with the prefix O' indicating a male descendant. Cullen is encountered primarily in Dublin and southeast Ireland.

.

 **Black**

Name Meaning

A Swarthy or **Dark-haired Man**

Origin

Scottish and English

From Middle English blak(e) 'black',

Blake and Black are found more or less interchangeably in several surnames and place names.

.

Nessie was ecstatic when she went online to Google the meaning behind David's names and came across Cullen, on that Ancestry website. She was thrilled to learn that _Cullen_ was the Gaelic word for "puppy" and "young animal". It seemed to fit perfectly. It was almost profilitic – the joining of our two families.

That was why we had originally picked David as our sons first name. Nessie and I thought it was a nice touch, the joining of Vampire and Shape-shifter.

David didn't mention the 'Two Kingdoms' part of his first name though. I'm sure he understood what we were going for and was choosing to ignore it for now. We had taken a chance adding that in, but hoped he would someday see it as the wonderful thing it was.

"Huh. How about that?" was all Billy seemed to have to say at the moment. I don't know if he was stunned, shocked, horrified or what exactly. But he, too, after a few minutes, smiled and started chuckling to himself. "Well, isn't that something," he muttered to himself.

I thought it was a good time to show Billy the documents we got from Jenks, confirming for him that we had made it official, well as official as we could, anyway.

While I knew that Billy would love David being a Black, which he was, Ness wanted to get him something tangible as well. She actually came up with the idea just before we went to Isle Esme.

I knew my father loved fishing and missed not being able to go often now, with his Diabetes confining him to his wheelchair. She had purchased the boat a while ago, soon after her recovery from David's delivery. The boat she ordered for Billy was similar to the one we used to shuttle back and forth between the island and Rio's mainland.

It was perfect, fast, small, easily maneuverable and most importantly - wheelchair accessible. I didn't even know they made speed boats for wheelchairs. But Nessie had found one. It was actually already in La Push, but I was not sure if Billy had found out about it yet or not, but knowing Nessie, she likes taking care of everything like that and had not only arranged for someone to maintain it, but paid for all of the docking fees as well.

As I was showing him the photo I printed of it and telling Billy about the boat, that awaited him back home, we heard something crash in the kitchen.

Oh, crap! What now? I know Leah and Nahuel were both in there, getting something to eat. Why did they have to go in there at the same time? Those two were always fighting when they were in the same room together.

Instead of breaking up another one of their fights, yet again, maybe it would be best if we just let them work out their differences on their own. Everyone seemed to unconsciously follow my lead and just stayed in the living room and continued to open presents, ignoring the fight, as the crashing and breaking thuds got louder and louder.

After a few minutes Sue looked over at me with concern in her eyes for her daughter, but I just gave her an eye roll, essentially reassuring her of Leah's ability to take care of herself, and I didn't really mind if she hurt Nahuel. Sue knew that if I wasn't concerned about her daughter, she didn't need to be either, and relaxed – a bit.

Leah, and Nahuel, would heal quickly, from any injuries they inflicted on each other. What worried me most was all of our stuff they were breaking in the kitchen. Besides the bedroom, it was my favorite room in the house.

"Outside" we all heard Leah screech, before they crashed through the back door. Damn-it. How was I going to find a store that sold doors, on Christmas?

At least, this way, any destruction would be contained to the forest now.

At least Leah hadn't phased into her wolf self, in the kitchen. That would have made an even bigger mess. She probably would, now that she was outside, though.

Not that she needed too. She could handle herself against him, while still on two feet. Even without phasing she was a good three inches taller than Nahuel's puny 5'7" frame. Hell, even Nessie was taller than Nahuel. Leah was more wiry than him though, but she was fast. Fastest of all of the wolves, actually.

About a half hour later they returned, both of them, roughed up a bit, but healing. Leah was still pulling her pants back up when she reentered the house so, she must have phased. It looked like they had worked through some stuff because they weren't attacked each other anymore. Maybe it was a Christmas miracle.

"Break a lot of stuff?" Jennifer smirked over to her brother.

"Err, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll fix the door and replace the glasses and other stuff that were . . . um, in the way." He huffed, resuming his previous seat he had before there escapade.

"Guys, is Christmas. Can't you at least _pretend_ to get along? Just for the day at least?" Nessie admonished both of them.

"Yeah, that's what I was doing." Leah snarled before hearing the growl I gave her. "Why do you think he still has his limbs attached." she snickered to herself rather mischievously, now. To which Nahuel snorted a chuckle back.

"Sure, sure," I sighed, under my breath as they gave each other wary looks from opposite sides of the room. Whatever. I really didn't want to be thinking about them and whatever their problems were, anymore. It was Christmas, it was suppose to be a happy day. "Just make sure you clean that mess you made. The sooner the better."

"Hey. Well that was interesting kids, glad you're both okay, but I think it's about time for a beer. Who else wants one?" Charlie asked, looking around the room. Once his eyes landed on mine I shuddered at the thought, and bile began rising up my throat, just from thinking of the last time I drank in Rio.

"Err . . . no thanks," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, we don't want our most mighty alpha to hurl all over the carpet again, do we?" Leah chuckled. Of course, when we phased, she had seen exactly what had happened in Rio.

"Thanks Leah," I said, while giving her a shut-up-about-it look. But she didn't. She actually kept going on and on, razzing me about my only real (stupid) attempt at drinking. It's not like it was ever going to be repeated. I couldn't even think about alcohol without wanting to vomit. But what was going on with her? Did the fight with Nahuel actually damaged her brain or something?

Did I really need to go through this again? In front of everyone?

I had already had done it once with Edward, at his insistence, as soon as I was recovered enough, in his opinion, from my ordeal with Joham. Edward had pulled me aside, one day, for a completely unnecessary chat.

Good grief. Hadn't I been through enough? Did I really have to sit through one of his talks? Thankfully, I think hearing my thoughts and feelings on . . . well, how I now I felt about alcohol, he didn't feel the need to talk to me anymore. Not too much, anyway. Once I was standing in front of him and not just over the phone, he could see just how sick I had gotten, how much I now hated alcohol, and how unlikely I was ever to try it again.

But seriously, was that really necessary? I was an adult now, no matter how childishly I had acted. He wasn't my father. I mean, we were both fathers now, I really didn't need him treating me like that. So what if he still had almost 100 years on me. I had learned my lesson all on my own.

"I agree Jacob," he had finally confessed to me after letting me stew for a few minutes, actually he just kind of stared me down for a bit first. Or attempted to, but I wasn't backing down from this.

I had regained my Alpha status in my own mind, at least. It's not like he was going to intimidate me, no matter how stupid I had acted. It's not like he never made a mistake in his life.

He had turned into a friend over the years, but sometimes . . . nope it's Christmas. Only happy thoughts today.

After the remaining presents were opened I led Nessie to the garage, and everyone followed. There was one more present there for her. I had meant to give it to her for her birthday, but well, I had missed that, and she was in no condition to open it at the time, anyway.

Nessie loved her gift just as much as I hoped. It was the car of her dreams, after all. The vintage car show that I had taken her to, last Valentine's day was, after all, in part, a pretext to get her to reveal this to me. She had never been able to verbally nail down her dream car, so I had to find some way to get her to tell me. Thankfully it had worked.

Her present was not an actual car, though. What I got her was a wreck. A frame mostly. And a collection of some of the parts we would need to restore it, just like Rosalie had gotten me. It was something we could rebuild together, for hours on end, in the garage. And now David could work on it with us, if he wanted to. I really had hoped to pass our love of cars on to him. So this really was a present for all of us.

* * *

A couple of days later, during my monthly Skype chat with Embry, he thanked me for the present I had sent him, then said something that shocked me and also filled with a little bit of hope - for him, at least. He and Colleen were moving back home to La Push, at least that was the plan for the time being.

"Yeah, it looks like she is finally getting the um, _hint_ that it's over between her and Henry. I didn't think it would take her this long, she's just been so heartbroken. I've tried to do what I could for her, but it's hard. What with me having to stay away for so long, just watching over her from a distance, as a wolf, you know. But now that we're coming back, I can be human much more often and maybe, hopefully, provide for her the comfort and support that she needs.

"And just exactly how do you plan on comforting her?" Paul snickered over my shoulder.

"Sheesh Paul. Give him a break. Hey isn't it about time you were heading home?" It was great seeing Billy and Rachel again. And I knew they were staying till the end of the week to celebrate the New Years with us too, but I could only take Paul in small doses. He was getting on my nerves.

"Yeah, come on Paul, don't start. And it's nothing like that, I barely talked to her these past couple of years. I just keep an eye on her and make sure she stays safe." He then looked around the room, I guess to make sure she wasn't listening. "I only really see her when I come in to charge the laptop so I can get on these calls. She never really wanted me around her, afraid that Henry would see and get the wrong idea about us. Even when I come over just for the hour she is so worried that he would walk in on us, see us together and jump to the wrong conclusions.

"So you've actually been living as a wolf this entire time? Living in the woods, hunting for all your food? No home, no bed, to TV, no Xbox? That is so messed up." Paul remarked in disbelief.

I had known that that was what he had been doing. I tried to talk him out of it, tried to suggest he may want to get a job, an apartment, try to live a normal, human life as much as he could. It's not like there was that much to worry about regarding Colleen. It's not like she's a danger magnet like Bella used to be, but Embry wouldn't hear of it. He thought he needed to watch over her 24/7.

"It wasn't hard. She got a job as a receptionist in this dental office. It is a really nice, small place located right on the edge of the woods. I think she was trying to be thoughtful that way, at least. And she told me I didn't have to watch over her. I think she would prefer it if I got a job too, but I was the one who wanted to stay with her all of the time, hanging out at the edge of the trees. It's very comforting to me knowing that she is safe."

"But you're coming home now?" I questioned. Was it was really, finally happening? "Are you moving to the Makah Res with her?" That's were her family was after all.

"No, we talked about it and she actually wants to go to La Push. She wants to leave Texas and Henry and move back, but isn't ready to see the looks on her family and friend faces yet."

"Sure, sure. I guess that makes sense. Can we do anything to help? Do you need us to send you a plane ticket or anything."

"Neh. Got it covered. The Cullen's actually included a return ticket for both of us when they booked our flights down here originally. There still good, not expiring anytime soon. I don't know how they did that, but we're good, thanks. We should be here for another month or two, while Colleen gives her notice at work and we start packing all of her stuff up, and then will be home."

"Alright, do you need any help finding a place?"

"Please, he's just going to go back to living with his mommy." Paul snickered again.

"Hey Embry, do you want me to break his nose for you now, or would you like to do it yourself when you get back."

"Actually, Paul is right. I'll probably have to move back in with her, at least for a little while. Just until I can get a job and save up a bit to afford a place."

"Jacob? Where are you son?" Billy was yelling through the house.

"In here, dad." What was wrong now? "Embry, I gotta go. But I'm happy that you are moving home. Let me know if you need anything, please." I said before closing the laptop so I could go find Billy. What could have possibly gotten him so worked up that he started screaming throughout the house? He was always so laid back about things. Was something wrong with David? Or Nessie?

"How could you not tell me?" he asked as he wheeled himself into my bedroom before I could charge out of the room to find out if my family was harmed in some way.

"What are you talking about?"

"You almost died and you didn't even think to mention it to your old man?"

"Err, I think I'm gonna go grab something to eat," Paul stammered, seeing the look on my father's face and exiting himself from the room.

"Who told you that?"

"Seth did, don't be upset with him though, it slipped out while we were talking about David and how amazing my grandson was. He mentioned how everybody was glad that he turned out to be yours. Do you understand how shocking something like that was for me to hear? To think that Renesmee, that sweet little girl, would have, could have cheated on you with someone else. Do you understand the crazy thoughts that were going through my head just from that? And then I hear the entire story. Son why wouldn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you, I didn't see the point. I'm fine, Nessie's fine."

"Jacob, no matter how old you get you will still be my son. I care about what happens to you."

"Sure, sure. I promise, next time I almost die I'll be sure to call."

"How about you try to make sure there is not going to be a next time? Living with a bunch of Vampires is just dangerous, even if the Cullen's are different, good. Their _friends_ aren't. Things happen. Maybe you should think about moving home."

"This is my home, now dad. And the only reason we were able to be captured in the first place was because we weren't with the Cullens. Leaving them gave Joham the opportunity he needed."

"Oh don't give me that crap, if you were back home, your real home, where you belonged, none of that would have happened. You would have been safe, surrounded by your brothers. No one would have been able to touch you, or Nessie.

"Look, son," Billy sighed, the anger starting to slip from his face, "I know you're a man now and I'm not trying to get all parental on you. I'm just saying, it would be nice to know these things; you know, the important things. Almost dying is a pretty important thing, in my opinion."

"Sure, sure." I wasn't angry at him, I know he only said those things because he was scared for me. It was because he cared, and I loved him for it.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know you love Nessie and need to be with her. You can live wherever you want. With whoever or whatever you want. I'm just saying that I, well I kinda miss you. I miss having you around son."

"I'll try to visit more often dad, but this is my home, with Nessie. She can't live in La Push, and I can't live without her."

"I know. Still doesn't mean that I don't miss you, though."

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.

And just if you are interested you can go to ancestry dot com/name-origin?surname=cullen

Also, i know there are a lot of Jake/Nessie stories out there where they eventually get married and Nessie moves to La Push. This isnot one of those stories. I had thought i had made that clear. but i see by some of the comments a lot of you assume they will be moving back now that the Cullens moved to France. Let me be clear. That will not be happening.

The way i read the books, long ago members of the tribe first phased when a lone couple of vamps moved through the area to feed. Having Nessie LIVE permanently in La Push, with the two of them never aging, is just not something that i see being realistic. she would be continuously setting off the wolf gene in any unphased descendents of Taha Aki. Also only the wolves and council are in on the vamp secret. How would they explain the two of them never aging to the entire rest of the tribe?


	70. Dinner and La Push

**Year Seven, Chapter Seventy**

 **Dinner and La Push**

Jacob's Point of View

Tonight was entirely Nessie's idea, not that I was complaining. She planned the whole night. A romantic evening together. Just the two of us. I had spent the day hunting and running with David, as requested, so that Nessie could get everything ready.

I wasn't sure what the occasion was. It wasn't either of our birthdays, Valentine's day was two months ago and Mother's day wasn't until next month. I had already been working on what I was going to do to make her first one unforgettable.

After dropping David off at Nahuel and Jennifer's I walked back to our house at precisely 7pm, just like Nessie had asked. The lights were off and everything was dark. I could still see fine, but wondered what was going on. Looking around the room I saw a single lit candle on the fireplace mantle. Resting in front of it was a card that she had inscribed two words:

 _ **Follow Me**_

Follow me? Where was she? I didn't see her anywhere. Then I spotted a flower petal on the floor, and then another, and another. It was a trail. I could smell the dinner, in the dining room, that Nessie must have made, but the petals went in the opposite direction. As I followed them up the stairs I saw that they stopped in front of the music room. Opening the door Nessie had placed more votive candles all around the room and she was sitting at the piano, playing a song I didn't recognize. It was beautiful, I wonder if she wrote it herself?

Walking over to her, Nessie did not stop playing; she had not even looked up from the keys, yet.

On top of the piano lid was a single tall tapered candle emerging from a candlestick, two bubbling Champagne flutes and in front of them was a small, but long box, with another card.

 _ **Open Me**_

Lifting the lid I could not believe was I saw inside. No. It couldn't be. It was too soon.

"Are you . . ." I couldn't get the rest of the words out. Was it possible? We had been so careful, so that this wouldn't happen. Not yet anyway. We were hoping to wait another month or two. But was she actually pregnant, again?

We knew that Nessie didn't have that much time left before she turned seven and her body froze. And it's not that we didn't want to have more children. It's just that we thought we would give ourselves a little bit of time in between; give Nessie's body a little more time to recover. But it had been seven months since David was born.

Normally women recover from childbirth in 6 to 8 weeks, I think. While Nessie's labor and delivery was a lot more traumatic than most, having David phase in the process and essentially ripping her in half, she took about the same amount of time to recover, being half-vampire and having accelerated healing, and all. So I guess she had been fully healed for the past five months but still I was worried.

As I stood there, frozen, Nessie finally stopped playing, slowly lifted her eyes to meet mine and nervously smiled, while handed me one of the flutes. She didn't really expect either of us to drink this, did she? She knows how I feel about alcohol now and if she was actually pregnant, she definitely shouldn't be drinking it.

"Its sparkling cider," she smirked, probably seeing the expression on my face. "I thought it'd be nice to celebrate, this time. We never got a chance to with David."

"Were celebrating?" I questioned delicately, I didn't want to upset her if she was truly happy about this, but I just wanted to be sure. I didn't want her to feel bad about this. I smiled and kissed her. I needed to be strong for her, even if I was terrified.

"Don't you want to have another child, Jacob?" she asked with horror in her voice.

Oh, crap. I hadn't meant to upset her. That was the last thing I wanted to do. "Of course I do sweetheart. You've made me the happiest man on the planet. I just wanted to make sure that you were ready."

She seemed to relax and the smile reappeared on her face. But what were we going to do?

We couldn't go to a hospital to deliver this child. What if they phased halfway out as well. And the Cullens were still in France. Should we call them to come back? Would they come back? Of course they would.

But knowing how much David had a problem with them this baby would probably be the same. Did we really want to put this child under the same amount of stress? And if the Cullens were here, this baby would probably phase coming out as well. I did NOT want to do that to Nessie.

Whatever we were going to do we were going to have to decide fast, as in immediately. Last time Nessie was pregnant for about ten days. Most people normally didn't find out they were pregnant until at least a month had gone by, so how far along was she even? How much time did we have left? Damn. We needed Carlisle. My mind was racing. Then it hit me. We could go back to La Push. There were midwives there that could help us. Ones that knew the whole wolf secret.

The life and safety of my wife and unborn child we're much more important than possibly creating a few new additional wolves.

Nessie called her parents to let them in on the good news, (she had wanted to tell me first) while I made the travel arrangements. Bella and Edward were as concerned as I was, but agreed not to come back. Sort of. They said they wouldn't step foot in the state of Washington, as to not trigger another wolf explosion, but they were leaving France.

I managed to book the three of us plane tickets to Washington. The earliest flight I could get was for tomorrow evening, but it was a pretty quick flight, only having one stop over, with a little over an hour wait in Minnesota. At least this would give us time to pack and hunt beforehand.

The later flight also gave me time to call Billy to make some arrangements for when we got there. I was hoping he could talk to some of the midwives for us and see who would be available.

Sue, most likely. And maybe Kim. I know she was in med school, and studying to be a midwife on top, but wasn't sure how far along she had gotten. Probably not enough to deliver a baby, but at least to help Nessie out a little bit afterwards, if needed. I hoped.

Who else? I was racking my brain to think of any other midwives or anyone with any medical training that also knew about wolves. But I was coming up blank. I guess I'll just have to leave it up to Billy and see.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

Our flight to La Push didn't take off until 9:20 pm.

I was worried about David being around so many humans.

It wasn't that I was worried about him attacking anyone on the flight. Through he still had not acquired a taste for human food like Jake had hoped, his preferred diet still was herbivore blood.

He was so much more wolf than vampire, that not only did he not even _crave_ human blood, he was strangely, fiercely protective of them, for some reason, even while having not even met more than a handful. Still I was worried about how my son would act around them.

But David was use to being around wolves, and half-vampires. He even had more experience being around full vampires, before my family left for France, than he did with humans. His only real interactions being when Jake's family visited for Christmas, and his trips to the comic book store – not that those actually involved a lot of _interaction_ to speak of, unless you were a cartoon character.

My major concern was more that he was growing so fast, he would look older leaving the plane than when he got on.

Thankfully human eyes were weak and it seemed that no one was able to discern any noticeable change to his appearance. At least no one said anything. I however could clearly see that he had aged at least four days on the flight alone.

My seven month old baby looked like a 17 year old teenager now. He had aged 5 years since Billy, Paul and Rachel had seen him for Christmas. At least we were still able to use the IDs we had obtained for him, so he was able to board the plane, because there was no time to get new ones from Mr. Jenks.

Once we landed, Billy was waiting to pick us up. But there was something I needed to do first. The flight was long. Too long for me, and I was thirsty. Going from New Hampshire to the airport in Boston then to Minnesota for a one hour layover, then finally to Washington was an eleven hour ordeal, which normally would have been fine if I was not pregnant, with an ever expanding stomach and appetite to match. The flight took all night. And I needed to hunt again . . . now! I couldn't risk being in an enclosed car with Billy.

We had pre-shipped all of the donated blood my grandfather left at the house, in the appropriate medical containers yesterday, in case I or the baby would need it after the delivery.

When we had called to let them know the good news, my grandfather had gone over a list of things that we would need and informed us of the correct way to ship everything, so that not only would it not get ruined, but so that it would be allowed onto the plane. Jasper forged the needed paperwork to accompany them and e-mailed it to us.

But the blood was safely tucked away in Billy's frig by now, I hoped. And I wouldn't want to dip into that now. It might be essential later. Besides it was human blood, and I was once again craving deer.

Just as we were approaching Billy I grabbed Jake's arm. _"I can't get in that truck honey. I need to duck out to hunt."_ I told him with my gift.

Because of the time difference we had arrives a little after 5 in the morning. It was still dark enough that I would be able to just run to the closest forest near Seattle, snag a quick deer, or two and meet everyone back at La Push.

"I figured as much." He replied before he quietly went over and explained the situation to Billy.

David's rapid growth caused him to need to hunt more frequently than I ever had, but he assured us that he was still good for another day or two, after our hunting trip yesterday. He wasn't drinking for two like I was.

"Come on honey," Jake said holding out his hand as he led me towards the woods. It was a short run, well by supernatural standards, and my pregnancy was not affecting my speed so it wasn't a problem. Jake had insisted on coming with me, while Billy drove David to his house.

We decided to tell people, anyone who was not already in the know about wolves, that David was a friend we met at Dartmouth, who had been adopted as a baby and came back with us to look for his birth mother. It should work, he was half Native American, after all. He was only slightly paler than Jake, having inherited a little bit of my perfect porcelain skin, but his hair and eyes were jet black, just like his father's.

But that was only a story we needed to spread if someone asked. La Push was not a big reservation, it was large enough that people didn't know every single tribal members name, but small enough that you could at least recognize everybody by site and would definitely notice if there was someone new hanging around.

Billy had surprised us by even offering to claim David as his own, some sort of love child from his past that no one knew about. But we could not do that to Billy. He had loved Jake's mother completely, he still does, and would never have been unfaithful to her.

I didn't think that we would be staying that long that it would be a problem anyway. We'd go, I would have a nice easy, normal deliver, recover for a couple days, stay maybe a week, so everyone could see the baby, and then we'd leave. That was my plan anyway.

But right now we had just arrived in the forest and the sun was starting to rise. Not that it was sunny out. We were in Washington after all, were rain was the norm, but it was getting lighter out, behind the clouds.

I'm surprised Jake let me hunt at all, looking the way I did right now. I think this pregnancy was a little further along than I had realized. It was so hard to tell. My periods had not returned to normal yet, after I had given birth to David, so I didn't know exactly when I had gotten pregnant. And it's not like they were ever consistent either, constantly slowing down, and getting further apart, as I approached my seventh birthday.

I had finally taken a pregnancy test after not receiving my period for two weeks. So when I told Jake that we were expecting another child I thought I was maybe three or four days along. But seeing how my stomach had expanded over the course of the plane ride from a slight bulge to about what a normal woman would look like if she was 6 months pregnant, I must have been slightly further along than I had realized, to say the least.

It was funny in a way, expecting David's four day aging to be the problem when my rapid pregnancy advancement was the real cause for concern. But thanks to my bulky jacket that I had brought, expecting the rainy Washington weather, I was able to keep my once tiny beginning of the flight belly, that had expanded to my now obviously pregnant post flight stomach, hidden from the humans.

I loved the sight and feel of having another baby growing inside of me. I could now feel him or her kick. On the flight, after the first one I had nonchalantly taken Jakes hand and placed it on my stomach so he could feel. He never got to with David and I think it both shocked and amazed him. The wonder and joy on his eyes was just so beautiful to see. I loved it.

But the downside was that now I needed to hunt, desperately. I was starving. And since running didn't seem to be giving me any problems I didn't foresee any issues. Jake however had other ideas.

Just as I was about to leap on a deer he grabbed my arm, held me back and insisted he would get it for me. I knew he was concerned for my safety, but it was just a deer. It couldn't hurt me. Even kicking with all of its strength, it would feel like nothing more than a tickle. But I knew my Jacob was just concerned about me . . . us, so I let him nab the steed and deliver it back to me so I could feed. As I drank it my stomach grew even larger, right before my eyes.

It's not like I hadn't gone through this before, my almost instantly expanding stomach, I mean. But it was the first time Jake had seen it happen. By my calculations I will probably be giving birth again sometime tonight.

"Wow, look at you there, Nessie." Paul exclaimed, running over to Jake and myself once we stepped through the doorway of Billy's house. "You look like you're ready to pop. I wonder who's going to go into labor first? You or Rachel?" he mused to himself.

I didn't think I was that big, yet. I probably would be in a few hours though.

Where was Rachel? I hadn't actually forgotten she was also pregnant, with my endemic memory I wasn't capable of it, but my own pregnancy had temporarily distracted me from the fact that she was due around now as well.

That would be nice, having the two cousins born around the same time. Not that they would be able to grow up together, and mine would most likely be an adult by this time next year, if he or she followed the same growth pattern as David. But maybe if Rachel delivered soon we would at least be able to get a picture of the two babies together, side by side, for posterity.

"Is everything ready?" Jacob asked barely acknowledging his brother-in-law. I knew where his mind was at. He wasn't trying to be mean or rude, he was just so worried about me, he couldn't even think straight. But I was fine and I had no doubt that everything would be okay. And if it wasn't then I would heal, though I was not looking forward to going through all the delivery pain and recovery again.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"We're back." I called to Billy, once Nessie and I arrived back at his house. Nessie needed to hunt again. It was the third time, since we arrived and probably the last, judging by the size of her stomach, before she delivered.

Billy came out and informed me that Paul had tracked down Jared, to take David on a run with some of the other remaining wolves, before taking Jeremy to the beach, while Rachel took a nap.

Apparently this pregnancy was taking a lot out of her and she had been sleeping a lot lately. Paul didn't like being away from his imprint, even, even more so now with her so close to her due date, but she had asked this of him and he, of course gave her whatever she wanted.

I knew David wouldn't be able to communicate with Jared's Pack, but thought it was probably fine and he would get a kick out of it, having only been able to run as wolves with Leah and myself, back home.

Of course, there is always Embry. He was still in my Pack, technically. Though I hadn't actually seen him in person in a number of years, but he had moved back to the area, at least. He never joined Jared's Pack like I thought he might. But once he and Colleen arrived home from Texas, her mother had convinced her to move back to the Makah reservation and so, of course, Embry followed her there.

He decided to stay in my Pack since he wasn't in La Push. Having two separate packs in such a small area, wasn't really feasible, long term; even if he was normally the sole member here, currently. But that was a problem that we could deal with later.

Before I had left with the Cullens, Sam and I had divided the territory, where his Pack took La Push and mine had Forks and the surrounding area.

I should call Embry, sometime soon, after Nessie gives birth. It would be great to see him in person again and David would probably enjoy having a new wolf mind to connect with.

"Everything's all set up for you in the living room, just like you asked. The medical supplies and blood arrived last night. It's in the kitchen. You have nothing to worry about. I won't let anything happen to my grandchild, or her mother."

"Thank you Billy," Nessie said wrapping her arms around him as much as she could. Her stomach had grown even bigger than when we had arrived this morning, yet, thanks to her vampire half, she wasn't having any trouble moving as gracefully as she normally did. She still somehow managed to look incredibly sexy while pregnant.

Nessie didn't even look nervous. I wasn't sure how she was doing it. I couldn't keep still. In between hunting trips I had already changed the oil on Billy's truck and fixed his wheelchair lift that I had noticed squeaked a bit when he had gotten into the truck, back at the airport.

Maybe I could go and check the shocks or rotate the tires or something.

It was after 10pm when I finished those two things and was about to check the transmission fluid.

Nessie, of course, not wanting to have her out of my sight, or me hers, had been helping me out the entire time. She had wanted to do more, being just as capable under the hood of a car as I was, but in her condition she was currently sidelined to just handing me tools and fluids.

"Honey can you hand me the . . ."

"Nope! Sorry Jake. You're all done for the night."

Huh? "I know you must be bored just watching me. Let me just do this one last thing and then we can go inside."

"No Jake, we need to go now."

"Nessie, I just . . ." I was about to argue that it wouldn't take that long, but as I turned around and took one look at her face, I saw the cause of her stubbornness.

But it wasn't stubbornness at all. The baby was coming!


	71. The Birth

**Year Seven, Chapter Seventy-One**

 **The Birth**

Jacob's Point of View

Oh crap! The baby - it's coming. I dashed Nessie into my father's house and laid her down on the makeshift birthing bed. It was my old, tiny twin sized bed from when I used to live here.

Once I saw the pain my angel was in, all the plans we had made seemed stupid and I suggested we scrap everything and go to the local hospital, but Nessie refused.

"What if our baby comes out as a wolf again?" she argued. I knew what she was saying made sense. That had been my whole reason for coming to La Push in the first place. But seeing her actually in labor made me not care anymore. All I cared about was her. Her safety. Her well being. Her health. Her life.

"Okay that would be a problem. But we would find some way to deal with it," I tried arguing back. But she was adamant and I could see how upset she was getting, bringing up the Volturi and their requirements that we keep the supernatural world, not just Vampires, a secret from humans.

Billy had agreed to let us convert his living room into a sort of hospital room slash possible trauma center. I was hoping for the best, but I knew to prepare for the worst. It was a part-vampire/part-wolf child after all. Anything could happen.

Everything had already been set up for when Nessie went into labor.

Paul had already taken Rachel and Jeremy to Sam's to sleep, for the night. And David, not really wanting to see this, had gone with them.

Kim and Sue were standing by to help Nessie through the delivery, Emily was available to take care of the baby, once it was born, all of the tools and equipment Carlisle suggested were set up in Billy's living room, and the blood was in the kitchen fridge.

I didn't think this child would phase coming out, again, like last time. There were no vampires round. But what if we were wrong, what if that was just the natural way Nessie's body was designed to give birth and the innate way our child came into the world?

"Who is this?" I questioned Billy, while gesturing to some guy who was walking into Billy's house now.

"That Dr. Lucas Uley, he's here to help with the delivery," my father explained.

Of course his name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember exactly who he was related to. Uley, while not as common as Smith or Jones, was not exactly rare around here. Everyone was kinda related to everyone else, even if only distantly. "Lucas Uley? Is he Sam's cousin?"

"Yeah, and he's also my brother," Sue replied.

Duh, as soon as she said it I remembered. If he was ten years younger he probably would have phased with the rest of us back when the Cullen's first moved to Forks.

But what was he doing here? Had they let him in on the secret? Even for Nessie's sake, I was shocked. It always had been that no one was ever told, not even the parents of current wolves. It made it harder on them, but the secret was kept above all else.

"Edward called," my father explained, seeing the confusion on my face. "He err . . . stressed how dangerous this could be for Nessie, actually going into more detail than I would have liked, informing me about the . . . um, events of her first delivery," my father squirmed in his chair. "It was _agreed_ that we have a medical professional here, just in case this time and, luckily, Dr. Lucas was available."

"So what kind of doctor are you," I asked him. Now that I thought of it, I began recalling how he had just started Med school back when I left to follow Nessie and the Cullens.

"Internal medicine." he cockily replied, "but I'm sure I can handle a delivery."

Yeah, right! Not, if it was anything like the last time, but I guess this was as good as we were going to get, better than I had hoped for anyway.

"Does he know everything," I ignored him as he continued to unnecessarily recount his résumé, instead questioning my father.

"He has been told about Nessie and the wolves, but hasn't actually seen, with his own eyes, a phasing yet."

I didn't really care if he saw his niece and nephew, or cousin, or any of the others, turn into a giant wolf or not. All I currently cared about was Nessie's, safety and well being, and that of our unborn child. I wanted to make sure he was ready for with was about to happen. But my father assured me he would be. I hoped he was right.

Late that night, or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at it, well after 3am, anyway, Nessie was still having contractions. They had been going on for hours now. Much longer, then when she had David. That was over almost instantaneously, she informed everyone. And I remembered Edward telling me how she had gone into labor and delivered David all in under an hour.

Lucas had checked almost an hour ago and she was indeed fully dilated, but nothing was happening. Eventually her contractions stopped. She wasn't progressing. It was as if her delivery had stalled.

I was so worried I couldn't even think straight. All I could do was wear a hole in the carpet as I paced back and forth around the bed, in between trying unsuccessfully to comfort my angel. Nessie looked like she was in so much pain.

After another hour, Lucas had suggested giving her some Pitocin, a drug used to restart labor, but he was unable to get a needle into Nessie's marble-like skin. Finally, unable to think of anything else, Sue suggested Nessie just try pushing anyway. Maybe that would trigger her body to continue the labor.

As she began pushing Lucas exclaimed that the embryonic sac was still intact.

"It hadn't broken with David either." She informed us.

The baby wasn't able to come out, it had gotten stuck.

Lucas grabbed a scalpel to make a small opening, but I watched in horror as the blade crumpled as soon as it made contact.

"We have a problem," Lucas exclaimed. Duh! "I don't see any way for you to deliver vaginally. I'm afraid you are not big enough down here, your unborn child will not fit if the embryonic sac remains unbroken." Of course the same thing happened when he tried to cut her stomach to perform a cesarean. "Does anyone have any ideas?" he asked while looking around the room. No one did.

We already knew that everything about Nessie's skin was as strong as a full vampires. So was the embryonic sac that protected our unborn child. It was why we had never been able to see David on the ultrasound – both an external and internal one. If it was just Nessie's vampire strong skin, we would have still been able to see the fetus on an internal ultrasound.

Was that the reason David had phased? To break out of the embryonic sac? But this time the baby was not phasing. Why? Was it because there were no Vampires here to set off the change? Was the baby a girl who would never phase? Or was it something else entirely?

Whatever it was, the baby needed help getting out. Suddenly I knew what I was going to have to do and it sickened me.

A second later Nessie came to the same horrible realization. The only thing that would be able to penetrate vampires skin was another vampire or a wolf's teeth, and we were fresh out of vampires.

Nessie was now screaming in agony. We couldn't wait any longer. Dread filled my mind as I fully realized what I was going to have to do. But I looked over at Ness and she gave me a small tear filled nod, letting me know that I needed to do it, now.

There was no time to waste.

I had everyone move back and I phased right in the middle of the living room, only breaking a single chair in the process. Unfortunately Lucas's constitution was not as secure as his massive ego and he fainted on the spot. Pansy.

I saw Kim rush to his side, but I had more important things to worry about.

Memories of Nessie's own delivery and the similarities between the two started pouring into my mind. Edward had to literally use his teeth to cut Nessie out of Bella and it looked like I was going to have to do the same. But my wolf mouth was much less precise than Edwards smaller Vampire teeth, and I was going to have to rip through her stomach as well.

My heart was full of dread as I looked at Nessie, one final time, knowing what I was about to do, the agony I was about to put her through. But I knew she was already in agony. But we were both resolved to do this. There was no other way.

I wish there was some way we could have given her an epidural, like Carlisle had done before David's delivery. As much as I had tried to plan and prepare for this in the last two days it had completely slipped my mind that a bunch of humans would not be able to get a needle into Nessie's skin. Once she delivered, Sue promised they would be able to give Nessie some Percocet or Motrin, but it was too risky until the baby was out.

Several things happened next, all seemingly at once. I bit, Ness screamed, Kim threw up, and Lucas passed out again. After I was through her skin, Sue was able to get in there and take the baby out, still in the sac, but then an idea occurred to me. I phased back. I didn't need to bite, Nessie's nails might be able to penetrate the sac. Of course, mentally and physically, she was not in any condition to do it herself. I grabbed her hand, and used her own nails to rip into the sac myself. It worked! Sue was then able to get the baby out, before handing it over to Emily.

Lucas, now revived, but still looking a little green, along with Sue and Kim then began to work on putting Nessie back together. She looked horrible. I tried to do as little damage as possible, but my wolf mouth was huge. Her stomach had been shredded and she was losing a lot of blood.

Since needles and sutures would not work on her skin, Lucas and Sue began putting Nessie back together with medical tape. It was how Carlisle had repaired Nessie when David was born, and they were attempting to do the same now. Carlisle had told us what kind to buy, just in case and we had it stockpiled here. I should have realized about the epidural, and everything else when he mentioned the medical tape. Damn-it!

Suddenly Nessie's eyes seemed to lose focus. She had to be in immense pain but she wasn't even screaming anymore. Oh no!

"Nessie, stay with me," I screamed when her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Nessie?"

Nothing.

"NESSIE!" I started shaking her.

"Jake, back away!" Sue yelled. "We need room to work."

"JARED!" I heard Kim yell, "Take Jake out of here."

What? No! I can't leave HER! She can't leave ME! But I was overpowered. Jared showed up with five other wolves, I think. I wasn't really counting. I just knew they were dragging me out of the house.

No! I needed to get back in there. "LET ME GO!"

"Jake, let them work. You're not helping anyone like this."

Arg. I knew he was right. But I still wanted to be in there. But no matter how strong I was, no matter if I was an Alpha or not, they were not in my Pack, they would not listen, and I couldn't win in a fight, not against six other wolves. For now I was stuck outside, while my angel fought for her life inside.

And if she died, I knew I would soon follow. I needed to let them work on her, to save both of our lives.

Eventually, just after the sun came up, it felt like forever, but was probably only around an hour, Kim came out of the house. She was covered in blood.

"Nessie . . . is she . . .?"

"She's alive." Kim assured me. "We got her bleeding under control and she's stable." I probably would have known if she had died. The pull I always felt to her would have been gone. But I still felt it. Even through all my nerves I knew, deep down, that Nessie was still alive, but it felt good to hear Kim say it out loud. "How are you doing? Are you calm enough to come back into the house to see her?"

Was she kidding? I wouldn't be calm until I saw Nessie with my own eyes. But not wanting the other wolves to keep me away any longer I just nodded.

When I walked back through the front door I saw my angel. She looked paler than normal, which was saying a lot, because she was normally pretty white to begin with, but didn't look like she was going to lose consciousness again, I guess that was a good sign. I could tell she was still in pain, though. We needed to find a way to get some blood and pain killers into her.

Damn. Nessie was going to have another long recovery – if she survived. She looked so bad, I still wasn't completely certain she would. What had I done?

She was trying to put on a brave face, I was sure she was in agony. Her entire stomach had technically been ripped open by me. I felt like a monster.

"Hi sweetheart. How are you doing?" I asked while stroking her hair.

"I want to see our baby," Nessie croaked.

What? The baby? I had almost forgotten about the baby in all of the panic for my angels life.

Our baby. I wasn't even sure if it was a boy or girl. I would love it no matter what, but I wouldn't be able to go on living if Nessie died from this.

"She's right here," Emily said from the corner of the room.

A daughter? We had a daughter.

She had cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket. Emily was about to hand our daughter to my beautiful angel, now I guess I had two beautiful angels, but Nessie still looked like she was in immense pain. How could she hold a baby like this?

Wait, finally I had a _good_ idea. Prior to this moment I don't think my brain was functioning on any of the higher levels needed in order to form coherent thoughts, or develop plans beyond cave man smash and grab type ones.

"Nessie, honey. Let Kim give you something for the pain first, and you need to drink some blood."

"Fine give me them, but the pills will take time to work and I want to see my baby now."

"I wish I had thought of this earlier honey, I'm so sorry, but I know how to get an IV into your arm."

"Really? How?" I guess her brain, that normally worked so much faster and better than my own, was as spacey as mine had been, understandable given the situation though.

"Do you think you can use your nail to make a small cut right here," I asked, pointing to the appropriate spot, "so that Dr. Lucas can insert a needle into your arm for the IV?" She nodded, then I looked to him. "You'll have to move fast, her skin heals almost instantly."

It took Lucas multiple tries and he still hadn't been able to move fast enough to insert the needle. He was getting frustrated after his attempts had gone into double digits and I could see he was losing hope that this was possible. I guess my idea was not as brilliant as I had thought.

Sue decided to give it a try though, at first not doing much better. But after the fourth attempt finally managed to get the needle in, but then she wasn't strong enough to push it in past the opening. Luckily I was and Lucas talked me through how to slip it into Nessie's vein without overshooting.

After Nessie drank some of the blood we brought and let the painkillers circulate for ten or so minutes, Nessie's condition started looking better. Not much, but enough that she wanted to try and hold our daughter again.

Emily brought her over and placed her gently in Nessie's arms as I looked on in awe. She looked just like her mother, though her eyes and her skin were a bit darker, just like her brothers, but she had Nessie's same curly bronze hair.

After seven minutes I knew Nessie was doing her best to hold our daughter, but it was draining her. She had to prop her up, off of her stomach and I knew she was already weak from the delivery and the loss of blood. She couldn't really keep this up much longer.

"All right, honey, you've held her. Now, please take a break. After some more pain meds and blood you'll feel much better. And in a little while, when you are feeling better you can hold her again."

She reluctantly agreed and handed me our daughter. We again hadn't even thought of names, just like with David. I guess that'll have to come later.

* * *

By the next day Nessie's condition had dramatically improved. She was recovering nicely, well as nicely as can be expected with a giant hole ripped in her stomach, thanks to me. I still felt awful for what I had done, but Nessie kept assuring me that I did nothing wrong and was exactly what she would have told me to do if she was able to get the words out at the time, between screams.

"So where is the little munchkin?" Charlie asked, about two seconds after entering Billy's house. We still hadn't picked out a name yet, but everyone had an opinion.

I made a list in order of everyone's favorites. Of course we had called the Cullens, to let them know Nessie and the baby were alive and doing well, (I hadn't gone into greater details, there would be time for that later), and they of course had to offer their suggestions as well. However some were just ridiculous, in my opinion.

Sarah, after my mother – Nessie had suggested it, but I quickly rejected that. I loved my mother but I didn't want to connect the sadness I felt towards her passing to the happiness given by the birth of my daughter,

\- Carlie, Nessie's middle name,

\- Elizabeth, Eddie's mother's name,

\- Marie, Bella's middle name, and her grandmother's first name, I think,

\- Mary,

\- Alicia,

\- Emma – I thought it was pretty, but didn't want to think of Emmett every time I looked at my daughter,

\- Charlotte, after Charlie, not bad but no,

\- Roseanna – yuck,

\- Willamina, after my father – Um, No!

\- Jasparella - Alice had thought of that one – really? NO!

The list went on and on, and got weirder and weirder as the more people's opinions we asked, a lot distorted current family members names to newer, occasionally stranger versions.

We hadn't named David after anyone, maybe we should do the same with our daughter, and just go with something traditional.

I wonder what Charlie will have to add?

"I'm just finishing giving her a bottle, Great-gramps. Would you like to hold her when she's done feeding?" David asked. He was such a good big brother to her and had already bonded with his baby sister, more than I could have ever hoped for.

Charlie was still getting use to the idea of being, in all likelihood, the world's youngest great-grandfather to David, the fact that it happened again, and so soon was a bit shocking to him. But he was dealing with it as well as could be expected, I guess.

"Err, sure. Wow . . . David? Look at you. But . . . wow, just . . . huh. You're all grown up." Charlie seemed more than shocked looking at David's appearance. He had seen him during Christmas, but that was almost four months ago, David had aged five or six years in that time. Never mind the fact that they video chatted online almost every day, but seeing him in person, added to that his current 6'2" height, must have made it more real for Charlie. "Guess it's to be expected in this family, at least" he chuckled to himself.

"No, he's not all grown, Grandpa. He's still my little boy, even if he is already taller than me," Nessie countered, waking from her nap.

"Nessie, you need your rest, why don't you go back to sleep, honey. We've got everything taken care of right now."

"No, I'm fine, Jake. I slept enough. I want to spend some time with my grandfather."

"Alright, honey, just take it easy."

"So Grandpa, how's everything going?" she asked though a yawn.

"Oh you know, same as usual. Not much happens around here."

Yeah, right! Even though Charlie was now in on the whole supernatural secret, he still preferred to keep some of his need to know attitude, and was not kept informed of all of the Vampire patrols Jared's Pack did, to keep life nice and safe for the humans around Forks.

"Oh, Renée's been calling." He began, suddenly looking like he was happy that he thought of something to say. "Been trying to get in touch with Bella. She's getting frustrated that her and Edward's cell phone numbers are not working anymore. Seems Bella's has been reassigned to some 50-something stock analyst."

"I'm sorry that you're the one who has to deal with this, grandpa. It's wrong for us to dump it all on you."

Nessie was right. Renée couldn't be let in on the secret and that meant that she couldn't be part of her daughter's life anymore.

And unfortunately that meant that Charlie was left dealing with the explanations, not that he could actually tell her anything. He had to play dumb too. But right now was really not the time to bring this up.

"What did you tell her?" Nessie asked.

"Nothing much. It's not like I could, anyway." He huffed.

"Are you upset you finally found out the whole truth, Grandpa?"

"You're not asking me if it would have been better if you had disappeared out of my life, too, are you? Cause I'm glad I know, even if it does mean that I'm now related to a bunch of mythical monsters," he chuckled.

"Charlie, maybe you should have this conversation with Bella." It wasn't right for him to be complaining to Nessie, right now, not after everything she has just been through. And I could see he had unintentionally upset Nessie, calling her, and well, all of us, monsters. Charlie hadn't meant anything by it, but Nessie always got upset at that kind of thing.

"Yeah, um, maybe you're right," he replied after seeing the scowl on my face, and the hurt on hers.

Just then Emily held the front door open as Sam carried in a crib. It was filled with a bunch of baby items, including onesies, blankets, bottles and everything else we wound need for the next couple of days.

"Hey guys." I said helping Same bring everything in. "Thanks for doing this guys."

"It's no problem Jake, everything was just taking up space in the attic anyway," Sam replied.

While it was nice of them to bring over all of this stuff they had from when they had their own kids, I was planning on heading over to the store in Forks, in the next couple of days anyway. With Nessie needing to feed so much beforehand I hadn't had time to buy anything before the baby came. And now I just wanted to make sure Nessie was really out of the woods, and there was no chance she was going to take a turn for the worse, before I left. I know it was silly, she was a half-vampire after all. She was healing exceptionally fast, and now I was sure she would be fine.

Also everything they brought was for a baby. And our daughter would only be a baby for another few days, most likely. I needed to go buy a bunch of toddler clothes, among other things.

* * *

My daughter was growing exceptionally fast and just like David would only drink herbivore blood.

It has been a challenge to get Nessie enough deer blood before the delivery and now Jared's Pack was roaming the entire Washington seaboard and hauling back the poor creatures for my family to feed from. Hopefully there won't be a significant population decrease, and the local deer population will be able to recover enough from our little stint here.

David wanted to do his part too for his mother and newborn baby sister. He had fallen in love with her as much as the rest of us had. She was truly remarkable, just like Nessie. He went to the store, with me to pick up everything we needed for his little sister yesterday and today he was out with Jared's Pack getting more deer blood.

I hadn't even had time to worry what the Pack and Tribal council would think of my family coming here. Not that I cared if they would be accepted or not. It was a matter of my imprints safety and well being, not to mention her life. But she had given birth to a wolf, literally, so it seemed that David and his mother, and now our daughter, were perfectly welcome. No more escorts needed.

It got me more than a little irked that Nessie wasn't instantly excepted in La Push back when I first imprinted on her. But now that she had given birth to a wolf, now that she was the mother of a wolf - she was.

I know it had been mostly Old Quil, and Sam, who had objected back then, but what exactly did they think was going to happen? Wasn't children the natural outcome of imprinting? Didn't they think we would procreate eventually? Or did they think she would give birth to some sort of mutant vampire spawn killing machine?

I guess so. That was what Sam and the rest of his Pack had thought Nessie would be, before she was born. Hell, that was what Edward and I had thought, way back then, too.

I was taken out of my musings when I heard it; a wolf's howl. I knew exactly which wolf it was. That was David's cry. Something was wrong and he would be unable to communicate telepathically with Jared's Pack. He wouldn't be able to let them know exactly what was happening, or what he had seen, or even where he was if he had gotten separated from them.

"Jacob, go!" Nessie urged me. I knew she recognized it too. She would be safe here. Kim and Emily were with her, checking in on her and our daughter. It went against my imprint instincts to leave her if there was possible danger, but I had to, my son was out there and he could be in danger as well. After just a second of hesitation I kissed my two angles on the forehead and then went outside to phase.

Instantly David and my mind connected and I could see that he had found the scent of a vampire. I didn't want him risking going after it alone, like I could see that he wanted too. He was still just so young.

And what if it was one that the Cullens considered our friends. What if it was one of the Denali's? They were considered family, and were perfectly harmless vegetarian vampires, at least. But if a wolf attacked them I don't know what would happen. Surely they would defend themselves.

Either way, red or yellow eyed Vamps, David was in danger. He had never fought a vampire before. Crap!

At least I recognized the area where he was and began running as fast as I could.

 _David, I'm on my way. Stay where you are. Do not go after the scent._

But as much as I yelled, his nature seemed to compel him to run towards it. I knew he hated vampires and he seemed to want to rip it, whoever it was, to shreds. It was almost compulsory for him.

 _David stop! Wait for me to get there._ I kept screaming, over and over, in my head, to him. _We'll do this together._ But he wouldn't hear of it.

 _Dad I'm almost at the leech. I can do this._

 _But you don't even know how many there are. There could be two or three, or more. You would be outnumbered. Wait until I'm there._ I yelled back.

I knew Jared's packed was nearby – somewhere. But they couldn't talk to him in their mind, they didn't know exactly where he was, and he wasn't howling anymore, to give them any clues as to his current location. He was simply running towards the vampires, towards the danger, towards his possible death.

 _But they're too close,_ he tried reasoning with me. _There too close to La Push. Too close to Mom, too close my baby sister. I need to save them, protect them._

 _David, La Push is the safest place on the planet right now, against vampires. There's no danger to them there. Two wolves are_ always _there, guarding the reservation. Nothing is going to hurt our family. Stay where you are._ I tried again, but was too late. He was now standing right in front of the vampire. At least there was only one of them, I think. But it wasn't one of the Denali's. It wasn't a harmless, yellow-eyed vampire. That would have been the best case scenario. This Vampire, that I had never seen before, had red eyes and a murderous look in them. He wanted a fight as much as my son did.

David then did the exact opposite of what I was telling him. He lunged for the creature.

Damn-it!

I was still too far away. I wouldn't be able to make it to him, for another 5-10 minutes, at least. Even running at top speed. The only thing I could do was watch on, in horror, as David fought his very first Vampire . . . alone.

 _Jake, man. Can you hear me? Where's David?_

 _Jared?_ Oh right. Jared was Alpha of the La Push Pack now. I could communicate with him. But he couldn't see into my mind. He could only see what I chose to show him, Alpha to Alpha.

I quickly described to him David's current location, but he and the rest of the Pack were still a bit away, closer than me, but not close enough. It seemed that David had wandered away from the rest of them before even finding the Vampire scent.

Damn-it! Damn-it! Damn-it!

I could see and feel every knock and hit David took. It was painful to watch but I could do little else.

After a few minutes Jared and a couple of the other wolves finally appeared, but it was all over by then. The now lifeless body was lying on the ground; his head rolling around a few meters away, having been ripped off during the fight.

The Pack had all phased back and were now huddled around David, congratulating my son on a job well done.

A few minutes later I arrived.

"David don't you EVER do anything like that again!" I screamed at him, after phasing back. Jared's Pack suddenly grew quiet and backed up a few feet as I approached. I was still thirty feet away from him, not bothering to wait to get closer, but I was pissed. He had ignored everything I had said to him and went after a vampire on his own.

"Dad, I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm perfectly all right. Chill out. The worst that happened is just one bite from the leech, but it just stings. You don't need to make such a big deal about things."

"What? He bit you? David, oh crap! We need to get you to a hospital or call Carlisle ASAP." Oh no. How did I miss that? What were we going to do? We were currently in the middle of nowhere.

"No dad, really, it's fine." He tried reassuring me, but he didn't realize that Vampire venom was poisonous to wolves. "Look the wound is already healing," he said, showing me his arm, where the bite mark was indeed quickly closing up, soon all that was left was a scar that too began to fade.

How was this possible?

Of course, David was part vampire and had his own Venom in the system. Thank goodness.

After taking a deep sigh of relief, my attention turned back to my sons recklessness. But I saw the looks the other wolves were giving me.

"We are going to have a long talk about your actions when we get home, young man. But right now we need to burn the body."

"Why do we need to burn it? I just kill the leech. Isn't that enough? Tore the bloodsuckers head clear off, after all."

"No that's not enough! And you would know that if you stopped to listen to me for a second. Ripping his head off is not enough. He can put himself back together. You have to burn the body." I know I had mentioned this to him before, I know I told him about all of the tribes legends and stories, about the Cold Ones. But a lot of the stories were full of myths, just because the wolf parts happened to be true I guess there was a little bit of doubt in his mind that every single aspect of the stories were 100% accurate. Hopefully this would convince him to take things more seriously.

Sometimes he really was like a child. Of course he was technically only seven months old.


	72. Felicity

**Year Seven, Chapter Seventy-Two**

 **Felicity**

Jacob's Point of View

"Come on Dave it's time to go. Say goodbye to your new friends." We had been in La Push for over a month and he was not looking forward to leaving.

Rachel had had her babies, beautiful twin girls, two weeks ago. Sarah (after my mother, which was nice, since we hadn't named our daughter after her, I was glad she had) and Judy Lahote (after our grandmother Judith Peterson). No hyphens needed this time. Paul and Rachel, unbeknownst to everyone until a few days ago, had run off to Las Vegas one afternoon a couple of months ago and eloped. Billy was a combination of happy and pissed at them. Happy that they were married but pissed that they had gotten hitched without him there to see it. But it was what Rachel had wanted, so what could he or Paul, or anyone do?

Unlike Nessie, Rachel had a normal, uncomplicated delivery at the Forks hospital. Sue and Kim had offered to help her with the delivery at her home, but she had declined. She wanted a hospital, with doctors, and nurses, and drugs, and everything else that that entailed. I think Nessie's harrowing delivery had scared her. But Emily and Kim understood.

And last Sunday, May 12th, we celebrated Nessie's very first Mother's Day. In the rush to get here, I had neglected to bring her present, with me. Truthfully I never thought we would have stayed so long. But Nessie, being the wonderful angel that she was, understood. As soon as we get home, giving it to her was the first thing I was going to do.

In the meantime I had filled the apartment, we had ended up renting, with 2,437 long stem roses, one for every day Nessie had been my imprint, every day my angel had been alive, plus one for each child she had given me.

203 dozen roses had cleared out all of the flower shops, not only in Forks and La Push, but five of the surrounding towns as well. But it was worth it. The apartment smelled almost as good as my sweetheart.

Nessie was still recovering, so we couldn't do much, I had cooked her a special dinner that included all of her favorite foods, heavy on the strawberries, and a glass of deer blood to wash everything down with. And then we watched some of her favorite movies on the flat screen, until everyone fell asleep in front of the TV.

Before I had agreed to fly home, Emily had assured me that Nessie had healed enough for her to travel. All she really needed to do was walk a few hundred feet, at most, and then sit in an airplane seat.

David and I had been packing all morning. Our daughter was helping too. She appeared as old as a seven year old now, and had needed at least one, sometimes two new outfits every day to compensate for her rapid growth. There were a lot of clothes to pack, including the larger sizes I bought for her that she would grow into and out of just in the next week or two.

With all of the gifts our daughter had received and the massive amounts of clothes we needed to buy, the boxes were piling up. Even with donating all of the baby items, clothes our daughter no longer fit in and the furniture I bought for the apartment we were still returning home with much more stuff than we brought.

I was planning on giving the flat screen to Paul and Rachel when we left and let the rest of my family and wolves have first pick at anything they wanted before David and I hauled the rest to the local thrift shop.

Last week I had made the journey to Seattle to get some documents for our daughter so she would be able to board the plane and then just have them . . . just in case.

It was a bit of a rush trip, in between Nessie's recovery, hunting to keep up with her and our daughters need for blood, teaching and entertaining our new daughter (trying to fit an entire childhood into a few months left little time for anything else), and dealing with David's antics. So while I probably should have at least called ahead to let Mr. Jenks know I was coming, I had neglected to enter his phone number into my phone, and only had his address. Sure I guess I could have called information, or Nessie, to get it, but hadn't seen it being a big deal.

When I arrived the waiting room was empty so I went right up to the receptionist and was about to give my name, when a short pudgy man walked out from what I assumed was the back office.

He had been looking at some papers in his hand when he first noticed me. Well he noticed my shoes, that he almost bumped into, not realizing anyone was here. I guess I really should have called first. But slowly his eyes travelled up, and up and up, until finally landing on my face.

"Oh, um . . . Mr. Wolfe." He exclaimed, after a moment. This must have been the infamous Mr. J. Jenks. He probably recognized my face from the passport and license photo he had made for Bella years ago and it just took him a second to place me. "My goodness, you are really that tall. I had assumed Mrs. Cullen had exaggerated." Yup, looks like I was right. His voice seemed to stammer as he spoke and tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on his head.

"What? I'm only two inches taller than Emmett." I shrugged, trying and failing to put him at ease while also reaffirming my connection to the Cullens.

"Of course. Um . . . did we have an appointment?" he asked as he incredulously eyed his receptionist who just shook her head. "It's okay if we didn't," an uneasy smile now returned to his face. "I'm always happy to help the Cullen family."

"Great. Um, I actually need some papers . . ."

"Let's take this into my office to discuss things in private," he quickly said, cutting me off and giving a weary look to his receptionist. Did she not know what he did for a living? Whatever.

Once seated in the aforementioned office I began again.

"Mr. Jenks. Sorry about showing up here unannounced, but I need a few things." Nessie and I had decided to get as much taken care of with this visit as possible. "First I need some papers for my daughter. A birth certificate, passport, and Social Security card."

"Of course. I am going to need her name and date of birth. And a picture of her that you would like me to use, if you have one with you," he said while picking up a pen and notepad to write everything down.

"Felicity, . . . err Blanche Cullen." Nessie and I had talked about what our daughters name should be, but had only agreed on her first name for now. The middle and last might change.

We ended up naming our beautiful baby girl after all of the joy she had given us. While Felicity had finally arrived in the early morning hours, just as the sun was rising in the midst of the chaos that surrounded her traumatic entry into the world, we wanted to give her a name that was befitting of the happiness she brought us. Her name literally meant "Good Fortune" and "Happiness". None of the other choices our friends and family offered seemed appropriate.

We hadn't named David after anyone, but what the name represented instead, we wanted to do the same with our daughter. In the little free time we had Nessie and I had scoured the internet for options and looked in baby book after baby book that Emily, Rachel and Kim had given us. The name we chose seemed perfect. Our daughter always seemed so happy and full of Joy. How could we name her anything else?

However, we were still undecided about her exact middle and last names. There was a bit of disagreement about exactly what they should be. I thought her last name should remain Cullen. Nessie wanted it to be Black. In the end we compromised. David was Black and Felicity was Cullen, one each for their last names and then we switched things for her middle, choosing a feminine version of Black.

They were fake documents anyway, we were just making to board the plane, we could always change them later if we changed our minds.

"You should probably have her age be around six or seven years old." I continued, getting back to Mr. Jenks questions. It was the age we thought she would look like when we would be leaving, and we were right. "I'll have to email you a picture. If that is alright." We wanted to wait as long as possible with the picture so she had another week to age the necessary two years.

"Sure, that won't be a problem," he said but looked a little confused.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. No. I just thought you said this was your daughter."

"That's right. I did." What was wrong. Oh it must be that the last names were different. "Her mother and I aren't married. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" I asked with a slight growl, to which he visible jumped.

"Oh no, of course not. That's not a problem at all. It's none of my business anyway." The sweat was really starting to build up now and he had to continuously dab his forehead with the pathetic little tissue he kept bundled in his free hand.

"Um, is there anything else I can help you with Mr. Wolfe?" Jenks asked as he got up and went over to top a non descript filing cabinet resting against the far wall. He inserted a key to unlock the cabinet and opened the middle drawer all the way, before turning key in the opposite direction he initially had, and the drawer slid out another foot. The cabinet wasn't that deep so it must have extended back into the wall. Cool a hidden compartment!

"I never trust computers for my special clients," he nonchalantly explained. "Yes, just add I thought. Your passport is about to expire. There only good for seven years, you know. Would you be in need of a new one. Err, it doesn't look like it would be too difficult. I would just need to change the years. We could keep everything else the same, including the picture, apparently," he said more to himself than to me, I guess noticing how I still looked exactly the same as I had seven years ago.

Hmmm, would I need new ones right now? Once the children were older I wasn't sure if we would be moving to France with everyone else, if they were moving back to New Hampshire, if we all would be moving and changing our names, or staying put. I should probably talk to the rest of the family and see what everyone's plans were first.

"Um, not at this time. But we would like to place an order for a couple of Drivers licenses. One will be for our daughter, which we obviously won't need yet, but would like one for our son, David, soon."

"David?" He seemed confused.

"David Cullen Black." I reminded him. He had just make his documents for us a few months ago, he couldn't have forgotten so quickly could he?

"You want a driver's license for your baby?"

Oh what the hell. He already was suspicious of the whole Cullen clan. I wasn't going to tell him anything he didn't already know, or at least suspect. "You may have noticed that those in our family tend to age differently than others."

"Yes," he agreed throwing down the passport picture, from my file, he had still been holding. "You seem to be as . . . well preserved as Mr. Jasper."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Jazz has well over a century on me." I chuckled while handing over the photo of David I had brought with me. No need to tell him either of our exact ages. "That's the picture for David's license," I continued, "but I'll have to get you one for Felicity in a few months when she appears old enough to drive. You can take your time on these, there's no rush for them. The other items, for Felicity, I will need right away. Can I pick everything up for her next Friday?"

"That's a rush order. . . "

I could see he was going to go on and inform me about the additional costs, but I had already been informed by Nessie on what to expect. So I cut him off mid sentence. "Of course, but it can't be helped. Just let me know how much."

Internally I cringed but kept my expression relaxed and agreed to the price he wrote down, paid him his customary half now, with the cash I brought, then went to shake his hand where I saw him brace for the icy coldness of the Cullens. He nearly jumped a foot in the air, as our hands touched and the heat my 108 degree body temp met him with.

"Nice doing business with you Jay," I chuckled again, releasing his hand and exiting the office. This was fun. Well funny. No wonder Bella had taken this over from Jasper.

I had emailed him Felicity's picture, and picked up the documents a week later, just like I had planned, but we never ended up using them.

In a last minute decision it was decided that our daughter, though not attracted to human blood, was not yet controlled enough with her thirst to risk locking her inside a plane with a bunch of humans. And she, just like David, had also needed to feed every hour or so currently, due to her rapid growth. She said she could tough it out on the plane ride, but we didn't want to put her through that so we decided to make a cross country road trip.

I had to rent a fairly large van to fit everything. We packed a cooler with as much deer blood as we could fit and would hunt on the way home when it ran out.

I thought this trip would be fun. We could see the country and stop at some nice hotels at night. And I was hoping to cheer up David on the way.

On the reservation our children didn't have to be kept in the house all of the time, like David pretty much had to back in New Hampshire. With so many wolves around they could have actually friends. They could go to the beach or hike in the woods and not worry (to an extent). The kids had made friends over the past month and didn't want to leave them. David loved hanging out with Jared's Pack and our daughter got along great with Claire and Quil.

Unfortunately we really had to leave. This wasn't our home. We didn't belong here. We had stayed longer than I had ever intended and I didn't want a bunch of young teenage boys shifting for the first time into wolves. I didn't want our presence here to disrupt their lives. Hopefully we hadn't already done that.

"Dave here's the last box, can you put it in the van, while I go get your mother?"

"Dad I don't want to leave. I want to stay here," he was having a much harder time leaving than his sister. I had thought she was going to be the problem. While it had only been a month, it was her entire life, technically a large chunk of her childhood.

"Son, you know we can't. We have to go home." He seemed so determined, more than I was prepared for.

"But I love it here. La Push already feels more like home than New Hampshire ever did. Can't we stay?"

"You know we can't. I'm not sure what a prolonged exposure to your mother's vampire half would do. Right before she and I left Forks with the rest of the Cullens, back when your mom was just a year old, every boy who could turn into a wolf already had, so there was no danger of anyone else turning. But we've been gone for enough years now that there's a new crop of teenage boys who are old enough to phase for the first time, and we don't know how much vampire exposure will set off the wolf gene, especially if we stay here any longer. But I promise we can return for another short visit . . . someday."

"But . . ."

"Dave, I'm sorry, but the answer is no." I cut him off. There was no point in discussing it. We had to leave.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

Giving birth to my daughter was almost as destructive on my body as it had been having David. But I was recovering and it was definitely worth it. I know Jake had freaked out, but he had missed how much worse I had been after David had phased out of me. While no one thought it would have been a good idea to tell Jake, back then, knowing how he would react, in truth I had nearly died, if not for my Grandfather and father's massive efforts. With Felicity, I had merely passed out from the pain and blood loss. And I would deal with the ache again a hundred times, if necessary, because now I have a beautiful daughter added to my family.

I know Jacob was worried that we had stayed too long and might have triggered another wolf explosion, but he was unwilling to risk my health, leaving any sooner – "New wolves be damned!" he had exclaimed.

While in La Push we had continued to Skype daily with my family, but now that we were back home, in New Hampshire, I was surprised to see that they were here waiting for us.

They said they wouldn't stay long, they just wanted to visit with everyone for a bit, see how I was doing and take a peek at my daughter, then they planned to return to France.

Felicity didn't seem to have the same aversion to vampires that her brother did. While David instinctively hated them, she found my family curious with their rock hard skin that shimmered in the sunlight, cold body temperature and lack of a heartbeat. And she found it fascinating how long they could hold their breath, which was technically forever if they didn't mind never talking or feeding again, that is.

Another thing that surprised me was that Nahuel and Jennifer had left some time during the month that we were gone. Nahuel left a note saying that he wanted to have his Aunt and Jennifer get better acquainted, but he assured us that they would be returning soon.

"Hi Leah, what are you doing here?" I asked as I saw her car pull up. Did Jake forget to mention that she was coming over today? She never seemed to like me that much, but I hoped that would change, eventually.

"Are you kidding Nessie? I'm here to see my new niece, of course." Her eyes were darted around rather uneasily, instead of looking at Felicity, who was sitting right next to me, reading a book on the front porch. Did I really bother her that much? "So where's everybody else?"

"Oh well, Jake and David are out hunting and my parents went with them."

"Oh really, how's that going? I thought David didn't really like leeches, err, I mean vampires."

"He's still . . . getting use to them. I'm just happy he's trying." Okay, that was technically a bit of a stretch, but he wasn't attacking anyone. "I think he might be most at ease with my parents since he is actually related to them, after all. And he no longer seems to be terrified, like he was when he was a child. Just more of an inborn hatred." I sighed.

He mostly just complained about their smell now. Jacob tried to placated him, trying to convince David that he would get use to it, just as he had.

We had been back a couple of days now and things really weren't going as well as I had hoped between my son and family; but what family didn't have problems? Ours were just a little more pronounced than most.

"No kidding," Leah seemed to resign herself to the truth as well as the rest of us had. "So where is everyone else?"

"Aunt Alice has taken it upon herself to completely redo the house now that Felicity's here, she and Aunt Rose and Grandma Esme are off shopping. All the guys are inside moving all of the furniture around. Jake and I are going to be moving into my parents old bedroom, while our old room is being converted into a bedroom for Felicity." They had finished painting everything yesterday.

"Oh, really? So is Nahuel being his normal unhelpful self and breaking everything?" She chuckled.

That was a little harsh. The only time he ever broke anything was when the two of them were fighting; which was every time they saw each other. That must be why she was acting so weird, hoping not to run into him.

"Actually, he and Jennifer haven't returned yet, they are still in South America, visiting his Aunt Huilen. We're not sure exactly when we will be expecting them back. Did you see him before he left? Did he say anything to you?" I wasn't even sure when they had gone, exactly. Our departure was so abrupt, we barely had time to say goodbye.

"Like I'd voluntarily talk to him. Sorry never going to happen," she snorted. "Just be sure you give me a warning, let me know the minute he's back, so I can prepare myself for the next time I see him."

"Yeah, sure. No problem," I responded as she looked around again a little unsure what to do next, so I thought I'd help her out a bit. "Felicity, I'd like you to meet your Aunt Leah. She's a wolf just like your father and brother."

"Really, I thought only boys were wolves," Felicity questioned, her eyes growing wide in amazement.

"Well, yep, but it's just me, I am the only freak she-wolf," Leah chuckle back.

Huh? A laugh? She normally got upset at being reminded that she was the only female wolf. I wonder what has changed in her? Not that I would get an answer, so I didn't even bother asking out loud.

Leah ended up staying and talked with Felicity for a little while longer. I think she was upset that she missed out on seeing my daughter as a tiny baby, though.

Eventually the entire Cullen clan, minus Jake and David who were still out hunting, returned home. Before long Leah said she had to leave for her shift at the bar that night, but she promised to return soon and to bring Seth back, too, so he could meet his new grandniece.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and please review to let me know what you think - good or bad.


	73. David's Difficulties

**Year Seven, Chapter Seventy-Three**

 **David's Difficulties**

Renesmee's Point of View

"So I hear you have a gift similar to my own, little lady." Jasper sprang lightly onto the couch beside where Felicity was sitting.

My family had been with us for a few days now. Felicity loved my vampire side of the family, her family, all of them. She was my little ball of sunshine. I was so happy. This was how it was suppose to be, how I hoped it would be with David. Maybe . . . someday.

"I don't think it's exactly the same," she replied.

"I'm sure you're right. No two gifts ever are. But if you don't mind, could you tell me exactly what it is that you can do?"

"I'm not sure exactly. But I think it's the opposite of what my mom does, in a way. She can show people her thoughts and feelings. I think I can see people's inner selves when I touch them. It's not their thoughts or feelings I'm seeing exactly, more the soul or spirit of the person, I think. But people are always changing. Their thoughts and experiences influence who they are, so what I see one day may change the next depending on what happened to them."

Everyone in the room seemed to grow more interested now. I knew my mother believed vampires had souls, but I don't think the rest of my family did, at least not completely. Maybe Felicity would prove them wrong.

"So you don't feel their emotions, but their essences? That's remarkable. That would allow you to know instantly, just with one touch, whether a person, or vampire, was good or not?"

"More like if they were up to any good or not, I guess. But someone could be a perfectly law abiding citizen one week, and then have something tragic happen and then decide to rob a bank the next."

"I'm curious, what would you get if you touched my hand?"

"I could try to tell you, but it's hard to describe, to put into words, not just for you, but for everyone."

"That's all right, darling. Just do the best you can." Uncle Jasper said as he placed his hand in my daughters.

"I don't think you want me to say, not in front of everyone." She whispered after seeing . . . whatever it was she got from touching him.

"It's all right. I have nothing to hide," he assured her.

"Alright, but I warned you." She began before taking a deep breath. "You are full of love and hate. They seem to duel inside of you. You love Alice, but hate yourself, well part of yourself. It feels like you spend each day trying to be good, trying not to be the monster that you fear you truly are. That you hope everyday that no one figures out your secret. You don't feel like you will ever be worthy of her, but have long come accept that her love for you is unconditional, as yours is for her. You feel like every day, all you do, it's all a charade, but Jasper, you really are good. You work harder, try harder than anyone in the family, to be so."

"Hmmm. You got all of that, just from touching me?"

"Yes," she replied a bit sheepishly. "That's actually just the beginning of what I saw."

"Well it's very impressive, and very accurate. I was just thinking that you, and your gift, might be able to help us convince your brother that we are not a threat him."

"I'm afraid I've already tried that. He doesn't believe me."

"There wouldn't be any harm in trying again, would there?" my grandfather asked her. "If no one has any objections that is," he asked while looking around the room. No one seemed against the idea.

"Maybe we shouldn't make it look too obvious though, he might take it as an attempt to deceive him. I suggest that the next time we are all together, perhaps tonight after your dinner, one of us suggests a demonstration of your gift, like I just did, and we all request one."

"That's a great idea Jasper," my father agreed. "Nessie, Jacob, do you think you will be able to convince him to come over here?"

"Don't worry. He'll be here." Jake replied.

I wasn't sure how he was planning on making that happen but whatever he said worked because later that night, David came with us over to my Aunts and Uncles old house, where the entire Cullen part of the family was staying.

Just like we planned Felicity went around the room reading everybody in front of David. I hoped this would work. Nothing else seem to. All of our attempts to get him to embrace his vampire family had failed. He wasn't frightened or _openly_ hostile to them anymore, but he wasn't exactly friendly or loving, either.

According to Jake, taking down the Vampire in Washington all by himself gave him a new sense of confidence. His fear was gone, but the anger and hatred still remained.

When Felicity was done reading everyone they all nonchalantly glanced at David. It wasn't very subtle but Felicity had good things to say about everyone. This might work.

"That was amazing, Felicity," my mother exclaimed, breaking the silence.

"This doesn't change anything." David was seething. Crap! I hope he wasn't going to phase right in the living room. "Don't you think I knew what you were doing sis? What all of you were doing? Just because no one here has killed anybody _recently_ doesn't mean you don't get thirsty. It's your nature to EAT people, no matter how hard you try not to. It's like telling me not to breathe. No matter how hard I try, eventually I'm going to give in to the pain in my chest. The need for air is just as bad for me as the pain in your throat, and the need for blood, is for you. No matter how hard I try, eventually I will stop holding my breath and do what my body is urging me to. It's only natural. We will all give in. I will breath and you will drink," he said before getting up to storm off.

"You drink blood too, dude." Uncle Emmett called back to my son. "So does your sister, and your mother." It was true. If that was currently his main objection to the vampire side of his family his reasoning had holes in it.

"We aren't monsters." He said pointing to himself and Felicity.

"Neither are we." Aunt Rose almost spat. I could see that no matter how much she loved him, she was growing impatient with his attitude. Just like I hoped/feared David's crush on her seemed to have disappeared the moment he was reunited with my Aunts natural Vampire smell.

Well this evening seemed to be a failure. David took off without a look back, but my father assured me he was just going back to our house to cool off.

* * *

After a week Aunt Alice had completed her transformation of the house and everyone's closets had been completely restocked. Of course David had hated having her, and the rest of the family there, _infecting_ everything with their smell. She left his room as it was and just ordered him a bunch of new clothes online so she wouldn't touch them. I assured him we would air out the house again as soon as they left, but he was still pissed.

I eventually got David to begrudgingly give his grandaunt a thank you, at least. He was civil enough to her when she taught him online, why couldn't he be in person? She still looked hurt but the rest of us thanked her, and the rest of the family, profusely for all of their efforts.

I think Aunt Alice went a little overboard with Felicity's new clothes. Since my family was planning on returning to France, and Felicity grew so quickly, Aunt Alice had bought enough clothes, in enough sizes to last her into adulthood – next year. I wasn't sure where we were going to actually put them all.

I was hoping my family would stay longer this visit but David's behavior was making it impossible. Clearly he was not doing as well as we had hoped with them here. And the stunt we had Felicity pull, with her gift, had made everything worse. And then there was Uncle Jasper. For some reason David was still terrified him.

Al least my family promised to return for my (and David's) birthday in September.

My father was not entirely comfortable leaving before Nahuel and Jennifer had returned, but I overheard Seth and Leah promise him that at least one of them would stop by to check in on us, every day or two.

Sheesh, my father was overprotective.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

David. Aurg! What was I going to do with that boy?

We were still working on my sons attitude towards his vampire half of the family, and we were continuing to teach him, and Felicity, as much as we could for what they would need to know in life – school work, not only what the Cullens taught them online, but Nessie and I contributed too, and the kids absorbed everything just as fast as Nessie had and read just as fast as she had too, reading the entire Cullen library just as Nessie had. We also specifically made it a point to work on the kids manners since Dave, especially, seemed to need a lot of work on it. Then there was all the life experiences we tried to cram into them. We were doing the same as I and Esme had done with Nessie growing up, only greatly accelerated – having our kids watch TV shows, take short trips to stores, parks, and restaurants to interact with humans, besides engaging in mock social interactions at home.

Things were slowly improving, I think.

As much of a challenge as it was I still loved my growing family, Nessie, Felicity and David. Well, I guess we were done growing. Nessie would be turning seven in under a month and would no longer be able to have any more children. But we didn't need any more. We had a son and a daughter. Our life was complete.

Felicity and I had spent the morning on a nice leisurely hunting trip. David was trying to get more use to human food, not liking having been compared to the Cullen's in that way, when they had visited, and had declined to come this time.

He was still growing, and would probably need to hunt within the next day or two, but for now he claimed his thirst was fine and wanted to finish reading the new novel he had picked up the other day.

I knew he was trying to deny his vampire side and once he stopped aging next year would probably give up blood completely if he could; no matter how much he really despised human food. But I was his father, and could see inside his wolf mind. I knew how much he really needed and loved animal blood.

Nessie was off meeting with our intermediary, Jack Fisher, the go between guy, between us and Seth. Seth still didn't know it was us that had employed him to flip houses. I thought everything had been going great, we were on our third house and not only had we paid Seth very well, more than he needed, we had actually made a profit on the sales.

But Fisher had called us the other day. Apparently there was some problem and he needed to talk to one of us in person.

I tried calling Seth last night to casually snoop and hope he might bring up any problem he might have been having, but he didn't mention anything.

We talked about it and Nessie decided to go, while I stayed home with the kids.

The office she was meeting Fisher at was just over a two hour drive away. Worried about possible traffic, she had left this morning just after 10:30 to be there in plenty of time for their 1pm meeting. Whatever was going on it looked like it was going to take some time to work everything out. She had sent me a text that she wouldn't be home till after dinner.

I knew the kids missed their mother, even her being gone these few short hours, this was the first time they had spent any real time away from her.

"What's this?" Felicity asked, holding up a piece of paper that had been lying on the mantle. "Oh no," she started screaming. "You have to go, you have to stop him."

"What's wrong?" We had just walked into the house. What could have gotten her so upset so quickly?

She handed me the note that caused all of her panic. David had taken off. According to the letter he wanted to go "home", back to La Push.

Damn-it. We had been out hunting for hours. How long ago did he even leave?

I called Jasper, in France, who did a quick credit card transaction check and found out that my sons flight had left over hour ago. It looked like I was going to be making a trip back to Washington.

I didn't want to leave my daughter home alone, even if Felicity did look like a teenager, now. She was only four months old, even if she did look 14, just like her brother did at that age, yet she had never phased.

Apparently our children's rapid growth had little to do with the wolf gene (at least the phasing part of it anyway) and more to do with Nessie's vampire side. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, neither was Carlisle, but Felicity had allowed him to take a sample of her blood with him before he left, to conduct some tests.

I gave Seth and Leah a quick text, hoping one of them would be available to swing by just until Nessie got home. Seven minutes later Seth texted me back. Luckily he was nearby and would be at the house in about twenty minutes.

The first flight to Washington left Boston's Logan Airport in two hours. I was going to have to hurry to catch it.

Crap!

After only slightly breaking the speed limit I arrived at the airport parking lot. I had already left Nessie a voicemail explaining everything that was going on, but she must have turned her phone off for the meeting.

I'll have to call her when I land in Washington.

* * *

Even before I was able to pull the rental car into Billy's driveway I heard the unmistakable sound of wolves howls.

Once parked I leapt out of the car, and immediately ran toward the sound,. I had a feeling that whatever the reason behind the howls, weather good or bad, my son was involved.

When I saw what all the howling was for I was momentarily immobilized in shock. Two wolves, David and Jared, were fighting. And not play fighting, like I had seen them do sometimes. They were really fighting.

What the hell happened?

Since Jared and I were both Alphas and David was in my Pack I could hear both of them once I phased. Jared was screaming at me, in his mind, to do something about my son. Jared didn't want to hurt him, but what David was doing, or trying to do, was wrong. I completely agreed. What was my son even thinking.

 _DAVID, STOP!_ I screamed at him and he froze dead in his tracks. I hadn't meant to use the double timbre of an Alpha command. I had never done that before, and here I was, using it, for the first time, on my own son. I immediately regretted it, not that I had done it intentionally. I just needed him to stop doing what he was doing. To stop attacking Jared.

 _What did you do to, me? Why can't I move?_ Of course as soon as Dave asked me, he could see in my mind what had happened; how I had taken away his free will. But that just made his desire for what he wanted even stronger.

He wanted his own Pack, Jared's Pack. He wanted to be Alpha.

 _It's my birthright._

 _No, David, Jared is Alpha. He has been a wolf for years. You haven't even been alive for one._

 _But this feels right,_ he snarled. I understood what he was talking about. The desire to fight, to lead, to take control. I first felt it when I originally broke from Sam's Pack, and stepped up as an Alpha myself, for the first time. The desire to fight Sam, to challenge him, had been overwhelming back then.

Eventually I was able to calm down the situation enough that Jared took the rest of the wolves away so I could deal with my son. We phased back and went to Billy's to talk.

"I'm never going to be Alpha, am I dad?" David sadly asked me.

Did he really want that? I never did, so it was hard for me to see anyone else wanting it. It was a lot of responsibility to take on, for one thing.

"Of course you are. What makes you say that?" I questioned.

"And how exactly do you expect that to happen? It's not like you could ever step down. You're never going to stop phasing, so you're always going to be the Alpha of whoever is under you, Leah, Embry, me, and I don't know who else. When is it going to be my turn? I feel like I'm supposed to be Alpha."

He was right. As my son, he should have been next in line to be Alpha, and technically chief of the tribe. But, I left my home to go live with a bunch of Vampires. I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do for me, but it was not the right thing for him. And of course, I was going to continue phasing, so that I wouldn't age, to stay with Nessie, forever; as long as she was alive, that was. Which I hoped would be forever.

"And you won't let me take my rightful spot as Alpha of the La Push Pack," he continued.

"The 'La Push Pack', as you call it is Jared's Pack. He earned the right to be Alpha of that Pack, and from what I have seen, he is a good Alpha. He was second in command, under Sam, and took over when Sam stepped down."

"So. He wasn't born to be an Alpha. I was."

"It doesn't matter. I know those guys. No one will follow you if you try to take it by force anyway. And you know we can't stay in La Push. You know that."

"No, I don't know that. I don't know why we can't. I'm more wolf than vampire. We were here for a month and nothing happened. There aren't any new wolves that phased. I know it was only a short amount of time I was here, but it feels like I'm supposed to be here. Like this is my home. I can feel it in my blood. I don't want to go back to New Hampshire."

It was strange looking at my son. He wasn't even a year old, technically, even though he appeared almost the same age as me, in his early twenties at least. He still had over a year, according to the timetable Nessie and I had worked out, until he stopped aging.

"You're wrong about that. It hasn't happened yet but it looks like Brady's little brother, Scott, had a growth spurt right as we were leaving. He's probably going to phase soon." I think the change had been started in him. I hadn't wanted to admit it to myself at the time, but the signs we unmistakable. I saw that he was nearing 6 feet tall the day before we had left. I had told Jared to keep an eye on him and he had in turn given me updates.

All of the wolves were just waiting for him to phase. It would probably happen in the next month or two.

"And you think that was my doing?"

I knew he didn't see being a wolf as a bad thing, he loved it and would probably prefer if all of the La Push boys changed into wolves.

"No, you're a wolf. Even with venom in your system you probably wouldn't set off the change, but your mother is another matter."

"How do you know it was her? It could have been because of that leech I killed."

"Dave, that vampire was nowhere near the Res. You were so far away when you caught him, and he was most likely just passing through, there was nothing from him to set anything off. Scott never saw or smelled the vampire. He didn't witness anything. It was your mother." I saw that he gave in to the same realization.

"Look I'll make a deal with you. Come back home with me and we'll come back here once a year, to visit. As long as you agree not to try to take over Jared's Pack. It's not right and you know it."

"But I was born to be an Alpha wolf. You know it, I know it, even Jared knows it."

Yikes, this was going to be harder than I thought.

* * *

"So, how did your meeting go?" I asked Nessie.

David and I had just returned from La Push and I hadn't seen my imprint in three days. Three very long days dealing with David, convincing him he couldn't stay in La Push, couldn't be Alpha (at least not yet, who knows what may happen in the future) and couldn't – well he just couldn't.

And it had been three even longer night's without my soulmate. It had been years since we had slept apart, if you don't count the time apart during the whole Joham ordeal. After the stress and turmoil of the past three days I needed some alone time with my angel, and really just wanted to take her in my arms, drag her into our bedroom, and not come out again until . . . one of our kids found us.

"Err, well, we are going to have to find a replacement for our intermediary."

"Why, is something wrong with Jack?"

"Mr. Fisher has a broken wrist." She said a little to robotically for my liking.

"He broke his wrist? That's awful, but I don't see why that would prevent him from doing his job." He just had to keep us up to date on Seth's progress fixing up whatever house he was currently working on, and relaying to Seth any ideas or concerns we had. "He didn't fall on the job site did he? He's not threatening to sue, or something, is he?"

"No, Jake, nothing like that. And I didn't say that Jack Fisher broke his own wrist, I broke it for him."

"What? Why?" I was unsuccessfully trying to stifle the growl that was escaping my throat. Did he try and touch my Nessie? If he did I was going to break a lot more than just his wrist.

"It doesn't matter. We won't have to deal with him again, but we do need to find someone to replace him. Do you think Grandma Esme has any ideas?"

"Hold on Renesmee. What happened? Exactly!?" She was avoiding the subject. That was NOT a good sign.

"I don't want to talk about it. And I told you, it doesn't matter. Don't get all worked up about it, honey."

"What did he do to you?" I seethed. I was trying not to raise my voice, trying not to yell. Whatever happened was apparently traumatic, and I didn't want to upset her anymore but I needed to know what happened. And she wasn't telling me.

"To me? He didn't do anything to me, Jake. I was the one who broke his wrist." Her eyebrows were scrunching up the way they did when she got defensive.

Why was she trying to keep . . . whatever happened, from me? Didn't she know that the more she tried to hide it the worse my imagination got. The worse I assumed the truth of whatever happened was.

"And what was the reason that you felt the need to do that?"

"He was just . . . um, standing too close, and I . . ."

"So you attacked him?"

"No, not at first." A shrug! That was all she gave me to explain herself? Was she kidding me?

"Nessie, I am going to need more. What the hell happened?" Was she having flashbacks of her time with Joham? Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper warned me that something like that might happen. I had just been waiting for the time when she broke down or freaked out. Some sort of post traumatic stress to the events of last year.

"He just . . . I didn't mean to . . . it just hit me all at once." A single tear started running down her cheek. "Nessie, what is it? What are you not telling me? You know you can tell me anything." I smirked trying to put her at ease.

"He just smelled sooooo good. I tried holding my breath, but I'm not a full vampire, I need to breathe, eventually. But I don't know why it even happened. I've met him before, many times and have never been affected by his scent before like I was the other day."

"He smelled good?" Did that mean that was she attracted to him? No that couldn't be it. I knew that Vampires and half-vampires mated for life, she was mine just as much as I was hers. So what was she trying to tell me then? "Did you try to feed on him?"

"Almost," she replied as her eyes darted to the floor, refusing to continue to look into mine.

"So what? To stop yourself you . . . what? Decided to maim him?" None of this was making any sense.

"Jake, I'm sorry." She broke down into sobbing tears. "I know I'm a horrible person. No, I'm not even a person. I'm a monster. David is right. Vampires are evil. We're not good. I almost killed him and I don't even know why. I've been feeding regularly. I don't know what happened."

She seemed so distraught. How had she held things together until now?

"But he's alive." I tried to reassure her. "You didn't bite him, did you?" She wasn't venomous so even if she did he would still be alive, it would make things more complicated though. But she shook her head. "That's good. But you must have done something to stop yourself."

"Don't give me so much credit, Jake. He threw up his arms to stop me from attacking him. I was centimeters from biting his neck when he started screaming out in pain. I hadn't even realized that I broke his wrist until then. His anguished cries were what stopped me, not something I did."

"But you stopped." I think it came out more as a question, but was meant to be a statement.

"Yes, but just barely. And now . . . he thinks . . . well, I don't know exactly what he thinks. But he is terrified. I think at least that he is too scared to do or say anything, though."

"Maybe I should go talk to him, sweetheart. Just to be sure. And, I don't know, pay him off if needed, I guess." That's what Eddie had to do when I broke that jerks, Rob's jaw at school. At least HE had it coming, Fisher was innocent. "Does anyone else know about what happened? Was anyone else there to see?"

"No. we were alone in his office and he swore he wasn't going to say anything. I think, besides being scared of me, he's a little embarrassed he got beat up by a girl.

"I'll call him tomorrow, to set something up. But I think we need to talk about why you went for his blood in the first place."

"I called my dad while you were still in La Push. The family talked and seems to think they might know why it happened. It's not like he was my singer, like my mom was for my dad."

Singer? I remember Edward and Bella briefly mentioning something about that years ago. Wasn't it something like a specific human's blood that was irresistible to a particular vampire?

"I think, well they think, rather, that after two pregnancies, and the massive blood loss I experienced from both, that I need something stronger than animal blood . . . He was just the first unlucky human I happened to be around, without another vampire or wolf scent to dilute his bloods aroma. Just being in his office, with his scent contained in there, amplified, I couldn't help myself."

"But you couldn't stand the smell, or taste of human blood while you were pregnant." That could not be it, could it?

"That was the babies, that didn't want human blood, Jake, not me."

"But we gave you all of the donated blood that Carlisle left at the house, after you gave birth to Felicity. And you had some after David's birth too."

"I know, but my father and grandfather think, well hope that I might just need more. Anyway, they said that they would be back to visit for my birthday, in a week, and my grandfather will be able to get me some more donated blood then. I'll just stay in the house until they arrive."

"Are you sure that will work?"

"Honestly I don't know. I hope so."

"Well in the meantime is there anything I can do to take your mind off of things?" I smirked as I softly caressed her arms. That brought a smile to her face, and started to dry her tears. Gently I grabbed her hand and started leading her to our bedroom, but quickly had to pick up the pace as she started running there ahead of me. I guess she missed me too.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review


	74. The Hunting Party

**Year Eight - Forever After (Part One)**

Chapter 74, The Hunting Party

Chapter 75, The Cullens Return

Chapter 76, Friend or Foe?

Chapter 77, College and French

Chapter 78, Mistakes & The Necklace

Chapter 79, The Box and More Mistakes

Chapter 80, Wolves and Finally Engaged

Chapter 81, Coming Clean

* * *

 **Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Four**

 **The Hunting Party**

Jacob's Point of View

"I can't believe you're making us put up with that stink for a month."

"They're your family and they're coming here to celebrate our birthdays, Dave." Nessie practically had to shout at our son to be heard over his whining.

I could not believe David was having such a negative attitude about this. I thought, after all the work we had done, his attitude toward his vampire relatives had improved.

He and Felicity were still having daily lessons online with everyone, and Jasper was spending extra time with Nessie and I coming up with different approaches we could use to talk him through his _issues_. But I could see that I was wrong. Our efforts had not worked.

"You mean they're coming here to celebrate mom's birthday, and they'll just still be hanging around for mine. They don't actually care about me."

"No! We mean yours AND your mother's. David they love you. You're their grandson and grandnephew and great-grandson. You're family. Of course they love you. How could you not think that?" I replied.

"Just think about all of the time they spend with you online, getting to know you, your hobbies, and interests. Trying to teach you everything they know, to prepare you for life. They want you to know all that they do, they love you and they would spend every single day with you here if you would let them." Nessie added.

"Like I could ever live with a bunch of stinking vampires," he spat.

"David, are you forgetting that I'm one of those _stinking_ vampires, a half _stinking_ vampire. And you and your sisters are a quarter _stinking_ vampire." Nessie said looking rather distraught. I believe she was starting to think we might never get through to him.

Damn-it!

"They are your family," I added, "and you will be respectful."

David just gave us a look like we were crazy for even thinking that.

I sighed. What else could we say that we had not said a thousand times before? "Just try not to openly growl at them. Do you think you could do that for me?"

He huffed. Great.

"No promises, dad. And I'm not responsible for whatever Grampa Eddie pulls out of my head."

"Deal." I responded for the two of us. I guess that was as good as it was going to get, for now anyway.

"And what about you, Felicity?" Had her feelings about them changed, in a negative way, due to her brother's influence?

"Oh, I'm fine. You know I love our Cullen vampire side. I wish they were around more."

Well that was something, I guess. One out of two wasn't bad.

It saddened me to think that I used to feel and think the same way David does, now. I hope that David didn't somehow read all of these hate filled feelings in my mind, when we were phased. But I know I hadn't felt that way about the family in the years. Not since before I had imprinted on my angel.

"I'm going hunting. No way I'm going with those leeches . . . I mean . . . the _family_ around. I'll see you guys later." He voice dripped with sarcasm as he began to storm off.

"Hold on. No going hunting on your own."

"Your father is right, David. No one in this family hunts alone, ever. It's too dangerous. Not even your grandparents or grandaunts and uncles, none of them ever hunt alone either, and they are full vampires." I didn't want to mention to him that it was more to do with making sure none of them lost control and went after a human by mistake. Neither of my children were attracted to human blood, but that information would probably render our argument moot. "It's just too dangerous. That is one area that we are not going to give in on."

"All right fine, but just Felicity and me. The two of us can handle anything we come across."

"I'm not so sure about that, but maybe if your father was in his wolf form at the same time, watching over you two from a distance, then that would be agreeable. What do you say honey?" Nessie asked, turning to look at me. I wish she had spoken with me first. We normally discussed things beforehand and come to somewhat of an agreement. She must have thought it was a long shot, I was even more protective of Felicity than I was of David. I think it was just that Felicity was my baby girl, even if she did look like a teenager. She still had me wrapped around her little finger.

"Pleeeease," my daughter cooed with her hands folded under her chin. Damn-it!

"All right," I sighed. I was actually in a little bit of shock that I agreed so quickly, but I could never say no to her and I could see that this was something David really needed to do. Being kept bottled up, not having as much freedom as he needed was just infuriating him and he was growing more and more agitated all the time. He needed a little bit of leeway and we needed to give it to him.

* * *

The kids hunting on their own was going well . . . so far. I was still worried about them being out by themselves. I know David and Felicity were grown now. David was an adult and Felicity a teenager, at least they looked like they were, but I was still their father and I worried about them.

Felicity had just finished off her deer and David was about to prance on his second when he picked up the smell of a vampire in the vicinity.

Back when the Cullens were still here, we would come across a random vampire or two in the area from time to time. But almost every meeting was cordial. Occasionally they would show some interest in Nessie or myself since we were different, but since vampires weren't attracted to either of our blood, nothing ever happened. And this wasn't the Reservation, so I never tried to stop them from feeding. It wasn't worth starting something between them and my family if they were just going to be moving on. I wasn't some sort of vigilantly hunting down all of the vampires on the planet, or anything.

But Dave had other ideas.

I've warned him, and Felicity, not to go after, or even near unfamiliar vampires on their own, if they came across one, to just run home or wait for backup if it looked like there was going to be trouble. I didn't really need to say anything to Felicity. She had no desire to kill anyone, even vampires. She hadn't inherited the inborn hatred of them her brother did. She had no desire to go after the scent but followed her brother anyway.

David was already running towards whoever was out there. He never listened.

The vampire, whoever she was, ended up being stronger than David had realized and threw him against a tree. I felt the impact and the shattering of his shin bone. Then the vampire turned to Felicity.

I wanted to scream for her to stay away from my daughter, but I wasn't there. I was just seeing this through my son's eyes and as much as he was trying to get up to get to her, he couldn't. Every time he laid pressure on his broken leg, it just collapsed in on itself.

"What are you, little girl?" the vampire seethed to my daughter. "You don't smell human. You smell like something else, almost like us, but not completely."

Oh no - _US_. Were there more vampires in the area?

"Are you one of us or not little girl?"

"I'm . . . part-vampire." Felicity answered her honestly. I could hear the trepidation in her voice though.

Oh no! Shut up, shut up, shut up. This was not going to lead to anything good. On the other hand, if they were talking they weren't fighting, I guess.

"What do you mean, part. You're either a vampire or you're not."

"My grandfather was a vampire."

"Really, well, that's interesting." She didn't seem to believe Felicity.

"Please don't tell the Volturi."

"The Volturi? You know about them?" She at least seemed to believe her now, not that it would make much difference. "Why would I bother going all the way to Italy when you are gonna be dead in 2 minutes?"

"Why? You just said I didn't smell like food."

"Just because I'm not going to drink you dry, doesn't mean I'm not going to kill you, my little dear."

"What? No!" Felicity choked.

This was hard to watch, but that was all I could do until I got there. I was running as fast as I could but was still a good ways away.

"And whose gonna stop me? You?" the vampire laughed.

"I am more than capable of defending myself, and my brother."

"Your brother? I don't see anybody else around here. Just that lame dog," she laughed, while gesturing over to my son, who was still whimpering in pain.

"His name is David, and he is my brother."

"You have one weird family."

David started howling. He was trying to distract her, get her to stop focusing on Felicity. But she didn't take the bait.

"But don't worry, since I'm not hungry, I'll make it quick. Well, I'll make your death quick, but first I'm going to take my time with your pet . . . I mean your _brother_ ," she chuckled.

David began howling again. He was disagreeing with everything she was saying, he knew nothing she said was true. Well one thing was – she wanted to kill my children.

"Really, because it looks like you're hungry to me, you wouldn't have been on your way to find a snack, around here, were you?" Of course she could tell the vamp was hungry, just like Dave had. Her eyes were black. She must have been looking for someone to eat. But Felicity, why are you saying these things? Don't antagonize her, or provoke her, or give her ideas.

"As a matter of fact, you're right. I am rather hungry, even if you don't smell that appetizing you have some very nice veins running through you. I'm not sure exactly what you are, but I have a feeling whatever you are, you'll be a treat, even if not a tasty one."

That did it. David somehow found his footing, hobbling along on 3 legs, he rammed right into the female vampire, but he was off balance and ended up throwing her towards Felicity. Thankfully he managed to dig his teeth into her arm and yank the vamp back for she could lay a hand on my daughter.

Felicity wasn't a wolf, she wasn't as strong as her brother in his wolf form. I know as quarter-vampire, part wolves they both were equal with Nessie in strength and speed. And Nessie had killed Joham on her own but, she had used her gift to distract him first. Felicity couldn't do that and I was terrified of what could happen to my baby girl.

I could see them both through David's eyes, as I continued to race as fast as I could to get to them. But just like the last time, David continued to fight the vampire by himself, although this time he was losing. Why wouldn't that boy listen?

David managed to get in a few swings and bites at the vampire, but she was still in one piece. On his next lung he managed to amputate her left hand before accidentally flinging her right back into Felicity.

Up until now she had kept out of the fight. She was truly the definition of a lover, not a fighter. And now only held out her hands to push the vampire off of her, but as soon as Felicity touched the vamps skin my daughter seemed to recoil in on herself.

Oh crap! Was she okay? Did the vampire hurt her?

No, I think she was only dazed. I saw, through David's eyes, that she quickly got up and actually joined the fight. This was terrifying as their father to watch. I didn't want to see either of my children fighting Vampires. But it looked like now that it was two against one they were starting to do pretty well.

Nessie and I had given both of them fight training. Felicity's was similar to the one Nessie had received - offensive and defensive skills. We never knew what might happen and what kind of training they would need, so we just went for everything.

The fight was still going on when I finally got there. Luckily both of my kids were all right, not including Dave's broken leg, but that would heal. I jumped in and was easily able to finish off the vampire. I don't think either of them had any permanent injuries.

"Felicity are you okay?" David asked his sister, from the bottom of the forest floor where he was sitting, holding his injured leg, after he and I had phased back.

"Now you're worried about her? You should have thought about Felicity before you went after the vampire. David she could have gotten hurt. You both could have. You did, I said gesturing to his leg. "What were you thinking? You know you are not suppose to go after vampires on your own," I was so pissed at him.

"I'm fine, dad. And I can take care of myself. I'm not some fragile doll you know."

"I know that son. I just worry. I don't want either of you going after vampires on your own."

"We weren't alone dad," David snapped back at me. "We had each other. It was two against one. I would have had her in another 20 seconds if you hadn't come when you did."

"Maybe. But you could have also gotten yourselves killed, or hurt worse than you already did," I exclaimed gesturing again to his broken leg. It was going to take a few days to heal and was probably already healing wrong.

Someone was going to have to re-break and reset it. But we would have to deal with that later. We were in the middle of the woods, with no supplies and miles away from the house.

About an hour later, after I had carried David home, and his leg was reset, I turned to my daughter. I was worried about her.

"What happened to you back there? I saw you flinch when your brother flung the vampire at you. Did you get hurt?" I asked throwing an accusing glare at my son. I didn't see anything physically wrong and she had not mentioned getting hurt.

"I'm fine. She didn't injure me. It's just what I saw with my gift when I touched her. It was horrible. She was truly a monster. I've never felt anything like her from any of the Cullens. They're so different, so good, compared to that one." She exclaimed referring to the now burnt pile of vampire ash. "She was Pure Evil. Could you see that? Did you feel anything from her, Dave? All she wanted to do was murder, and drink, and kill. And cause as much pain and destruction as possible. Is that how all normal vampires are, dad? The red-eyed ones?"

"Some," I replied. "I use to believe, like David, that they're all like that. But I've come to realize that that's not true. Not all vampires are bad, just like not all humans are good.

"It's what I've been trying to explain to you, David, your entire life. Most vampires, the red eyed ones, they can't form the bonds, the attachment, the love, that your family has.

"The Cullen's vegetarian diet allows them to be more human in a way. Red eyed vamps are not capable of forming the same bonds or connections. They can't live like a real family, they cannot love the way your family does, as they love you. But not all of them are pure evil either. The ones that came to be witnesses for your mother against the Volturi were . . ." what could I say? They still ate people, but weren't sadistic about it. "Well they aren't all bad." At least I didn't think they were.

"Then again, there are those out there, like the one today that are vicious and enjoy torturing people. Your family would never do those types of things."

"Yeah, I think I'm starting to see that. I guess the Cullens, might actually be different." Dave whispered, as if he said the words too loudly everything he had believed would be called into question. I think it actually was. His eyes were wide and the right one seemed to be twitching. What was he thinking? Could it be? Were we (or this incident) starting to get through to him?

* * *

Sorry I am a week late posting this, but I have been having a terrible time trying to divide this year of the story into chapters. As it is I only posted the first part of the chapter names for you at the beginning. So as you can probably already tell this is the last year and it is a long one, so be warned now. Tons happen though, some good, some bad.

I can't believe so many people are still reading this after 74 chapters. But thank you all so much.

Please let me know what you think so far.


	75. The Cullens Return

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Five**

 **The Cullens Return**

Renesmee's Point of View

A week before my birthday my family arrived, early in the morning. Very early. There flight arrived at 2:15 AM. I know they didn't need sleep, but I know they remembered that Jake and I did. Couldn't they have found a later fight?

Oh, well. At least David and Felicity were still in bed, back home.

"There's my favorite niece," Uncle Emmett shouted as my family came barreling towards Jake and I as we greeted them at the airport gate.

I really had thought my parents would have rushed ahead of everyone to wrap me in a hug first, but my uncle somehow managed to squeeze his giant frame in between everyone and get to me first, picking me up and squeezing all of the air out of my lungs.

Before I could even complain he began whispering into my ear. Now I saw what his reasoning was, not wanting anyone to hear. Why I don't know, obviously my father would have already read his mind. "So your wolf isn't doing it for you anymore? Stepping out on him with some puny hum . . ."

He never got to finish his sentence, Jake ripped me out of his arms and punched him in his ribs so fast that I was sure none of the humans around us had seen.

I knew Uncle Emmett was just teasing, so was Jake, and it's not like either of them got hurt, so I didn't even bother saying anything.

"Well, if we are all done here," my grandfather began, eyeing the two of them, "I believe we need to be going. And if I am not mistaken, this little lady needs some blood." He said patting me on the back. "I've just gotten off the phone with my contact at the hospital and it looks like I will be able to procure all of the blood I believe you will need." He continued too low for any of the surrounding humans to hear. "We can swing by on the way home to pick it up."

Isn't it a little early in the morning for that?

"That's the thing about hospitals, darling. They never close," my father replied, answering my unspoken question.

Thank goodness. I was famished. And animal blood just wasn't doing it for me lately.

Once we arrived home, after making our quick detour to the hospitals blood freezer, I quickly began downing one of the donation bags, while the rest were safely stored in my Aunt and Uncle's frig. I couldn't keep them at my house, David would probably have a fit if he saw. I didn't like hiding things from my children, but I knew how he felt about Vampires feeding off of human blood.

And David would still travel back and forth between our house and the one that my grandparents had let Nahuel and Jennifer resided in, before they left. Everyone was trying their best to limit the Vampire smell for David's sake.

Jake told me about his breakthrough regarding his lessoning hatred towards the family, but their smell still bothered him.

After I was done with my sixth bag, and feeling a bit like a pig, Aunt Alice started jumping up and down, turning into her normal hyperactive, super-party organizer self. I wonder how she had been holding it in until now? Once she started explaining her ideas to me I realized she must have started planning everything weeks before she even got on the plane to come here, because everything was all set to take place, next week, in her former house.

Alice was going overboard as usual. By the size and scope of everything, she was planning, I initially thought it was going to be a duel party with David but Aunt Alice wanted to make David's party special as well. It was his first after all, and it didn't look like he would have more than two. And as to mine she attempted to rationalize it, claiming that since this was my last birthday, she had to make it big.

She was right in one way. This was it. I would never look any older. As it was, I looked to be around 23 years old, the same age as my grandfather, but five to six years older than my parents. At least I did not look older than my Jacob. I had never said anything to anyone, but there was a point, a couple of years ago, that I was worried that I would keep aging and surpass his physical age. But my family was right and this past year I had barely aged a single year, and for the past few months there was _almost_ no noticeable alteration to my appearance.

My hair had grown a sixteenth of an inch, my nails were one thirty-fourth of a centimeter longer, I hadn't grown any taller, but my checks appeared a bit sharper and had lost some chubbiness, not that there had been a lot to begin with at the beginning of the year.

I know Grandma Esme was three years older than my grandfather, not that they, or anyone else cared, but I was happy that I stopped aging while I still looked a couple of years younger than my Jacob.

Living with a family of impossibly beautiful Vampires, I probably could have come out quite shallow, but I had never cared much about physical appearances. My family always mentioned that I was beautiful, but when everyone around you was beautiful, it just equaled average.

Even my Jacob, while not a Vampire was far superior looking to the average human. I don't know if it was his size, muscles, flawless russet skin, beautiful brown eyes, chiseled jaw, rock hard abs, or what, but it all seemed to fit together to create a perfect specimen of handsome manhood. And he was all mine. Okay, maybe I was a little shallow . . . just about him, though. But who wouldn't be. He was gorgeous.

Of course I would like to think that I would love him all the same even if he didn't look so good. His heart and soul, his kind, loving, and caring personality, would more than make up for any physical flaws to his appearance.

This was the one time that I did actually care about my own appearance. I guess I was similar to mother in that way. It was the reason, well one of the reasons, that she refused to celebrate anymore birthdays. Her other being that she hated being the center of attention. She wanted to stay forever 18, only one year older than my father.

I loved having my family all back together. I missed them so much, even though I had just seen them in May.

The week leading up to my party had flown by. I had spent almost all of my time with them. Felicity, too. Felicity would probably have had the same problem if she had ever phased. But since she never did, she seemed to find everyone's scent – both wolves and Vampires, as pleasing as I did. David even tried a couple of times to hang out with the family, but I knew it was hard for him, putting up with their smell and all. And they of course my guests started arriving and he flipped out.

It seems, that Aunt Alice, unbeknownst to me, or I would have warned David, but she had invited almost all of the families Vampire friends, which amounted to most of the witnesses from our encounter with the Volturi, to my party and a few others.

I loved seeing all those who had helped save my life as a baby. I knew seven years seemed like a blink of an eye, but it was my entire life and it felt like I hadn't seen them in forever.

But as all of the guests started to trickle in, David grew more and more agitated.

Sheesh Aunt Alice what were you thinking?

"Nessie, it's your birthday. Your very LAST birthday party. It has to be big," she had tried reasoning with me when I told her that I didn't think this party was going to be a possibility.

"And you think that I would enjoy it if my son attacked the guests? Or they him? Really Aunt Alice, this isn't going to work."

After some arm twisting it was agreed that Jake would take Dave away for the day to do something fun, and not life threatening – just until everyone left. Then we would have a smaller party just for the Cullen family that night.

As my smaller, family party was winding down something must have happened in the other room between Dave and Jasper. I could hear my son shouting, while Uncle Jasper tried unsuccessfully to calm him down, not with his gift, we all knew that wouldn't work, but with words.

What now? The red eyed Vamps were gone. Dave said he had fun with Jake, apparently they had gone to some Comic Con convention in the area. It wasn't really Jake's thing, but Dave had a wonderful time. And I thought things were going to be better now that he knew his family weren't the enemy.

"You have all this power, and what do you do?" David seethed to Uncle Jasper. "Nothing! You could be out there, helping people. Saving lives. But you just sit here and do nothing, day after day, year after year. century after century. What's the point?"

"And what would you have us do? Dress up in spandex and don some masks." My father steadily responded, as we all entered the room they were in. I assumed he was responding to whatever he saw in my son's mind. "This isn't one of your comic books. We are not superheroes." He said while smirking over to my mother.

"I am very well of the fact that you are not heroes," Dave huffed, "but you could be. You could help people. I'm not even suggesting you go and hunt down other Vampires, I know you would never do that," he continued to rant, growing more agitated by the second. "But there are humans out there that are bad too, and even more that need your protection. If you saw someone was in danger and needed help, or saw a criminal, you could easily stop them."

"I'm afraid the risk of exposure is just too great, David. We can't get involved in humans lives like that." My grandfather gently countered.

"Yeah, just like I thought, you _claim_ to be good, yet never actually _do_ any good. Why should I believe anything any of you say?"

"My work as a doctor is the closest any of us come to helping people, that is true. But this is the only way for us to remain safe, hidden. Nothing is more important than keeping our existence a secret. I assume your parents have told you about the Volturi?" he asked, looking over to me.

Internally I cringed at the mere mention of their name, but just gave him a slight nod. David knew my family could not expose ourselves like that. What was he thinking?

"But you could still do something," he tried again. "You're all so fast and strong, and Alice can see what people are going to do, and Grampa Eddie you can hear what humans are thinking. There must be something you could do. This seems like the perfect solution. You want to drink human blood, so drink it, just drink from the bad guys, murderers who already don't deserve to live. You would be doing the world a favor."

Suddenly my father got up and vanished out of the room. I was about to panic, worried that David had pushed him over the edge, but less than five seconds later he returned and was caring some books, which he handed to David. They were his journals, from 1927-1931. The ones where my father went off on his own to hunt humans. Why would he give them to David? Did he want to prove just how much of a monster he could be? No, I pushed that thought out of my mind almost as fast as I had thought of it. But why?

"This is the reason we cannot do as you suggest." My father simply explained. "Why don't you take some time and read them, then come to me if you have any questions and we can discuss things again."

Of course. The journals not only recounted who my father had hunted during those years – rapist and murders, but the uncontrollable bloodlust that he experienced as a result. It was almost impossible for him to stick with just his intended victims. The want, the need for more and more human blood was so great. It had taken everything he had not to attack the innocent humans around him.

It also contained an account of the realization my father had come to, the rationale behind why he went back to my grandparents and their vegetarian diet. Killing humans, whether he deemed them innocents or murders was still wrong, and was what truly made him a monster in his own eyes.

And even if it didn't, my sons desire for my family to feed from the "bad guys" would greatly endanger the lives of the innocent that David was so intent on saving. They were in barely any danger currently from my family, doing what David suggested would greatly decrease that security.

The next day, after Dave had finished reading my father's journals, it had the exact outcome my father had hoped it would. And put a stop to his insane idea of my family "helping" people by feeding from criminals. But he still had not come to terms with the reality of my family's life and choices. He still thought they should become some sort of vigilantly justice group and round up all of the "bad guys" and hand them over to the police. To say that he was _upset_ when they again told him, that it would not be possible, was an understatement.

But it also got my family thinking that maybe endlessly repeating high school was not the best use of their time.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

As much as I had hoped, Leah had never taken a liking to Nessie over the years. So it didn't surprise me too much when she said she couldn't get out of work to come to Nessie's party. She probably never even put in a request for the time off.

Come to think of it, she hadn't been around as much lately. Ever since David and Felicity were born she had been visiting a lot more frequently than she had in the past, but these past few weeks, with the Cullens here, she seems to have disappeared again.

I thought she'd gotten over her prejudice towards them. I wonder if this is where David had gotten it. I tried to phase whenever he was a wolf to monitor and make sure that she hadn't unduly or irrationally influence him negatively, against the Cullens. I never saw anything but wasn't with him 24/7.

Damn-it Leah!

No, that couldn't be it. I would have seen it in one of their minds. I would have known if that was what had happened. But Leah and I never seemed to be phased at the same time anymore. I know she still did phase every now and then, she didn't want to give up her wolf. Now that David was here I guess she no longer felt the need to phase at the same time with me, so that I would have someone to talk to while in wolf form. And I know she likes the quiet of being alone in her own head. I couldn't really blame her for that.

The two birthday parties, (well the two we attended) three really if you counted Bella's tiny one Alice insisted on throwing her, which she all but refused to even acknowledge, but the other two, Nessie's and his small family parties, were a complete success; with the exception of his argument with Jasper and the rest of them _helping_ people, David never attacked anyone, which I guess was the best we could hope for.

His party consisted of the Cullens, his human family and a few wolves. All of them were invited but some had to remain in La Push to protect the Tribe. In the end Billy, Charlie and Sue, Seth and Carol, Leah, Paul and Rachel and their kids, and Jared and Kim came. Alice had sent everyone who needed it first class plane tickets per usual.

And he really liked his presents.

Nessie and I were trying to pass on the family's love of chess to our children so I made him a chess set, just like I had for Nessie years before. But for his, on one side I carved eight wolf figures - all different versions of him throughout his brief life in different stages of development to stand in for the king and queen, and the two bishops, knights and rooks.

Then I turned the Cullens into the pawns. Carlisle and Esme, Bella and Edward, Rose and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper. Not actually their likenesses but just a representation of each of them – Carlisle was represented by an old fashion doctors bag, Alice became a shopping bag, Bella a book, and so on.

While the other side of the board was some of Dave's favorite comic book characters, and then I carved their symbols, or weapons, or pets (depending on the character) for the pawns.

I briefly considered, then thought better of putting the Wolf versions of him on one side and the Cullens on the other. Not wanting to rekindle or add to his issues with them and have him literally fight them on a chessboard I decided not to.

Although, on the other hand, maybe that might be better. Have him work out his some of his problems with them, in a nonviolent way. Maybe I should discuss it with Jasper before he leaves; see what our resident shrink thinks about it.

I'm still working on a set for Felicity, but she still has another 7 months before her first birthday and a lot of growing to do. And so, accordingly, I'm only about 1/3 of the way done with her figurines. She was turning into a beautiful, intelligent, caring young woman just like her mother, of course.

For Nessie's gifts she liked mine and I had taught both of my children how to carve just a few simple things and they went off on their own making some unique little trinkets for their mother, which I think she really appreciated, putting them in a place of honor on our mantle. She said she loved all of her gifts but I think the greatest gift Nessie received that year was being able to see her family again.

Well that and the blood Carlisle had provided for her. She had chugged all that he had obtained the first time in just two days and he had had to go for more, twice. But Nessie assured us she didn't need any more, as evident by the seven un-drunk bags still in the freezer.

* * *

" _Scott's shot up another two inches but his temperature is still normal –for now."_

"All right, thanks for letting me know, Jared. Sorry but I've gotta go, talk to you later," I said ending our phone call, as Carlisle entered the kitchen.

"Is everything alright?"

"Possible new wolf," I shrugged.

"This occurred in response to the month Renesmee spent . . ."

"Yup." What else need I say? If Brady's little brother phased, or not, nothing we said here today would change things.

"I see," was all he replied probably sensing that I didn't want to go into it with him right now. Instead he just handed me a large folder.

Opening it didn't help me understand what was going on. It was filled with charts and everything written was in medical jargon that I could not make heads or tails of.

"They are the results of the genetic tests you asked me to run," he replied seeing the confusion on my face.

Cool, there were a few things I was curious about. Both of my kids must have wanted to know as well, because neither had a problem with letting the Doc take a sample of their blood – almost. David actually had Nessie draw his, while her father talked her through what to do. but then he handed it over to the Doc. I half expected him to stay and wait and see if the Doc was going to drink it, but he surprised me by just turning and leaving. He never said thank you or anything like that, but progress was progress, in the way David felt about the Cullens, so I took it as a minor win, for now anyway.

"It turns out that your wolf linage is actually the result of a combination of more than one gene. The one that allows you to phase into a wolf is an entirely different gene than the one that regulates your accelerated growth rate. That one is also responsible for your human enhancements – advanced strength, hearing, sense of smell and eyesight, as well as the heightened body temperature, sped up metabolism and speed, maneuverability, and coordination as well as your accelerated healing abilities.

"When you are a wolf the two sets of genes seem to work in tandem and combine to further enhance all of those abilities in addition to those that are solely connected to the wolf part of you, the razor sharp teeth, even more excessive speed, strength and other senses and of course your wolf telepathy.

"This explains why Felicity is able to have the same accelerated growth, healing and strength as David without the need to transform into a wolf. Of course that part of her genes most likely would have normally remained dormant, ready to be passed on to any future sons, had it not been for the addition of what she inherited from Nessie's Vampire side."

"And what about Felicity's life span, Doc? Is she going to be immortal, like the rest of us, or will she continue to age until she grows old and dies or . . . just suddenly cease living altogether one day?" I managed to choke out. Was there some end date to her eternal clock, where once all of the ticks run out, she just drops dead on the spot? As morbid as it was to think about I wanted to know. So did she.

"I'm afraid that is something that only time can tell. But for now I can assure you that she is perfectly healthy. I am sorry there isn't enough time to go over everything with you in greater detail, right now, but our flight back to France, leaves soon and we need to leave now if we are going to make it, even at the speed Edward drives," he chuckled. "I am sorry it took me so long to get you these results. I only finished them this morning and wanted to briefly go over everything with you before we leave. If you still have any questions feel free to call or video chat about it with me, or Edward, anytime."

"Sure, sure Doc. Thanks for doing this for me."

"It's no problem, they are my family too you know."

Yeah, I did.


	76. Friend or Foe?

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Six**

 **Friend or Foe?**

Renesmee's Point of View

Felicity was currently having a Calculus lesson with Aunt Rosalie via Skype and Jake had taken David out to patrol. Not that there was really a Vampire problem around here, he just wanted to show David what to do, just in case. I think David's broken leg, that I was able to reset, while my grandfather talked me through the process via Skype, scared Jake enough to amp up the kid's training. He even suggested he and I resume weekly fight training, "just to keep things fresh", as he put it.

So for the moment I was left all by myself and was feeling a little lonely. Reading my father's journals always made me feel better, I wished my mother had gotten into the habit, but sadly she only ready books, technically the same few books over and over, she didn't write them, if you could even call a diary a book. Sometimes I couldn't believe how boring my father's life was before he met my mom. But at least reading his journals gave me something to do now that the rest of my family was gone again.

As I picked up the next journal and flipped to where I had left off I was pleasantly surprised to see a reference to the Quileute Tribe. They were only briefly mentioned when my father, grandparents, Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett moved to Washington for the first time. Along with the treaty that my grandfather had brokered with Jacobs grandfather, Ephraim Black. Apparently my family had not stayed long in the area after learning of the existence of the wolves. Just a few years instead of the 6 or 7 they had planned.

Eventually things settle down back into a routine, for my father, until the Second World War broke out and the family had to pretty much go into hiding. Since almost every able bodied male in the entire United States was off fighting, it would look a little odd to have three perfectly capable young men not involved in the war effort somehow.

My grandfather wanted to help out at a field hospital somewhere, but couldn't stand the thought of being away from Grandma Esme that long. So they all went up to Denali to hide out and live with our cousins, for a while.

Yikes! I don't think I should be reading all of this stuff about Tanya. I didn't realize her and my father had such an _interesting_ history with each other. I wonder if my mother knows about this?

At least when the war ended, the family was free to move to Chicago. It brought some relief and stability until the arrival of Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. It was funny reading how my father had returned home from hunting one day to find all of his belongings in the garage, but it made perfect sense. Seeing that Aunt Alice wanted the biggest room, _his_ , because she needed the space for her massive wardrobe, even back then.

At least my father seemed to prefer the more prudish fashion choices that returned in the '50's, though skirt lengths were much shorter. It should be interesting to read what he thought back then when I get to the miniskirts of the '60's.

I went to grab the next journal when my phone rang.

"Hello."

"Nessie? Hi, its Jennifer."

* * *

"Morning mom," David called as he walked into the kitchen and plopped himself down at the table. I was making everyone breakfast, including his favorite blueberry pancakes, this morning. It was a special day and I wanted everything to be perfect.

"You're up early. I thought after last night you would have slept in later. Have a seat, breakfast is almost ready."

I know David was going to be incredibly excited, I hadn't told anyone yet. But he got along so well with Nahuel, the last time they saw each other, I know he would be happy he was coming back.

Felicity had not met him yet, but I told her all about Nahuel and Jennifer. I was sure they were going to be great friends.

The only one I was actually worried about was Jacob. I know there wasn't any competition between the two of them anymore, but wasn't sure what Nahuel's arrival back here was going to mean. Especially since his sister had chosen to stay in South America.

Jennifer told me, when she called the other day, that Nahuel would be arriving today and how she had decided to stay with Huilen and her mate. She said she missed her home, too much, but promised that we would meet again, someday.

I was worried about the reason why Nahuel was back. He had said in his note, when he first left, that he wanted to reconnect with his family. That's why he took Jennifer to Brazil to meet Huilen. Why would he now return alone, leaving his only family behind to stay with us? Why?

I'm sure there was a logical reason behind it. I just didn't know what it was. But I had a feeling Jake was not going to be happy about it, because the only reason that was jumping to my mind - me, was definitely going to lead to a fight between the two of them.

I'll have to talk to Nahuel right away when he gets here and see the real reason why he returned. And if it was the one I feared I would immediately have to put a stop to it. Again.

But that could wait until he arrived. Right now I needed to concentrate on breakfast.

Let's see - pancakes, syrup, bacon, scramble eggs, a bowl of strawberries, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Was I missing anything? No, I don't think so. I believe I made everyone's favorites for breakfast foods.

It was part a welcome home for Nahuel, part a celebration for my kids for their friends return (well future friend in Felicity's case, I hoped), and partially, well mostly, a buttering up of my soulmate.

This was going to be a long morning, I sighed to myself.

Thankfully, Jennifer had called early enough yesterday to let me know that Nahuel was coming, and I was able to suggest a late hunting trip to Jake and the kids, which they eagerly agreed to. Just like I had hoped they tired themselves out, combined with a few other tricks I had up my sleeve, reserved for my Jacob after the kids went to bed last night, that I think he will be able to sleep in fairly late this morning. This way I'll get a chance to talk to Nahuel in private and suss out his intentions.

Where was he? For 20 minutes now I have been listening for the cab that Nahuel would be arriving in. His flight was supposed to have landed at Logan Airport two and a half hours ago, so factoring in going through customs and traffic leaving Boston meant he should be arriving any minute now.

Come on, come on come on. If he didn't get here soon Jake would be up and I wouldn't get my chance beforehand.

A few minutes later, he arrived just slightly behind schedule. I would have to work fast.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Mmmm, something smelled delicious. Nessie must be cooking breakfast. I was about to head into the kitchen when I remembered I needed clothes. We had kids now, after all.

I swear Nessie thought it must have been her lot in life to wear me out last night. I was so tired. Not that I was complaining. I enjoyed last night's activities. But how late did I even sleep? Normally I don't get tired from physical activities, only mental exhaustion, but whatever had gotten into Nessie last night, it was amazing.

As I entered the kitchen, I saw everyone already sitting at the table. I guess I was the last one up. David was already chomping away at a plate piled high with pancakes. And Nessie and Felicity were huddled together in some sort of close conversation at the table. Wait, no that wasn't Felicity behind Nessie. It was Nahuel.

I hadn't realized he was coming back. His note said he would, but part of me didn't actually believe him.

"Oh good morning, sweetheart," Nessie said, jumping up from the table.

"Hello darling," I replied placing a kiss on her forehead. "Nahuel, you're back. Where's your sister? Is she gonna be coming over soon for breakfast?" Nessie must have invited both of them over.

"No, I'm afraid Jennifer has decided to stay with my Aunt Huilen, in Brazil. She says she misses home, too much."

"So you decided to come back here? Alone?" That didn't make much sense. Why would he come back alone?

Damn-it! Of course.

"You don't seriously still think you still have a chance with her, do you?" He couldn't still be after my Nessie, not after all this time, could he? We have two children together, for crying-out-loud.

Nessie locked me in her arms, it was more of a hug than a restraint, but I knew she could hold on tighter if needed but first she immediately tried to calm me down. She knew me so well, even with her help I was struggling to gain control and not phase in the middle of the kitchen.

"Relax, honey. It's not what you think." Nessie whispered in my ear. " _It's what I thought at first, too. But that's what we were just talking about. Nahuel knows that we're together, that we're in love, that he can never separate us. You know that, I know that, he knows that._ " She added with her gift, I guess not wanting David to hear.

"Good morning, everyone." Felicity called as she came waltzing into the kitchen, breaking some of the tension in the air. "Oh, hello." She smiled seeing Nahuel for the first time.

"Ah, good morning, little darling. My you are growing up to be just as beautiful as your mother," he replied back to her, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "You must be Felicity. Your mother has told me all about you. I'm a friend of your parents, I will be seeing you around, I suspect. I live in the house right next door." Then he turned and looked at my still seething form and decided wisely that it was time for him to leave.

"What's going on guys? Why were you mad at that guy, dad?" Felicity asked us, after Nahuel left and she made her way over to the table, calmly grabbing a plate full of food for herself.

"That's Nahuel." David somehow managed to answer even with a mouth full of food. "Mom and him use to have a thing. Dad doesn't want us to know but he's a little jealous," he said stretching his hands out as far as they could go, "and worried that he's come back to steal her away," he chuckled.

Of course David had had seen everything, that had gone on between the three of us, in my mind, at some point, when we were phased.

"That's not why he's here." Nessie repeated louder, this time for everyone to hear. "We're just friends now, so I don't want to hear any more on the subject."

I wished I could believe my Nessie. I'm sure she believed her own words, it's not like she would lie to me, but sometimes she was just so gullible when it came to Nahuel. But then as the real truth dawned on me, the realization was even worse, or at least equal in its horribleness.

No. It can't be her that he wants. He just met her. There's no way. I'm just overreacting. Calm down, calm down. I kept telling myself. No! Not Felicity, not my daughter.

But that kiss on her hand, was it more than just a friendly greeting? I didn't think anything of it at first, I was too obsessed, not with jealousy, like Dave had accused (I was the one who got Nessie, I had nothing to be jealous about) but annoyed with his impertinence, to think anything else. But now . . . if that kiss meant something more . . . I was going to rip those lips right off of his face. That was my daughter. There was no way he was touching her.

"No," I seethed through clenched teeth, "he can't have her."

Nessie grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room and outside the house while I started picturing that day in the woods when Nessie appeared around 15 years old. Nahuel was telling her how he thought she was old enough to become his mate. Aurg Felicity was also now 15, or 5 months old, depending on how you looked at it.

"Her?" Nessie questioned me now that we were outside and away from our children and all of the breakable stuff in the house. She must have seen that she was no longer able to effectively calm me down and was worried I would phase in the middle of the kitchen. I couldn't argue that she was wrong. I might still burst into my wolf form any minute now.

"Her who?" she asked again when I didn't answer right away.

"Felicity." Wasn't it obvious. "Did you see the way he kissed her?"

"Oh please, Jake. It was just her hand, he was just being friendly. Besides I know for a fact it isn't her that he is interested in. It's true that he is here because he is in love. But not with her. They just met after all. He came back for someone else entirely."

Someone else? "Who?"

"I don't know, he didn't say, but I think it's safe to assume that our daughter is safe from the scary, evil, Nahuel." She sarcastically admonished me.

"And you believe him?"

"Yes I do. You should have seen the look in his eyes when he was talking about her. He seems to be infatuated. Apparently they had been together before he left and couldn't wait any longer to get back to her."

"But he never mentioned who she was?" That's strange. Could it be true? I hadn't realized he knew anyone else in the area. But he had lived on his own for a number of months. I guess he could have met someone back then. But why had he not ever mentioned her before? Or brought her around to meet everyone? "Is she a Vampire? Is that why he never introduced us to her?"

"Honey, I don't know. But for some reason he wants to keep her identity a secret, for now. He said he was afraid to lose her."

* * *

Hmmm - who could this mystery woman be?

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	77. College and French

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Seven**

 **College and French**

Renesmee's Point of View

My parents had made all the necessary arrangements, for Jake and me to take off last year from Dartmouth, and this year as well, if needed, but it looked like we were just going to be able to resume our studies, only a few weeks late, it was only the eighth of October after all. And money, charm, and our families connections always seemed to smooth over any impediments we encountered. We had already gotten in touch with the school and made the arrangements to return to our classes on Monday.

With David and Felicity at home, we didn't want to be away from them too much, so this year, our senior year, we were going to be taking as many online classes as possible. We had worked it out so that we only needed to actually go to the school two days a week, for three of our classes.

For their own safety David and Felicity would need to stay at home the entire time we were gone. No going out. No hunting. No answering the door. We lived far enough away from most people that someone randomly walking up to the front door was unlikely, but you never know.

"I talked to Seth and Leah, yesterday. They agreed to watch Felicity and David during the times Nahuel is unavailable, while we're at school," Jake quietly informed me, as we sat in the movie room, with our kids, watching some cheesy Hallmark flick Felicity had picked out. Damn he smelled good.

"That's great, I was worried . . ."

"What? You think I need a babysitter?" David sneered. He had overheard our discussion and clearly wasn't too happy.

I knew he thought we were always treating him like a child, but how could we not? He was only a year old. I mean I was only seven, comparatively, but it was more than him, I guess, and Jake was over three times as old as I was, with much more life experience.

On the other hand Dave looked like he was in his early twenties, so I could see where he would think that way, but he had only lived for just over one short year. His life experiences were practically nonexistent. But what could we do. He grew so fast. Faster than I ever did, so apart from hunting and the occasional trip to the store we kept him and Felicity at home. The only contact he had with other people was when my or Jake's family came to visit, or the trip to La Push when I gave birth to Felicity.

"I'm an adult and would appreciate it if you started treating me accordingly. I don't need a babysitter, I don't need to be cooped up here. I am more than capable of leaving the house to go to the store, or school, or even hunt on my own."

Jake and I disagreed with his, and attempted to calmly state our reasons why. But David seemed to think that he wasn't expressing himself as well as he could and decided instead of continue to argue – which was getting him nowhere, to sit us down in front of the television, once the movie was over, to watch some old television show that he liked and seem to relate to.

I didn't know where this was going and had never watched one with him before. I didn't really understand it or what he thought he was going to get out of showing us some old show, but we agreed to watch the entire thing with him, well at least an episode or two.

It was one of those starship treckie shows from the '90s, the one with the female captain on it. There was this character who was an alien and her species only lived for something like 6 or 7 years, so their entire lifespan was compressed. Now at least I could understand how he related to the show.

The female character grew to adulthood in only a single year, pretty much exactly like him, the only difference was she continued to age and David would stop soon (I hoped, it was still just a theory). But within that year she went from being a baby, to a child, to a teen and finally to an adult and everyone treated her accordingly.

David felt like we should do the same with him. That if he appeared to be an adult, and acted like an adult, he should be treated as such. He, and his sister were as smart as any adult one would meet on the street, having an eidetic memory, just like mine. They remembered everything they saw, heard, and read, and understood it all as well.

I could understand what he was talking about, about wanting to be treated as an adult. I had felt the same way when I was younger, my mind developed so much faster than my body, I had the mental equivalency of an adult by the time I was a single year old as well, though I only looked like a six year old at the time.

Jake didn't feel so certain. I know that he thought that David was too rash, too impulsive, too reckless. He somehow manage to find the one lone stray Vampire in the woods around La Push and ran after it without waiting for backup. And then did the same thing here. He seemed to want to try to destroy as many as he could find, he was drawn to it, and the danger that it entailed.

Personally, I was a little more upset that he was killing our kind, didn't he realize that he was part Vampire too? I know he did somewhere deep down inside, but it didn't seem to matter to him. According to David's way of thinking - all Vampires were murderers and all murderers needed to be destroyed. Well except for his family, he was finally softening to them. But the others, the red eyed ones he still saw as monsters and killers that needed to be stopped.

But then what did that make him? Didn't that make him a murderer as well?

No! I refused to think of my son like that. David was good, just misguided. He wouldn't listen to us when we told him, asked him, begged him, pleaded with him to stop.

"David we realize you think you're an adult. We understand that, truly we do. It's just that when you do things that we know are dangerous it causes us to worry." Jake tried once again to explain.

"How am I ever going to prove to you that I'm adult if you never let me show you?"

"Alright, alright. If you want to be treated more as an adult I guess we can work on that. If you want to go to college with us this year I think we can work something out." I told him after a quick whispered side chat with Jake.

Actually getting David into school was not going to be that easy though. He would not be able to officially enroll at Dartmouth yet, having never applied, but we began looking into seeing if he could audit a few classes.

The other option we thought about was having him go to the same college as Leah. Even if he felt he was ready, we didn't want him to be completely on his own. And he got along with her well enough that I knew she would be able to look after him. Of course, we also needed to get him some high school transcripts if he wanted to officially enroll next semester. It looks like I was going to have to make another trip back to Mr. Jenks.

"Awesome . . ." David began, before Jake cut him off.

"Now David, you can come to school with us but we are not going to be backing down on the hunting issue. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, needs to hunt with one other person, at the very least."

"Fine," Dave gave in, a bit pissed but I knew he realized we would not back down on that issue.

Jake looked like he was going to say something else to our son but then paused and looked over at me. "What you think" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and a smirk. "It was going to be a Christmas present for both of them, but I guess we could do it separately, and give him his early." Instantly I realized what he was talking about and nodded before quickly running to my bedroom and back.

"I believe this is yours," I told my son, while placing the license we had obtained months ago, into his hand.

"A driver's license?" David face lit up, just for a second before a doubtful look took over. "What does this mean?"

"What do you think it means David. It means that you don't have to stay cooped up in the house anymore, as long as you're responsible of course.

"Really that's awesome."

"Well, your aging has slowed down enough so that you can go out in public more often now without everyone noticing how much you age from one day to the next," I explained.

"Hold on there, this doesn't mean you get to go run off, whenever and wherever you feel like it. You're going to use this to go to school and back first. And we'll see how you do. That and the occasional trip into town for a grocery or book run. We're not exactly ready to let you go gallivanting around, all over the state yet."

"But you will be, soon. Right?" he questioned us.

"Let's see how you do first," I reiterated to him.

"Wait. What am I going to drive?"

Really? My family left all of their cars here, when they moved to France. "Dave, the car is full of cars, just pick one."

"But the smell . . ." he began, before I gave him a look that told him that he would just have to deal, he was not getting anything else.

"Do you want to go to college too," I then hesitantly I asked our daughter. She didn't look old enough yet, and was still growing so fast, but I see now where we had gone wrong with David. I think we have been to strict, too confining. Our children needed room to grow. Maybe after the winter break, then she will look old enough to join us.

"Oh, that's okay," she hedged. "Right now I'm fine at home. I can continue my studies online with the family."

"What about taking some online classes with us?"

"Oh, that could be fun." She eagerly replied. "If there is time," she amended. Felicity was right. She was already pretty busy with all of the online work my family gave her. But I'm sure we could work something out, decrease her family studies just a bit.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"Nessie, avez-vous commencé vos Francais devoirs, encore?" _("_ _Nessie, have you started your French homework, yet?")_ I called to her in the living room. I needed to start my French assignment soon if I was going to finish it before dinner, like I hoped. "Je pense que je vais avoir besoin de ton aide." _("I think I am going to need your help.")_

"Um . . . okay. I'll be right there," she replied, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice. She probably already finished hers and was just humoring me. But I still could use her help. A second later she was in the bedroom with me.

"Are you sure you are going to need my help, Jake? You seem to be doing fine with French."

"Ouais c'est vrai. Je peux même pas mettre deux mots un à la suite de l'autre." _("Yeah right. I can barely put two words together.")_

"Jake, you do realize that you are currently speaking French, don't you?"

I am? "No, I'm not."

"Well, no not anymore, but you were. Here," she said as she handed me the French book, "why don't you try doing the homework assignment on your own and then I'll look it over and tell you how you did."

"Nessie, it's not nice to tease."

"Like you would ever know if I was teasing you Jacob", she said to me with a wink and then a sigh.

Huh? Well I hope she gets a good laugh after she reads over my translations. Of course it will be time to go to sleep by then and she will probably be too tired to laugh.

As I worked on my French homework time seemed to fly by. It looked like I was in luck though. The assignment was easier than I thought. The professor must be going easy on us this week.

"Alright Nessie, I'm done. Do you want to look at it or should we eat dinner first?"

"Um, Jake, that only took you twenty minutes, it's only a little after three in the afternoon. I think it's a bit early to eat," she said while she looked over my translation on the laptop.

Oh, no. Why did it look like she was about to turn it in? "Nessie don't. I want a chance to fix the mistakes before submitting it."

"Relax, it doesn't need to be fixed. Everything was correct."

"That's impossible." I know French seemed a bit . . . _easy_ wasn't the right word, _less hard_ , for me to pick up, compared to Spanish, and I had actually been doing pretty well in it, so far this year, but it had never come easily to me.

"No look," she said pulling up her assignment, on the screen, next to mine. They looked nearly identical.

"Weird! I wonder how I am suddenly understanding French so easily?" Of course I was not only speaking it but reading and writing it as well.

"Well it is the forth language you are learning. Aren't people supposed to pick up other languages more easily, the more they learn?"

"Yeah but I'm only fluent in English and Quileute. Spanish is still a struggle."

"Okay but it's the third year you've been taking it at Dartmouth, and we go over it every night, and you did hear me and my father speak it years ago when he was teaching me. And your hear Dave and Felicity when they have their lessons as well. I am sure a lot sunk in without you even realizing it." I guess she had a point. "Also, it is not that different than Spanish, and you took that for what? Five years? Come on Jake give yourself a break, maybe something just clicked in your brain. You are really good at this. Lighten up," she said while playfully jabbing me in the arm.

"Sure, sure." But it still seemed a little strange, but who am I to complain.

* * *

Okay, so it's been years since i took French in school, so if anyone see's any mistakes in my translation please let me know so i can correct it. Thanks.

And thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think.


	78. Mistakes and The Necklace

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Eight**

 **Mistakes and The Necklace**

Jacob's Point of View

After easily finishing my homework (it was still weird how easy school, not just French, it turned out, seemed for me this year) I settled into the living room couch, with my laptop, scanning through the applications I received, for a new intermediary, to replace Jack Fisher.

Seriously, why did this process have to take so long? And why was this so hard? Okay, it wasn't actually _hard_ , exactly. More like boring. So, so very boring.

I wish Esme were here, she could find the perfect person for us in no time at all. She probably had five or six people she already knew who would be perfect. I thought about giving her a call but quickly changed my mind. I had relied too much on her, and the rest of the Cullens, to do everything for me - arranging birthday parties for Nessie and my kids, buying us all clothes, and making the arrangements for deferring and now restarting school, just to name a few. I was an adult and needed to start acting like it.

All I needed to do was find someone who was trustworthy. Someone that could just communicate to Seth what we needed to have done on a house and then have them relay, to me and Nessie, anything that Seth told them - without blowing our secret involvement. Of course I couldn't say any of that in the ad, which I guess I should have realized would lead to some confusion as to exactly what the job was. But I didn't want to risk having Seth find out we were behind his employment.

The wording of the ad I placed, the first go around, had seemed simple enough, if not a little vague:

Liaison Needed 

Independent. Flexible. Discreet.

Available at least 4+ days a month.

One on one personal attention required.

Complete confidentiality a must.

Exact details & requirements of job

& schedule may change as needed.

Some travel required.

Send letter of interest to email address provided.

Only professionals need apply.

And then I listed an email address that Nessie and I had created for any replies; just another precaution to keep our identities hidden from Seth.

I didn't realize it until it was too late, but the first round of responses were not at all what I was looking for. I found that out the hard way, when I went to conduct the first interview. I guess my ad could have been taken the wrong way, by the wrong people.

The first candidate, a Ms. Crystal Price, seemed especially good, on paper at least, and I asked her come for an interview. I had chosen the now empty house that Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper used to live in, to conduct these interviews, thinking that I would have some privacy. I didn't need the interviewees accidentally seeing any supernatural occurrences, at either of the other houses.

After greeting Ms. Price at the door I showed her into the living room and asked her to take a seat, across from me, at the chair I had placed, in front of the couch I settled into.

She was dressed professionally, in a charcoal grey suit. I think I had commented to myself that her skirt was a little shorter than would generally seem appropriate for a job interview, but I wasn't the one wearing it, so who was I to judge. It's not like I was going to say anything to her either.

But then she took the jacket off revealing a very low-cut shirt. I probably would not have even noticed but Nessie had a similar one when she was younger. She stopped wearing it as she had . . . err . . . developed, Bella deemed it no longer _appropriate_.

I should have known right then that I was in trouble. However I didn't really care what she looked like, as long as she could do the job. I just wanting to get the interview over with, see if she would work out, and move on. But it turned out that my expectations for that day, and the job ,were extremely different than hers.

Before I even knew what was happening she was out of her chair and straddling me on the couch, while attempting to take off her shirt.

"I . . . um, I'm sorry, err . . . Miss," I had stammered, once I finally got out of the shock I was in, "I think . . . I think you've got the wrong idea about things," I continued as I grabbed her arms to prevent her from taking off any more clothing than she already had.

Apparently, as I came to realize, much too late, she was some sort of professional escort, or at least a professional . . . something.

Anyway I guess I should have known really, after looking over her emailed reply to my advertisement. But she was so nice and friendly on the phone, and I thought she might have been qualified for what we needed, if I read her email innocently, like I had. But I guess things could have been taken a completely different way by someone who was offering _that_ kind of a service.

I was still trying to get her off of me when, I heard the front door open and close. I wasn't sure if I was more grateful or agitated by whoever was here. Not that I wanted to get caught in a compromising position but I would be glad for a way to extricate myself from the current events.

And it's not like my family would get mad or anything. That was the good thing about imprinting – it removed all doubt – I hoped, at least. At most this would just be embarrassing for all involved, I was sure. But who was it that walked in? Nessie or one of our kids?

Whoever it was, they sure were taking their time making their way into the living room.

After three agonizing minutes, of my fruitless attempts to talk my interviewee off of me, who else but Nahuel appeared in the doorway. Great that's all I needed. Damn-it!

I'm pretty sure the shock on his face seeing me with my arms on another woman was similar to the shock I felt myself, for having them there.

"Look darling," Ms. Price cooed, eyeing Nahuel, "if this is going to be a threesome then this little arrangement of ours is going to cost a lot more."

Eww! "Um . . . no that won't be . . ." Yikes! My voice trailed off mid sentence. I can't even . . . how am I even having this conversation?

"What's all this?" Nahuel has the audacity to smirk. Apparently I wasn't going to be getting any help from him. And now I realized that he might be bringing even more trouble for me.

"Nahuel, what . . ." I didn't even know what to say. How was I suppose to explain myself and this ridiculous, absurd, situation to him? "What are you doing here?" I asked, not being able to think of anything else.

Before he even got a chance to speak again Ms. Price started pawing at me and tried to shove her tongue down my throat. Not having any of that, I gently, as to not hurt her, but firm enough that she could not break free, grabbed her waist, lifting her up, off of my lap, before throwing her jacket back at her.

"I'm sorry Ms. Price, I think you've gotten the wrong idea and you need to leave now."

"So I guess you and Nessie aren't as tight as I thought you were." Nahuel sneered.

Oh, good grief!

"Does Nessie know you're doing this?" Nahuel wiggled his finger between the two of us.

"No . . . I'm not . . . it's nothing like that." Did he really think that? He knew I imprinted. He knew what that meant. "You are completely misreading the situation. This was just suppose to be an interview."

He knew I was conducting interviews to replace Fisher, right? I know he had been told the story of what had happened between him and Nessie and I really didn't feel like going into everything at this time.

"An interview? Is that what you call it? Ha! Yeah, sure that's exactly what it looked like to me." He smirked before turning and leaving me alone, well almost. I still had to get rid of Ms. Price.

It ended up costing me $400, but it was well worth it just to get her to leave. Once she was finally gone I ran straight home. If I thought for a minute she wouldn't follow I would not have even bothered paying her.

Who knows what Nahuel was telling Nessie and I did not need to give him any more ammo. Nahuel had an eight minute head start and had already told Nessie everything he saw.

"Nahuel would you mind giving us some privacy?" Nessie had snapped as I entered the house.

Crap!

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I could help you hold Jacob down while you kick him a few times, at least," the jerk chuckled.

"I don't think that will be necessary. I can handle this," Nessie had replied to him, before she rather quickly swept him out the door.

Seriously? She believed Nahuel?

"Nessie . . . Renesmee, please you have to believe me, nothing happened. I didn't . . ."

"Jake. Stop."

"I swear. I was just . . ."

"JACOB!" She shushed me, cutting off my attempt to explain, for a second time. Her next words held no emotion. They came out sharp and quick. Crap! "Just show me the ad you placed."

Wordlessly I retrieved my laptop and showed her. Once she read it, she did the exact opposite of what I assumed.

I expected her to see that I was innocent in all of this and forgive me. I was hoping she would realize that Nahuel had been wrong and led her to the wrong conclusions. I believed that she would see that I loved her and only her, and would never want to be with anyone else.

Nahuel had clearly told her the _truth_ in what he saw, and it wasn't like I could deny it didn't happen. Worst case scenario I had imagined that I would to have to grovel a bit. I had after all been caught with a half naked woman on top of me.

But none of that was what happened. I was not expecting her response. Her laughter completely took me by surprise.

"You're . . . you're not mad?"

"Jake, of course not. I'm your imprint. I know the bond we share, how you feel about me. You're mine, just as much as I'm yours; your one and only, yours." She replied as she began kissing me.

Thank goodness.

Wait, something was still bothering me. "Then why did you snap when I got here? Before I could explain . . ."

"Oh. My Jacob, I wasn't angry at you. I was irritated at Nahuel, thinking that you would do something like that. He knows, just as I do, how much you and I love each other. And even if you had never imprinted on me, I don't think you're the type to cheat. And with a hooker no less . . . please," she snickered.

"Why would I want that when I already have perfection."

"Perfection, yeah right."

"Yes, you are definitely perfection, sweetheart. Just as much as we are perfect for each other. Imprinting or not. Don't you remember when you were little, when I took you to First Beach. Embry even mentioned it way back then. He said something to you like ' _Wow, you really are perfect for Jake. You think with your stomach too_ ,'" I laughed.

"Yeah, Jake I do remember him saying that. But he wasn't actually correct . . . wait . . . I remember him saying _exactly_ that," she said giving me a strange look.

"What?" I don't think I was remembering things wrong. She just said I remembered it right. Exactly, right actually. That was a little strange. It had been six years ago and I remember everything about that day, word for word, the sights, the smells, the tastes, what she was wearing, what I was wearing, actually every single detail. Oh, that was strange.

"Jake, you just remembered something from six years ago perfectly," she replied, echoing my thoughts.

"Yeah, I know. That's strange, I guess it was a really special memory to me and got burned into my brain or something." But it wasn't really, it was just some random thing had happened one day. I hadn't even thought about it since then. Weird.

"Okay, I give in, I guess we really are perfect for each other," she had chuckled. "Now hand me the laptop so I can rewrite that ad, Jake."

That was a fine mess I had gotten myself into that day. And I never did find out exactly why Nahuel even came over to that house anyway.

Which takes me back to what I was doing now - sifting through my inbox of insanely boring, but probably more appropriate, legitimate resumés.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

How had things gotten so bad? It was never like this before, not with my Aunt Alice here. I never before really understood or appreciated exactly how much she had done for me. And it took her being gone, for a year, for me to fully realize it.

My closet was a disaster!

We were already an hour into cleaning and it still looked like a mess. David and Felicity had graciously agreed to help me, but now I think that they wished they hadn't. It didn't look like we would be done anytime soon. So far we had only sorted all of my clothes into styles. There was the dresses – sundresses, short sleeve casual, long sleeve casual, fancy, and ball gown (when would I ever even need those Aunt Alice?). Then they needed to be separated by length, above the knee, mid knee, below knee, mid calf, ankle, and floor length. And then finally by color.

And that was just the dresses. I still needed to organize my skirts, shorts, pants, Capri's, and jeans, just for the bottoms alone.

Arrg .

Blouses, t-shirts, tank tops, sweaters, button ups, pullovers, turtle necks, jackets, bathing suits - the list went on and on.

I wouldn't have even bothered, but it had gotten so bad in here that I couldn't find anything to wear, that matched, yesterday. It probably wouldn't have really mattered to the average person, it wasn't like I would be going out and seeing a ton of people, Jake and I mostly spent our days at home, with the kids. But I had been raised, at least partially, by my Aunt Alice and had a healthy (some might say unhealthy) respect for clothes and fashion. I wasn't obsessed with it like she was, but it irked me when I was so un-put together. I was raised to have respect for and take pride in my appearance, not to the point of superficiality, but to dress respectably and not look like a slob. And I could not do that if my closet stayed in its current condition.

Three hours later, we had at least gotten everything hung up in my closet. Three hours, ugg, that was pathetic. I knew my aunt could have had it done in 40 minutes, tops. But she was better at this sort of thing than me. Hell, even my mother would have been able to do it in under two hours; having been practically groomed by Aunt Alice for the past seven years. They were best friends after all.

It was not like clothes were just lying around on the floor, the entire time. I had washed my clothes after wearing them and then re-hung them in my closet, it's just that there was so many of them and they gotten put back in no particular order, just hung on any available open space I found.

Unfortunately, even after all this time, my children and I hadn't even broken the surface of what needed to be done, in here. We had only addressed the hanging clothes, the drawers and the shelves had not been touched yet, not to mention the shoes, purses, belts, scarves, hair accessories, and jewelry.

Ouch! I think I was giving myself a headache. I was going to save those for another day.

At first I had been mad at Jake for seemingly ducking out, claiming he was still sorting through intermediary resumés. Really, it could not be taking him this long . . . could it? Normally we loved doing everything together. But I guess he was actually pretty smart not to get involved in this. It was torture.

I think I can still get him to help me later though with a bit of the fun stuff, _organizing_ my lingerie. I had a lot of that as well, not including just the everyday items in my bra and panty drawer. He can help me tonight after the kids go to bed, and maybe I'll even give him a little fashion show in the process. He'll like that. And so will I.

Now that I think of it, the kids and I should probably just skip all of the drawers for right now; I really don't need my kids sorting through my underwear, or even seeing it, even by mistake. So on to the shelves it was then.

We had been going at a pretty good pace now for over an hour, with all of the shelves. I had asked the kids if they wanted to take a break, but they declined, probably just wanting to get this over with and never have to do it again.

"What's this?" David cautiously lifted the lid on a box he found.

"I am not, sure what's inside?"

He held up a gaudy necklace. It was this chunky golden rope chain with a giant crystal hanging below, measuring almost the size of a golf ball. It would probably sparkle beautifully in the sunlight. Actually, I think it had at one time, the only time I'd ever actually seen it outside, my mother had worn it during our encounter with the Volturi, that first year of my life, so long ago.

It wasn't really my taste in jewelry. I wasn't sure even why my mother had even given it to me. Not that she had, technically, it just ended up in my room one morning for me to play with. I had intentionally not thought about that day, or the necklace, in years.

Once it had become apparent to my family, when I was younger, that I was terrified that the Volturi were going to come back for me, once the nightmares started, someone must have boxed the thing up and I had not even realized it was in my closet. Weird that they would have put it in my closet when we moved.

"You can just shove it back on the shelf."

"You don't want to put it with the other jewelry?" David asked.

"It's not really my style, I don't think I'm ever going to wear it." And I don't think my mother ever well again, either. I don't know why she even had back then, it really didn't go with her outfit or anything. But I knew her fashion sense wasn't as advanced as it was now, not having the past seven years of Aunt Alice's tutelage. "Do you want it, Felicity?"

"Um . . . no. That thing belongs in the box," she scrunched up her face to emphasize exactly how much she did not want the hideous bobble.

"Okay," I chuckled, glad her fashion sense was prevailing without the benefit of Aunt Alice by her side. But then again where did my mother get the thing in the first place? Who had gotten it for her? I didn't see her picking it out herself.

It couldn't have been my father, could it? No. He had better taste than that. Oh well. None of them were here to ask, and I didn't really care that much anyway.

Back to cleaning and organizing.

"Oh, I found another box", Felicity exclaimed. We had been going through the shelves one by one and now after another two hours were finally coming to an end. She had to stand on the closets ladder to even see on top of the highest shelf and was stretching with all of her might, but would still probably never be able to reach far enough to get whatever was back there.

Luckily David was never far from his little sister, always there to lend her a helping hand, with whatever she needed. He, of course, now well over 6'5", almost as tall as his dad, didn't even need the ladder to grab whatever his sister had found. She seems to have inherited little of my or Jake's height, reaching only to 5'5" on her best days. Still she was an inch taller than my mom, but well under my 5'9" frame. She was seven months old now, and appeared as an 18 year old so she was probably done growing.

"What is it?" she asked me.

"Probably more shoes." David huffed. We had been finding long forgotten shoe boxes all over the closet, and there was a growing pile of them in the corner.

But this was not a shoe box. It was the Memory Box that Billy had given to Jake when he first moved with us. I hadn't seen it in years, not since its first arrival. I hadn't thought Jake would get rid of it, but had no idea, until now, what had happened to it.

"Oh, that is your fathers. Just put it back where you found it, please."

"What's in it?"

"I don't know. He's never shown me."

"Why not? Is he hiding something in here?" Felicity wondered, more to herself than us, but she had said the words out loud.

"Eww," David grinned from ear to ear. "Do you think dad has a hidden porn stash in there? Open it up. Let's see if he has any dirty magazines."

"Don't be ridiculous, David," Felicity grunted. "You know dad imprinted on mom, he would never do that."

"No he wouldn't, now put it back. And where did you learn about porn anyway?" I questioned my son.

"Uncle Paul." He shrugged his shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But he imprinted on Aunt Rachel, why would he have that and why would he show you?" Felicity asked him. She was right, he would have as little reason for it as Jake would.

"I didn't say he showed me anything, I just needed his advice about something and the subject came up." David jeered.

"You are so disgusting. I can't wait for you to imprint on someone. Maybe then you won't be so much of a pervert when you do," my daughter teased as she smacked her brother on the back of his head, just like Aunt Rose did with her husband, whenever Uncle Emmett said something stupid. Then the inevitable cat and mouse game commenced as David ran after Felicity throughout the house, to try and capture his sister, which always seemed to end in a tickle or food fight; the two of them rolling on the floor in hysterics, until they had to stop to breath. Those two sometimes acted like their actual near one year old selves even if they looked like adults now.

Well, the shelves were done and my helpers had abandoned me. I could see it was time to quit my closet organization for the day. And with that I set out to find Jake. Following his scent, I found him at my Aunts and Uncles old house. Hmmm. He smelled even yummier than he normally did. I wonder if he was using a new kind of soap?

* * *

To be continued . . .

Thanks for reading and please review.


	79. The Box and More Mistakes

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventy-Nine**

 **The Box and More Mistakes**

Renesmee's Point of View

"Hi honey, all done?" Jake asked, wearily looking up from his laptop. I guess he really was still going through the responses to the now _appropriate_ ad we placed, looking for a suitable replacement, for Jack Fisher.

"Just taking a break. I'm going to need your help later though." That caused his face to fall until I grabbed his hand and used my gift to show him a little preview of what I had planned, and the lingerie I wanted to model for him, before reorganizing my bra and panty drawer. Just like I thought, he cheered up immediately.

"Come on," he jumped up and started pulling me towards the house. "Let's go organize that closet." "Jake, not yet. The kids are still awake. Wait until after they have gone to bed. Right now I wanted to show you something else. I'm very concerned and not sure what we should do." Before waiting for a response I showed him a replay of the discussion I had just had with David - about Paul and porn. I thought he would have gotten upset, I surely had, but he just started laughing.

"Jake, why aren't you more upset about this?"

"Nessie, honey, David is a normal teenage boy. This is not something to be concerned about. I can see into his head you know. I even know about the stash of dirty magazines, he has hidden under his mattress, he thinks he's hiding from me. Trust me this is perfectly normal."

"What . . . I . . . but . . ." I didn't know what to say. Was this normal for men? Really? Where did he even get those types of magazines?

"He ordered them online and had them shipped next door." Jake answered. Damn-it, I still had my hand in his. "Please calm down. Believe me, it is perfectly normal and very innocent. I would actually be concerned if he didn't have anything. Trust me on this one, please."

I just nodded. I guess I would have to believe Jake on this, as disgusting and appalling as it sounded.

"If it makes you feel better I'll have a talk with him, tonight, after dinner, about the birds and the bees; Felicity too." he sighed. "But right now . . ." Jake's expression changed, to a smirk, as he continued to lead me back to our house.

"Jake, I told you we needed to wait until the kids go to bed."

"No Ness," Jake chuckled, "that's not what I meant. I want to show you what's in my memory box, you deserve to know."

"No honey, I don't. It's yours, it's something that seems to be very private for you, I'm sure if there was anything in there that I needed to know about you would have told me already."

"Nevertheless, I don't want to have any secrets from you. You're my soulmate. I should have never kept the box from you in the first place."

As we walked back to our house we passed a just arriving Leah. I was so glad she had become such good friends with Felicity.

"Hi Leah," Jake called.

"The kids are inside," I added. "Be careful, or you might be tackled by two whipped cream covered monsters," I half-laughed, half-warned her.

"I'm sure I can handle them," she sneered and took off.

Huh? That was weird. I thought she would have been in a better mood, she loved hanging out with our daughter.

"That girl has some issues." Jake just huffed, more to himself than me, before grabbing my hand and continuing to head upstairs.

When we got to the closet he took down his memory box, and showed me its contents, item by item, from the first baby tooth he lost, through his report cards his father had saved, to pictures of his mother and father on their wedding day.

There were a bunch of other pictures in there of his family – one of Jake, Rachel, and Rebecca when they were younger, I'm guessing when Jake was about seven or so, another of Billy and Sarah, shortly before she died, and one of his sister Rebecca and her husband. There was also a collection of other family members photos - grandparents, cousins, etc . . . some in color, other, older ones, in black and white. There was one of Rachel, Paul and Jeremy and another of their new twins.

He also had his high school diploma and acceptance letter to Dartmouth. Then there were other things that I knew must have been added by Billy – a family tree, a lock of his baby hair, and his first attempt at a wolf carving at least he told me it was suppose to be a wolf, it kind of looked like a deformed squirrel. He also had in there, what he told me was a _requisite,_ handmade clay ashtray with "I 3 Mom" scratched into it.

Some of the items surprised me. He had the second tooth I had ever lost. (My parents have the first). And a carving he had made of me as a baby.

He also had a picture Aunt Rose took of David, still as a wolf, just after I had given birth to him, and another just after Jake had gotten him to phase back. He also had the positive pregnancy test I had shown him for Felicity.

"I found it, once we had returned home from La Push. The box was still resting atop the piano," he told me when I picked it up. "I hope you don't mind that I took it."

"No, I'm glad you saved it. I was wondering what happened to it though." I chuckled back to him. I had actually wanted to save it myself, but when I didn't find it, I figured it had gotten thrown out by my family or something.

"What's this?" I asked holding up a small plastic baggie with tiny scraps of string in it.

"End remnants from the promise bracelet I made for you." He replied grabbing my wrist and showing me how the colors matched. "I snipped the ends to make them even once I finished weaving it, to give it a cleaner look."

I'm so glad Jake was sentimental about things like this. Every item in his box held such significance.

But the thing that surprised me the most, the thing Jake saved to take out and show me last was Billy's late wife's engagement ring.

"I thought, when the time was right, that I would give it to David. It should be kept in the family," he added barely above a whisper.

"That is a perfect idea."

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"Help! Somebody help!" Nahuel screamed from somewhere outside.

Damn-it. I finally had nothing to do. I finished all of my school work, had _finally_ found a new intermediary, the kids were off grocery shopping (I think it was more an excuse to leave the house than anything), and Nessie was upstairs reorganizing her underwear drawer. We never made it beyond the first outfit last week and after the third attempt I had been forbidden from _helping_ again. But she was right, those drawers would never get organized if she kept modeling outfits for me.

Couldn't I watch one football game in peace? What could that jerk possibly want now? I wasn't really in any rush to find out, but before long, he quickly burst through my front door carrying a limp, unconscious, and naked Leah.

"What the hell happened?" I asked running towards him from the living room couch, my forgotten popcorn now splattered all over the floor.

Then I saw it. A bite mark right above her collarbone, next to her neck.

That bastard had bitten her! Nahuel was venomous. It was poison to wolves. She was dying. Oh crap. What was I going to do? It was not like I could suck out the venom or anything. It was poison to me too.

And what the hell was wrong with Nahuel? After laying Leah on the couch he curled up in a ball and began rocking himself back and forth like a baby. He was practically catatonic, except that he was mumbling something; it was hard to tell but I think it was something like - "I didn't . . ." and " I'm sorry, please . . . I don't want . . . die" and I think I even heard a "forgive me" in there between sobs.

Was he kidding? Was he really begging me for his life? Now? Did he think I would not kill him for this, since he brought her back, and didn't dump her lifeless body in a ditch somewhere? I knew they hated each other, but trying to kill her was beyond tolerable.

I would deal with him later. Right now I had to somehow figure out a way to save Leah's life.

"Nessie! Nessie!" I started screaming. In a flash she was by my side. She took one look at Leah's near lifeless body and immediately understood the situation, but dashed out of the room as quickly as she came in.

Huh?

Seven seconds later she was back with a syringe in her hands, and plunging it into Leah's heart. What the hell was that? It couldn't be more venom, like Edward had used to change Bella. The metal syringe looked the same, but Nessie knew venom didn't change wolves, she knew it would kill us. Instead of asking I started screaming for her to suck the venom out. Why wasn't she doing that?

"No, Jake. Look at her, it's too late for that. But I think this will work. Before my family left," she explained to me, "my grandfather told me about this," she said, pointing to the syringe. "It's an anti-venom that he developed just in case he ever needed it for you. He made it using your own blood, it's tied to your DNA. I hope you're related to Leah enough that it will work on her too."

Before too long I saw that Nessie was right. Leah's breathing was returning to normal, her heartbeat was picking back up, and the wound on her neck was beginning to heal, slowly. Slower than wolves normally heal; but healing just the same. After breathing a sigh of relief I glared at Nahuel.

This feud between the two of them was beyond ridiculous. And now Nahuel had actually tried to kill her. At least now I finally would be able to do what I had wanted to for years.

I didn't care if we were in the living room.

I didn't care what furniture was damaged.

All I cared about was ENDING NAHUEL.

He had hurt, NO, he had tried to KILL a member of MY Pack.

This was it. It was time for him to DIE.

In one breath I leapt away from Leah and Nessie and phased into my wolf form, pouncing on Nahuel's chest.

"No," I barely heard the weak plea from Leah, still lying behind me, as my teeth were closing around Nahuel's throat, to rip his worthless head off. Her voice was almost inaudible, so low I almost didn't even hear it, over my growls, even with my enhanced wolf ears. But why didn't she want me to kill him? He obviously had tried to kill her. I didn't respond directly to her, but I didn't bite either, choosing to just continue to growl at the soon to be pile of ash.

"No," she cried again, slightly stronger than the last time, but still incredibly weak. "I . . . I love him. Don't . . . hurt him . . . please. It was an accident," she said, growing stronger with each word.

What? An accident? Yeah right. How do you accidentally bite someone?

Wait did she say she loved him? But they hated each other. What the hell was going on?

Just then I noticed that Nahuel was in his boxers and it dawned on me what they must have been doing when this "accident" occurred.

Eww, gross. I cringed as I backed off of him and phased back.

"Leah, are you . . ." Nahuel cried, finally snapping out of his daze. "I thought I had killed you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry, I just . . . I wanted to keep . . . I wanted us to be together, forever. I wanted to make you immortal like me."

"She already is immortal, you idiot." I screeched at him.

"She is? You are?" He seemed shocked as he looked from me to Leah and Nessie.

"As long as she continues to phase. Which is something that you would have known if you had bothered to ask her."

Nahuel ignored my frustrated annoyance with him and rushed to her side as he began hugging and placing gentle kisses on Leah's face. I could feel the vomit building as he deepened their kisses. It was beyond . . . strange to see the two of them like this. It just seemed so messed up, wrong, gross even.

Nessie had covered Leah in a blanket and we watched as her condition continued to improve over the next twenty minutes. But something still seemed wrong. Was Carlisle's anti-venom not completely compatible with her blood?

"Jake, it's not just the venom, I think she's lost too much blood." Nessie said as she must have realize the real reason why Leah wasn't completely recovering.

"What?" Glaring at Nahuel, I growled again. "You DRANK from her?" But it wasn't really a question, more of an accusation. "You do not need to drink to change a person. Why . . ."

"I . . . I . . . I . . . it was habit."

Habit? That's it. I probably shouldn't have hit him as hard as I did, completely knocking him out cold, but I could not listen to another word that came out of his mouth. He was still alive, Leah would forgive me. I hadn't killed him. But I might have if he continued talking.

"She passed out again, Jake. What were we going to do now?"

We still had some blood in the freezer next door, that Carlisle had re-stocked last time the Cullen's had visited for Nessie's birthday. Was it still good? Blood expired, right? But it had only been a month. And it wasn't the frig so it was probably okay. I wasn't 100% sure, but we didn't have a lot of options. We couldn't exactly take Leah to the hospital with her 108 degree body temperature, and how could we explain her being down a few pints now that the wound was gone.

After gently carrying Leah over to Carlisle's old office, where the frozen blood was kept, along with all of the first aid stuff, and medical equipment, I zapped a few bags in the microwave.

Smelling the blood Nessie, struggled with her own thirst, but managed to start a drip. After the second bag, Leah's condition began to improve. And after the forth she was almost back to normal.

Now that I knew she would be fine, I allowed myself a chance to think.

This explained Leah's recent strange behavior. I had been wondering how she found out about the . . . _incidence_ with Ms. Price. I certainly didn't tell her and I know Nessie hadn't either. And to the best of my knowledge we also had been able to keep it from the kids. I hoped so, anyway.

I hadn't even considered Nahuel as her source, the thought of the two of them voluntarily _talking_ to each other, even to spread gossip seemed highly unlikely to me.

And while she never confronted me about it she had been giving me strange looks for over a week, now. At the time I had wished she would just phase with me, just once, so we could clear up any confusion. But every time I had caught her as a wolf she immediately phased back.

I hadn't been entirely sure if she really knew or not, and I didn't want to verbally bring it up, sticking my foot in my mouth and embarrassing myself, if not her as well, if she didn't.

I guess once she is all better I will have to have a talk with her and let her know the truth and not just what Nahuel told her. Damn. This was going to be awkward. Nahuel was a jerk, but she apparently, for some unknown, inconceivable reason, loved him.

Would this new information change anything between them? Would the events of today? I mean I know she didn't want me to kill him, but surely she would not continue seeing him after this. Right?

Leah deserved to be happy. Especially after all the crap she had been through with Sam, not to mention having her life turned upside down when she became a wolf. Now this.

Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

I thought Jake might actually become friends with Nahuel one day. But things kept happening that pushed them more and more apart. I wondered how much this incident with Leah was going to set them back? I hoped that one day, now that all competition between them over me was gone, maybe it might happen. At the very least they would need to start being civil to each other.

Nahuel told me that he found his true mate in Leah and wanted to be with her, forever, something that she concurrently decided on as well. Though she hadn't imprinted on him, he told me that she mentioned thinking that he was who she was also supposed to spend her life with. Which was literally eternity for two immortal creatures, like them. And that meant she would be remaining in Jake's Pack and she and Nahuel would be remaining, in one form or another, in our lives, always.

Only Leah's possible future imprinting could split them up. And if that happened . . . I wasn't sure what it would do to Nahuel. Vampires and half-vampires mated for life. He was eternity bonded to Leah now. Did she realize everything that that implied?

Jake thought it would be best to talk to her about it, make sure she knew exactly what she had gotten herself into, even if it was too late to do much about it. Since Jake was her Alpha, he assumed he was the best person to talk to her. But I disagreed. Leah and I had never been friends exactly, technically I think she barely tolerated me, but this was a conversation that needed to take place between two women. And Jake wasn't exactly happy about the whole situation.

"How are you feeling?" I asked from her bedside. She was still recovering, and was just now waking up.

"Nahuel?" she panicked, jerking her body to a sitting position on the medical cot.

"No, no. calm down. He's alive." I assured her, gently pushing her back down before she could hurt herself. While she was out I had called my grandfather and explained everything that had happened. He seemed convinced that she would make a full recovery, but would need to rest for a day or two.

"What happened?" she asked, after taking a deep sigh of relief. "Where am I?"

"How much do you remember?"

"I didn't hit my head," she scoffed, "I just need to know what happened while I was out."

Charming as ever. Maybe Jake was right and he should have been the one to talk to her. Oh well.

"We brought you to Carlisle's office. You had lost too much blood and I needed to give you a transfusion. There was some donated blood still in the freezer here. You should be back to normal by tomorrow, but it took four entire bags to replace what Nahuel drank."

"Oh, well thanks." It seemed like it was a struggle for her to even get the words out. Sheesh.

After that I explained about the syringe, since she was concerned about what I had injected her with, and then I closed my eyes, too chicken to look at her when I spoke, while I asked her about her and Nahuel.

It was strange, while Nahuel hadn't realized she was immortal she had gone into this – whatever it was, fully understanding what she was getting into. I guess that made sense. She had already known everything, about my relationship with Jake. She had a backstage pass to all of the intricacies of our relationship, she saw everything in Jake's mind over the years.

Much to my relief, sort of, she knew that if Nahuel ever came to see her as his true mate that they would be stuck together, forever.

"Don't worry, little girl. Getting almost eaten wasn't exactly the highlight of my day, but look on the bright side. This is better than some stupid imprinting, because I got a choice. I got to pick who I wanted to spend eternity with. No one was forced on me," she jeered.

She had always said that she was over Sam, but now I was beginning to wonder. Did she _really_ love Nahuel? Or was she just looking for someone who wouldn't, couldn't leave her . . . again?

I wasn't going to play her game though. I wasn't going to lash out, and yell back at her, and I certainly wasn't going to let her upset me.

But why was she trying to hurt me? Was that even her intention, to make me feel bad? Convince me that Jake didn't have a choice, that he didn't really choose me and didn't really love me? Well it didn't work. I knew Jake and I truly loved each other. We belonged together.

And maybe they did as well. The more I thought about it the more it seemed to me that they belonged together. They were these two lost souls that just needed to find someone as desperate for love as they were.

It took a lot of coaxing on my part, but eventually, after not taking the bait to start a verbal battle, I got Leah talking almost civilly again.

I was more than a little shocked to learn that their _relationship_ had started last Christmas. She and Nahuel had worked hard to keep their romance a secret, fooling everyone into thinking they hated each other.

In fact, part of the reason, the major part, that Nahuel had brought Jennifer to Brazil last year, to meet his Aunt, was just a cover. The real reason, was so that my father would not read the truth in Nahuel's mind. He was not as good at hiding his thoughts like Leah was, having years of experience as a wolf, and he did not trust himself around my father. It was also why Leah refused to phase at the same time as Jake, not wanting him to see anything about their relationship in her mind.

Nahuel would have come back sooner, as soon as my family went back to Forks, but he was trying to convince Jennifer to come back with him. Eventually giving up and coming back alone. He knew it would look weird, but he couldn't stay away from Leah any longer.

I don't know why they felt the need to hid though.

Watching her talk about him, I saw the same look in her eye Nahuel had in my kitchen when he first came back. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't desperation to not be alone, that pushed them together. I think they were actually, both truly in love with each other.

I was sort of happy for both of them. And glad that they were doing well. Someone around here should be.

It was a week later and Jake still hadn't calmed down. The more he thought about it, the angrier he seemed to get. Currently he was having trouble being in the same room with either of them. He was, err . . . _irritated_ with Leah, because she seemed to overlook all of the, um . . . flaws he saw with Nahuel. He thought she deserved better. But she tried to explain to Jake, that she loved Nahuel, even after everything. I didn't mind as much as Jake did. As long as they loved and cared for each other, wasn't that all that mattered? It's not like Nahuel would try to change Leah again.

But for all that Jake was upset with Leah, he was naturally and more justifiably, pissed at Nahuel, of course because he had inadvertently and stupidly almost killed her with his unnecessary and almost deadly non-immortality conversion.

And now Felicity felt like she had lost her Aunt and only female friend because Jake took issue with Leah for keeping her relationship and everything else from him, which led to Leah avoiding our entire family altogether. Even though she now always seemed to be at Nahuel's house she had been actively going out of her way to avoid us.

Then there was David. He was not happy that his _former friend_ , as he now referred to Nahuel, had taken a bite out of his Aunt Leah. Not to mention all of his other issues, not wanting to live here anymore, being the top one currently. Weekly, daily some times, he continued to bring up his want to live in La Push.

But Jake and I were his parents. I knew, we both did, that we were partially being selfish. That we needed to let him go, that keeping him here was making him, and everyone around him, with his souring attitude, unhappy. We gave him more freedom, but we couldn't let him go entirely yet. There was so much about life we still wanted and needed to teach him.

And then there was me. Recently I had been having more of a problem controlling my thirst. What started as a mild ache had grown. And it was getting worse every day. I wanted, no needed more blood. A lot of it. And not animal blood. That wouldn't have been a problem.

What was happening to me? I thought, after all of the donated bags my grandfather had gotten me for my birthday, two months ago that I wouldn't be craving it like I am now. But the scent of human blood, after Leah's injury, it seems to have re-awakened my cravings.

Only this time it was different. I have never craved it this bad before. I didn't understand what was going on. I needed to talk to someone about it. It couldn't still be from my pregnancies, could it?

But who could I ask? My grandfather thought I would be fine, now. Obviously he was wrong. Who else could I turn to for answers?

Nahuel! I needed to go talk to him, maybe he would have a solution. His sister had given birth. I wonder if he knew anything about what had happened to her?

"It is because you have stopped growing," he replied simply, the next day when I stopped by his house, after Leah left for work.

I was glad he was willing to talk to me after everything that was going on between us, and Jake, and Leah, but I was also pissed. He knew this was going to happen to me and had said nothing? Of course he knew. It must have happened to him and his sisters as well.

"It was a long time ago," he continued, "but I do remember the need for more blood as I became fully mature. It will dissipate over time, but it will take a while. I'm afraid."

"How long?"

"There is no way to be certain, but it seemed to have been different for each of my sisters and me. Both the start and stop, and duration, but it took place sometime between each of our seventh and eighth years."

I was glad that this was not going to be permanent, but what was I going to do in the meantime? Animal blood didn't seem to be doing it for me anymore. What I wanted to do was . . . well, I couldn't bring myself to say it. I could barely even think it, but I just wanted to sink my teeth into my Jacob, but it's not like I would ever do that.

"What am I going to do?"

"What is the problem Renesmee? There are certainly more than enough animals around here for you. Why do you look so upset?"

"I'm not craving animal blood." Why couldn't I get my voice to come out louder than a whisper? No matter, Nahuel would still be able to hear me.

"Ah! You want human blood, then? That should not be a problem. Carlisle could certainly arrange something for you, even from France. And even if he could not, I'm sure he would come back here for you if necessary to buy some more."

"No that's not it. I want blood, but not animal blood, and not donated blood. There seems to be a particular _person's_ blood I want, but I can't. I won't. He, . . . I . . . I can't drink from him."

"Oh, that is a problem, then," he agreed understanding what I meant.

* * *

Did I make Nahuel and Leah's secret relationship to obvious?

Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think.


	80. Wolves and Finally Engaged

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty**

 **Wolves and Finally Engaged**

Jacob's Point of View

We had a hunting trip planned for this afternoon. Not the normal game in the new Hampshire wilderness. We were driving north, eight hours, to Canada. It had been awhile since Nessie and I had hunted together and I was really looking forward to it. She seemed a bit jittery, fidgeting in her seat the entire way in the car, for some reason. She was probably just overly excited for the change in her diet, deer was probably boring to drink week after week. And I missed having some alone time with her, just the two of us.

No one else was going. Dave and Felicity preferred deer, so they didn't want to go all the way to Canada with us, where we would be tracking black bears, cougars and other carnivores. Nahuel was still trying to patch things up between himself and Leah – good luck with that one, she was one of the most stubborn people I knew. Seth and Carol agreed to stay home with the kids. Dave might not appreciated babysitters, but Felicity wanted to spend as much time as she could with someone other than her parents and brother.

"What is that amazing smell?"

We had been running for about twenty minutes, unfortunately right into the middle of a snowstorm and were coming up empty . . . until now. I wasn't sure what Nessie had smelt though. I hadn't caught whatever scent she had. But before I got a chance to ask she took off.

Even with my enhanced wolf eyes, the snow was making it impossible to see more than twenty feet in front of me, and the wind was shifting all around us. I couldn't pick up her scent. Damn-it! Where did she go?

I started running in the direction I thought she had gone, but came up empty. I tried howling a couple of times, hoping she would hear me howl and come back, but I wasn't sure she even knew where I was.

After another twenty, or so minutes of frantic searching I finally caught her scent, she must have been just over that next hill. As I climbed up and looked down below I saw what I think was her. Yes, sniffing deeply, I was certain that even though it was hard to see, it was definitely her scent. Thank goodness. She was safe and was feeding on some animal.

I knew I didn't really need to worry, she was more than capable of taking care of herself, being half-Vampire made her stronger than anything out here, except if she happened upon a full Vampire. And what were the chances of that happening? And even if it did, she was so smart and clever, whoever they were didn't stand a chance, just like with Joham. But I still worried. She was my imprint, and I loved her.

As I got closer the bile started rising in my throat as I realized what kind of an animal exactly she was feeding from. At first I thought it was a coyote, which were fairly common in the area, a little small but about the same shape as what I saw under her. But the tail was thicker and bushier, the ears longer and of course the head was all wrong. It wasn't the face of a coyote it was . . . a wolf.

How could she? I was a wolf for crying out loud! So was her son. And she knew wolves were sacred to my people. She had heard the legends, the creation stories, that said Quileute's were descended from them.

It wasn't exactly true, in a way, unless you took into account the story of how Taha Aki's spirit warrior had asked a wolf to share his body, when his own had been destroyed, which resulted in the first phasing. So I guess in a way all current shape-shifting wolves were partially descended from that first Aki-Wolf. Because of this it was against the tribes rules to ever hurt them.

I wanted to go to her, but I didn't . . . I couldn't. What was going on with her? Why had she done this?

Before I knew it she was off – running after her next meal I assumed.

Please don't let it be another wolf.

As I followed her scent, from just over 100 yards away I stopped when she did and slowly crept closer. I saw that this time she had nabbed an elk and breathed a sigh of relief.

The chase for the second animal had taken fifteen or so minutes and had given me a chance to calm down, I was no longer seething, but was nowhere near actual calm. Nevertheless I needed to go to her. Our imprint bond was telling me that something was not right and I needed to be close to her, to hold her in my arms. Maybe it was just that she had taken off without me, that I had to go searching for her, and I just needed the physical contact to know she was truly safe.

That was what our bond and my body was telling me. My mind on the other hand still felt betrayed. This was a strange feeling, something I had never experienced before. Most of the time everything was in sync with each other. I didn't like different parts of myself warring with themselves.

Eventually I gave in to the pull, of the imprint, and made my way down to Nessie. I hoped that somehow, once I held her, the two warring parts of me would reunite and all would be well again.

"Nessie?" I grunted as I approached her after phasing back. After a few more gulps of blood, still ignoring me, she finished off the elk, and then finally looked up, and stared at me, with a crazed look in her eyes.

"Oh!" Was there something wrong with her? She still had that frenzied animalistic look in her eyes that she sometimes got when she hunted. I had seen other members of the Cullen family get it too, but it normally disappeared after they had fed.

"Nessie honey," I said softly this time, carefully, trying to calm her down and take her out of whatever trance, or whatever, she seemed to be in.

"Nessie, sweetheart, it's me, Jake," I tried again, as I slowly approached, almost within reach to touch her. But she got up into a defensive crouch looking like she was going to pounce on me.

Oh, crap! Did she just growl at me?

I stepped forward another step, never taking my eyes off of hers. She hadn't moved. I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad sign. She didn't relax but hadn't attacked either.

"Jake?" she questioned, seemingly waking up as my hand rested on her arm. "Jake . . . I . . . um . . . Jacob, oh . . . oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I . . I thought that . . . I don't know, I couldn't help myself. What is wrong with me?"

"Nessie how could you?" I instinctively snapped at her, my anger returning, now that I knew she was okay. How could she do this. Killing a wolf was like killing in a member of my family. She knew what they meant to me, to the Quileute people.

"I said I was sorry Jake, I didn't mean to growl at you. I was just so caught up in hunting, I didn't . . . realize it was you."

What? That is what she thinks I'm mad at? She must not know I saw.

I needed time to think. I didn't want to be mad at Nessie, whatever she did. It's not like she did it intentionally, I don't think she would harm a wolf to try to make me mad at her, would she? No. She wouldn't do that. I don't know why she killed a wolf - a member of my extended family, but I didn't want to confront her about it right then. I was too upset, too emotional, I didn't want to be angry at her, I love her. I just needed time. Time to think and process everything.

"Sure, sure. I think we should go back unless . . . Ness are you still . . . hungry?" I could barely get the words out. I really didn't want her feeding from any more wolves but I also didn't want her to go hungry. I never thought I would be mad at her, for anything. But this! For some reason, I just . . . I don't know. I was pissed. I could barely even look at her right now.

Our imprint bond kept telling me to just hold her, that taking her into my arms would solve things. But my mind knew it wouldn't, it wouldn't make up for what she had done. It's almost as if she had personally attacked me.

"No, I'm fine. The elk was very filling." She replied patting her stomach, not even bothering to mention the wolf she already drained.

"Then let's go. The kids are probably missing us." Could she tell? Could she hear the anger I was trying to hide in my voice? She didn't react so I guess not.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

"Hey, Jake, I need to go hunt," I called from the other side of the house. I didn't want to get too close to him, I'd be too tempted.

I was still craving his blood, worse than ever. I of course refused to give in, and had been hunting, gorging myself actually, to not even be tempted. I didn't want to lose control and accidentally hurt my soulmate.

While I no longer found the smell of animal blood appealing I still forced myself to down three to four animals every week – twice my normal amount. I didn't want there to be any chance that I would slip.

Jake started to call to me. **"** Oh . . . err, did you want me to . . ."

"No that's alright, I'm headed out with Nahuel. I'll see you in a few hours," I called back, while rushing out the door. Having Jacob come with me would completely defeat the purpose of my going hunting. I would probably mistake his all too savory scent for what I was currently after, the next best thing I could find – wolves. I hated killing them, they're so close to my Jacob, but that's exactly why I needed to. I just hoped he never found out, because I knew he would never understand and would never forgive me.

Besides I didn't think he really wanted to come, anyway. Something had been bothering him – probably Leah' and Nahuel's relationship. Jake didn't really like him, so for him to see Leah with him, and happy about it, was I guess more than he could take.

But, right now, I needed someone to hunt with and Nahuel didn't care if I drank from the wolves; hell, up until a few years ago he wouldn't have cared if I fed from humans.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

"Um, Ness. I slowly approached my imprint, I really didn't know how to talk to her anymore. Not after the incident in the woods, three weeks ago, when she murdered and fed on a wolf. Things have been . . . oh well . . . _awkward_ would be an understatement, between us lately.

"It's time for the Skype call with Embry," I reminded her. He had requested the two of us be on it together which was the only reason we were getting together right now. Apparently he had some big news to tell us.

"Oh," was all Nessie replied, rather nervously, back to me, before cautiously following me to my laptop I had set up in the living room. She seemed to be just as uneasy around me, as I felt uncomfortable around her lately.

I never let on that I saw her drink that wolf, but she must have known or realized how much I had been avoiding her lately. I just couldn't be in the same room with her, not without getting uncomfortable, or antsy, or dare even say, even . . . angry. I never thought I could get angry at her, she was my imprint, I had never gotten made at her before, not even when I had thought she had done something that would have made a normal un-imprinted person upset. But this incident, _this_ I had seen with my own eyes. I knew for a _fact_ that it was true and I just couldn't get over it.

"Hey guys." Embry waved to Nessie and I, on the screen. We were now standing rather uncomfortably next to each other, in front of the laptop, for this Skype call. Even though he had moved back to La Push last year, he still felt the need to keep up these monthly calls, though I didn't insist on them anymore. But even though he was smiling, sort of, something about his voice was off.

"What's up. Everything okay?" I questioned. I hope everything was. Things were finally starting to go well for him.

Embry and Colleen had gotten an apartment together on the Res when they returned from Texas, not that they were together, it was a two bedroom. It was just more economical. They seemed to have finally settled into a nice platonic friendship. Or at least I thought they had. Was he calling to tell me about some dire news? Did she kick him out? Did she fall in love with someone else . . . again?

"I just had to call you with some big news," he began before pausing for several seconds, it seemed like he was agonizing over how to phrase whatever it was he was going to say next, but then he just blurted it out, "Colleen's pregnant."

"Oh," said in shock. I guess she has met somebody else again. I wonder how Embry's going to handle it this time. Was he going to be okay with it? If she got married. Moved in with the guy? But this happened so fast, I didn't even realize she had been dating anybody. "Are you going to be okay Embry?"

He probably would be. Imprinting was funny like that. It took away most wolves problems with any romantic entanglements. I guess it did for everybody, including me, most of the time anyway.

Years ago, when Nessie had been with Nahuel, back then I couldn't figure out why I was romantically attracted to her. I shouldn't have been, I should have only seen her as my best friend, or little sister, or something. I couldn't understand why I was. Of course, what I had not known at the time, was that she was in love with me too, and was just trying to figure out how to get rid of Nahuel. If she had not had those feelings for me, then I wouldn't have been tormented so by their relationship.

The same was true, in a way for Embry. He had spent two years as a wolf, while Colleen tried to win back Henry and was perfectly happy doing so because that was all that she needed from him. Now that she was going to have another man's child, Embry would probably fall into a best friend / nanny roll for their new child and again be perfectly happy doing so, I guess.

"I'm great, Jake," he smiled. Yup, imprinting was weird like that. "I'm so excited! I'm going to be a father."

What? _He_ was going to be a father, it was _his_ child?

Oh no! Was this the result of a another one night stand that she had with him, like the night before her defunct wedding was supposed to have taken place?

"Okay, back up Embry. I'm gonna need a little bit more information. How did this happen?" I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings. I didn't want to say the wrong thing or upset his feelings. I needed him to be clear with exactly what their relationship was.

"Yeah, I guess this kind of came out of the blue for you, but it's all good. Colleen and I have been _together,_ together for almost a year now. But I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to jinx it, but she LOVES me Jake. She _finally_ loves me."

"Well, that's great Embry." I sighed in relief.

"I'll send you guys an invitation to the wedding as soon as we pick a date. She wants to get married before the baby comes, so it will probably be this March or April," he added.

Huh, why is it everyone in my Pack was in a serious relationship – Seth was shacking up with his imprint, Embry was getting married and having a kid, and Leah was . . . whatever she was doing with Nahuel. Why was I always the last person to know about it? Wasn't I supposed to be their Alpha? Shouldn't they tell me these things earlier?

"Wow, congratulations Embry, and tell Colleen congratulations from all of us here, too. We're really happy for you both of you." Nessie smiled to him. It was the first smile I had seen on her face in weeks.

"All right, I'm gonna go hunt," Nessie sighed to me as soon as I turned off the monitor.

"Oh, um . . . would you like some company, did you need me to go with you?" I asked. Despite the situation I still wanted her to be safe, protected, loved. This conflict we were having was killing me, tearing me up inside. I loved her, still. I just hated what she had done.

"No, I actually already made plans to go with Nahuel"

Sheesh! We couldn't even be in the same room together right now. And why was she always going with _him,_ lately? I knew that the past few weeks the two of them had been doing all of their hunting together. I wasn't sure why, though. Something was off, I just didn't know what it was.

Was Nessie hunting more wolves? Nahuel would not have a problem with that, that's probably why she was going with him. But I didn't want to think that. That she would do something like that - so awful, so horrific. No, that couldn't be it.

But was that even the big secret she was trying keep from me? Were there others? Drinking one wolf was bad, but continuously killing more wolves, week after week, that was inexcusable.

But then again, I could be wrong. It could have been something else entirely.

This is ridiculous! I needed to talk to my imprint, and find out exactly what was going on. My imagination was running wild and was probably blowing everything out of proportion.

I needed answers.

Before she had reached the door I called out to her. "I know you're feeding from wolves." There I said it. Even if I was wrong, even if it was just the one wolf, we still needed to talk, and clear the air.

I sat and waited for her to turn around, march back into the room and start . . . I don't know . . . yelling at me. Tell me I was wrong. That it was just the one time and it was an accident. That she was sorry. That she couldn't help it, but still try to apologize or something. Even if she denied it and became angry so we started fighting, yelling at each other, at least we would have been talking. But that's not what happened.

She just left, as if she hadn't even heard me. But the slamming of the door on her way out told me otherwise. Wordlessly she ran out to meet Nahuel and probably go kill more of my brother and sister wolves.


	81. Coming Clean

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-One**

 **Coming Clean**

Renesmee's Point of View

Oh crap! He knew.

Jacob knew I was feeding from wolves.

Last week I had woken, up in the middle night, to find his side of the bed empty. He had been working on the car he got me for my birthday. When I went searching for him, I found him asleep on the floor in the garage. He claimed he fell asleep down there while he was working, but I found him asleep on the couch the next night, the TV still on. That time he said he had fallen asleep watching some old movie. Perfectly plausible, but when it happened for the third night in the row I started to wonder.

When Jake began spending more and more time away from me I had wondered if he could feel, through our imprint bond, how much I wanted his blood. I thought that was it. I figured that he was being safe. That that was why he barely touched or came near me lately. But . . . I was wrong. He must hate me.

But, I reconciled to myself that no matter how mad he was at me, at least this way he was safe. I had been so worried I might attack him while he slept.

* * *

I should have stayed and talked things out with Jacob. But I was scared of losing him. I thought if I never acknowledge what I had done, to him, then he wouldn't really, truly know what I had done. For now he only _assumed_ that I was the monster I knew I was. And so I ran.

So now I was sitting on a rock somewhere in the middle of the New Hampshire wilderness, crying into Nahuel's shoulder, ruining his shirt with my tear soaked wale's. "He knows," I croaked. "What am I going to do?"

Nahuel wrapped me in his arms, unsuccessfully trying to comfort me. "I am afraid there is nothing you can do. Unless you wanted to . . ."

"Don't be ridiculous. I could never do that. But you should have seen me back there, just him being in the same room with me. Jake's smell was just too overwhelming, I couldn't even stand it, I had to get out of there as fast as I could. I should have stayed, explained why I am out here with you, doing this . . ."

I snapped out of my commiserations at the same time Nahuel's body stiffened – both a reaction to the same sound. I would know that howl anywhere. Leah! What was she doing here?

"You have got to be kidding me," Leah screamed at me. "Jake stupidly asked me to watch over you, make sure you stayed safe, while hunting." Her eyes were wild as they darted back and forth between the two of us. "He thought . . . he was actually worried about you, but I guess there was nothing for him to worry about." What was wrong with her?

"Aurg," she screamed, looking over at Nahuel now. She was really losing it. "I knew it. Damn-it, damn-it, damn-it! Men are pigs, why did I ever even try and love again, I knew it was only going to hurt me in the end."

What?

Oh, I guess this did look bad.

"Darling that's not what this is," Nahuel began to protest, extricating himself from around me. I probably should have stepped away from him before this. If I was thinking clearly I probably would have.

"Don't give me that crap. I saw you with my own eyes, you were all over her and she was kissing your chest."

"No, I wasn't." "She was not." We both said in unison.

"I should have known when you found Jake with that hooker," she said waving her finger at him, "that their imprint wasn't normal. Stupid, half breed," she spat at me. "You leaches ruin everything. You know that. I hate you," she cried to Nahuel, before phasing back into a wolf and running off to who knows where.

"Nessie, I'm sorry, but I need to go after her," Nahuel said to me while already running in an attempt to chase down Leah's wolf clear across the mountain top.

Damn-it! What else could go wrong today? I needed to get home, explain things to Jake, and fix things between Nahuel and Leah. But I still hadn't fed and I couldn't risk being around Jacob right now, not like this. Besides needing his blood, I was too worked up, and I might . . . no, I _would_ attack him, just because my emotions were heightened right now, from the whole mess I now found myself in. I couldn't control myself and I definitely did not want to hurt Jake.

After Nahuel left I found what I was looking for and quickly fed. I probably should have hunted down another wolf but I didn't want to be away any longer, instead I made my way home as fast as I could. My thirst was better under control now. Not totally, I don't think it will ever be until . . .

"There you are." Jake was sitting on our front steps, waiting for me. I had been gone for hours. How long had he been out here? "So are you ready to talk? Are you going to tell me what's going on? Because right now, I think we have some major problems."

"Jake you don't believe Leah, do you? You don't think that I would . . ."

"No, but I don't know what the truth is either. I know what she saw and I know what she heard . . ."

What she heard? I started thinking back to exactly what Nahuel and I had said to each other, it wasn't that bad was it? Yeah she had flipped out, but she was always upset about something, and she never liked me. But how was it that she could have misinterpreted anything that we had said, even if she confused what she saw?

" _He knows_ ," I had said with my head on Nahuel's shoulder, " _What am I going to do?"_

" _I am afraid there is nothing you can do. Unless you wanted to . . ."_ Nahuel had replied while putting his arms around me.

" _Don't be ridiculous. I could never do that. But you should have seen me back there, just him being in the same room with me. Jake's smell was just too overwhelming, I couldn't even stand it, I had to get out of there as fast as I could. I should have stayed, explained why I am out here with you, doing this . . ."_

Hmmm, I guess she could.

"Jake, I swear, there's nothing going on between me and Nahuel." Seriously? I didn't think for a second that Jake was with that hooker when Nahuel had told me what he saw, why would he now believe Leah?

"I know, I already told you that I didn't believe Leah. She has some trust issues with men. It tends to cloud her judgment," he huffed. "Now quit stalling and tell me what is really going on, ," he grunted. "You're feeding on wolves aren't you?"

Damn, he just came right out and said it. I briefly thought about just lying and admitting to having an affair with Nahuel instead of feeding from the wolves. Maybe that would hurt Jake less. No. The truth. I had to confess the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

"I . . ." I tried, but couldn't answer him. I wanted to, but the words wouldn't come out. I couldn't even look at him. I just stood there, staring at an invisible dot between his feet.

"Just tell me why," he growled. Jake had never growled at me before. "Why wolves? You know they are like family to me. They're part of me. Don't you know that Nessie? When you attack one of them it's like you're attacking me."

"I know, Jake. That's why I'm doing it. That's why I'm going after wolves," I spat.

I had never meant for it to get this bad. The first time I drank a wolf I hadn't even realized I had done it. I had gone into some sort of daze, catching their scent, that was so close to my Jacobs, my thirst had become overwhelming. But feeding from them only helped a little. I still wanted Jake's blood. More and more. Wolf's blood only seemed to be a temporary bandage to my thirst issues.

"What?" His anger faded replaced by shock now. "Do you want to kill me?"

"NO! Of course not. That's why I've been hunting wolves, because I don't want to ever hurt you. I could never." Well not physically at least, I guess I had hurt him emotionally. "You know I love you. More than my own life."

"You're craving my blood again," realization dawning on his face. "Are you . . ." he cut himself off, glancing down at my stomach. But that was not the reason. It wasn't possible now that I had stopped aging. I was a 23 year old menopausal half-vampire.

"No, I'm not pregnant. But I do want your blood, more than anything, which is exactly why I can't have it. I want it so much more than last time. I don't know what I'm going to do.

"It's so much worse than when we were on Isle Esme. I don't want just a few sips from you. I want all of it," I said, shame leaking into every word I spoke and probably written all over my face. But I had said it. I finally said it out loud, to him, while simultaneously admitting the whole truth to myself. "What am I going to do now? Nahuel said I'm going to be like this for awhile, as my body settles into its new frozen state.

"Nahuel knows about this?" he questioned me. I could hear the anger building in his voice again.

"Yes, he's the one that told me that this was why I wanted your blood so badly. It happened for him and his sisters, too. But they just drank a lot of extra human blood, I only seem to want yours. It must be because of our imprint bond, because I _thankfully_ have no desire for Dave's wolf blood." Or Felicity's.

"Then why did you go after Jack Fisher?"

"I think that must have just been from my pregnancies, or the deliveries, like my grandfather thought. And now this, my uncontrollable need for your blood is because I have reached maturity. The close timing is just a coincidence." At least that was the best explanation I could come up with. I didn't know for certain, I don't think anyone did, but I guess that theory was just as good or better than any others.

"The blood that my grandfather gave me only cured by craving for human blood, but I still want yours. And it's getting worse, not better, as time goes on. The wolf blood, it tastes closest to yours, but it is only satiating . . . placating, my thirst temporarily." This was so hard. I was close to hyperventilating now. But I had to get it all out, I had to come clean, completely. "But it's working less and less, Jake. I don't know what to do. It's not like I can drink from you."

"Why wouldn't you just come and tell me all of this," Jake asked me, the anger finally vanishing from his voice, as he spoke and got up and began walking over to me. But I couldn't have him nearer to me. Not now. I was agitated again. I was wrong, the one wolf I found wasn't enough. I was emotional now and it made me want to drink from him more. So with every step he took forward, I took one back. At least the wind was blowing in my favor. "Talk to me if something, _anything,_ is bothering you, we could have found a way to possibly have prevented this."

"Jake, I can't. I'm sorry I can't be near you right now. I want you . . . I want your blood too much." At least that halted his advance.

"Nessie, Eddie once wanted Bella's blood just like you're describing, back when she was human, before he changed her, when you were born. I'm sure that if he could resist, so can you."

"There is one major difference between my father and me. He could hold his breath, forever if he needed to. He didn't have to breath in my mother's scent if he was in danger of losing control. I can't do that. I need to breath. The only thing I can do is stay away from you."

Just then the wind shifted, drawing his scent in my direction. I almost gave in and leapt on him, but somehow, I didn't know where my strength to resist, came from but I grabbed onto the closest tree and dug my nails in, down to my knuckles, anchoring myself, somewhat to the spot. _Sorry Grandma Esme_ ; I think she liked that one.

"Nessie, you are stronger than you think. You can control yourself. I believe in you."

"And if I can't?" I wasn't going to last much longer. I needed to get further away from him. "What am I going to do?" Wind please shift, please. "It's just so hard being around you. I can't take it." There, finally the wind shifter again. Thank goodness. "What if I hurt you, what if I . . . what if I killed you?"

"Nessie, honey, I'm not some weak little human. Don't worry about me. I love you, I would do anything for you," he cooed as he began to inch closer.

Why was he torturing me like this? Didn't he see how hard this was for me right now?

"I'm sorry, Jake. I just can't. I can't be tempted like that. I don't trust myself around you. I love you too much, so I think the safest, best thing, for now is for me to . . ." was I really going to say it? Was I that close to losing it? Yes, yes I was. ". . . to stay away from you and go live in one of the other houses, just until my _issue_ is resolved. It's safest for everyone."

"No, Renesmee! Don't do this to us. Don't leave me. I need you. I'd rather be dead than without you."

"It won't last forever," I tried to reassure him.

"How long?"

"Not sure," I shrugged, not letting go of the tree. "According to Nahuel it was as little as a few months to a year at most, for him and his sisters, before things went back to normal."

"A year? I can't . . . I can't stay away from you for a year. You're my imprint Renesmee. I'd go crazy if I'm not with you every single day."

But you'd be alive. "I know, and it gets worse. That was only after they gorged themselves on human blood."

Despair turned to resignation on Jake's face. I thought he had finally grasped the reality of the situation. Of why I needed to stay away from him. But I was wrong.

"Just take my blood sweetheart. Drink it. If it is what you want . . . what you need, then take it. It will help . . . both of us."

"But I can't, Jacob. Don't you see? I have absolutely no control right now. I wouldn't be able to stop."

"You will, sweetheart. I believe in you."

"Damn-it Jake stop saying that." It was hard enough just standing here.

"And if you don't . . . I don't know, maybe we could . . . we'd think of something."

"No, WE won't think of anything, Jake, because YOU will be dead."

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I ran. Again.

* * *

Okay, this is the end of Year Eight, Part 1. Part two should be up in about a week, as soon as I figure out how I want to divide the chapters and come up with some titles.

Hang in there, these are going to be the most exciting chapters yet (I think).

Thanks for reading, and once again, please review.


	82. I Need to Get Out Of Here

**Year Eight -** **Forever After (** **Part Two)**

Chapter 82, I Need to Get Out Of Here

Chapter 83, Missing Imprint

Chapter 84, MINE

Chapter 85, Don't leave me

Chapter 86, My Six Weeks of Hell

Chapter 87, A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding

Chapter 88, Well That Was Unexpected

Chapter 89, Old . . . um, friends?

Chapter 90, Three Days and Counting

Chapter 91, Waiting for the End

Chapter 92, Aftermath

Chapter 93, Wolf Blood

Chapter 94, Test Results

Chapter 95, Welcome and Unwelcome

* * *

 **Part Two**

 **Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Two**

 **I Need to Get Out Of Here**

Renesmee's Point of View

It had been two weeks since my confession to Jake, and each day I viewed it as a minor victory that he was still alive and I hadn't given in to my thirst. I would have left to keep him safe. It would have hurt (both if us) but he refused to let me go. Which I loved him for. It terrified me, that I would hurt him, but I loved him.

Things were better-ish between Jake and I now, not perfect, but much better than they had been. Much better since that awful/wonderful day when I finally confessed to Jacob that I had been feeding on wolves, when after his scent became too much and my thirst was too great . . . I shamefully, stupidly ran away.

He didn't stay put like I hoped he would, but took off after me. I managed to get to my aunt and uncle's house and slam the door on him, before he could come in. I could not be trapped inside where his scent would have no possible way to dissipate, and would only grow in intensity. That would have been a death sentence for him. He must have know, finally understood, or paid attention to the warnings he felt thorough our imprint bond because he thankfully didn't enter, but yelled to me through the door. Not angry yelling, he just wanted to talk and wanted to make sure I heard him.

At least it got us talking and while most of our conversation did end up being conducted on either side of the front door, of the house, it being safer for him that way, I think he finally understood the gravity of the situation.

Over the next few hours we had talked and worked out almost everything. I still wanted his blood, that part hadn't gone away, but now he knew. Now that we were talking he understood when he needed to avoid me and I knew when I needed to extricate myself from his presence.

It was hard on both of us, but worth it. Harder still, something I never even thought of, but my wonderful Jacob had, was telling our children. Not only how my wanting their fathers blood would affect them, but what might happen to them when they stop aging. Neither of us were sure if they would go through the same thing, David and Felicity being only a quarter vampire each, and David being a wolf also. They might never need to deal with this. But Jake was right, they at least deserved a heads up.

We didn't tell them everything, just the facts. That since I had stopped aging my body was going through a pseudo-newborn phase where my thirst had increased and I was craving Jake's blood. We let them know it was most likely due to our imprint bond, but that we were doing our best to deal with it until we could resolve the issue.

Felicity, I wasn't really worried about it. She was always so calm and understanding of everything. But I had prepared myself for the worst from David. He would finish aging, by our calculations, in nine months. But, while he was sympathetic, and (a bit surprisingly) actually understanding for Jake and I, he seemed unconcerned for himself, or his sister. Our children never craved human blood and he didn't see this news changing that. I guess we would just have to wait and see.

He did, however go ballistic when we told him about my new wolf diet, but eventually a couple of days later calmed down when he grew to realize, just as I and Jake had, that it was the wolves or his father.

But for now things, between Jake and I, at least, were better. It was nice-ish. I was still struggling with my bloodlust (for lack of a better word) for Jake. But he was right, coming clean actually helped.

I still wanted Jake's blood and while he was not too happy about me drinking from the wolves, and I don't think he has now, or will ever actually forgive me. If we survive this I will spend the next century or two making it up to him, I wasn't exactly sure how but I was determined to find a way.

But for now, now that he knew, now that there wasn't so much tension between us, it was a little easier being around him. And when it got to be too much he understood when I needed to run out of the room and feed. He wasn't _happy_ that I was still drinking wolves, - okay he was pissed, but what could I do, it was them or him. He said he understood my reasoning and we had come to a compromise, of sorts.

I tried to cut down on the wolves and go after other animals, the wolves were no longer helping as much as they once had, anyway. But when my cravings got really bad I found they were the only thing that stopped me from ripping into Jake's throat.

Tonight was just the four of us, sitting around relaxing in the music/library room. No Seth and Carol, or Leah, or Nahuel

That was another thing I felt awful about. It was my fault Leah broke up with Nahuel. She had caught me in his arms. He was just trying to comfort me, but she completely misunderstood the situation and now, they were still not back together. No longer with his mate, Nahuel looked like crap, from not being able to be with her. And she was always moody every time she came to visit the kids.

Next week's Christmas celebration looked like it was not going to be a very merry day.

I was responsible, but Jake, who was completely innocent in all of it, took it as his responsibility to be the one to put them back together – since Nahuel was who Leah had said she wanted – before I screwed it up for them, anyway. As much as Jake disliked Nahuel, he felt that it was his responsibility, as Alpha, to set things right for a member of his Pack, especially since I – his imprint - was the one to ruin things for her. But, as of yet all of his attempts had been unsuccessful.

Maybe I will have more luck. It was my fault and I needed to fix things. I will have to give it a try tomorrow. But with my luck lately all hell will break loose and I will just end up making things worse.

But tonight was good. Currently David was reading, Jake was studying at the table on the left side of the room, while I was on the right, giving Felicity a piano lesson. Listening to my daughter play, such an exquisite, beautiful melody she had composed, I could easily forget, if not for the intense burning in my throat, that Jake's scent was causing, that is. I loved how almost peaceful and easy(ish) today was going but worried how long this could last.

"Mom, dad, can I talk with you for a minute?" David asked us, slamming shut his book.

"David what is it?" I asked. Felicity decided to continue to practice on her own, while we talked to our son. She so loved the piano, and it was actually hard to drag her away from that thing sometimes, even to hunt.

"I want to talk to you about school next semester."

David and Felicity had audited some classes with us, at Dartmouth this past fall. Felicity only took a couple online, but David went to all of them with us. He had attended all of our Senior level classes, taken all the test, and handed in all of the assignments, even though it wasn't for credit. He hadn't completed his Freshman, Sophomore, or Junior year but we - me, Jake, and the rest of the family, had taught him everything we knew at home and online. Just as we were doing with Felicity.

I would say I was proud of them, but they were quarter-Vampire after all, so it's not like I expected anything less. Neither of them ever forgot anything with their eidetic memories. But, still I was glad they were putting in the effort, even if it was just to build their life experiences. It showed dedication and commitment, to grow and mature, and fit into the human world.

"Guys . . . um," it looked like he was struggling to tell us whatever was on his mind. After two and a quarter minutes of silence he began again. "I don't want to go back to school with you next semester. I want to live in La Push with Gramps," he blurted out.

Not this again. He was my baby. I can't lose him yet. He was only fifteen months old. And what was this about wanting to move in with Billy?

David loved La Push. I knew that. Months ago Jake had promised to take him back to visit. And they had returned, once a month, every month, just for the weekend. I hated being away from them, but Jake told me how it made Dave so happy to be there. We saw with every visit that David grew more and more attached to the Reservation.

Jake and I knew this day was coming. I just didn't want to admit it to myself and Jake had refused to talk about it.

"But you're only one," I began to protest.

"I'm 23, just like you," Dave countered.

"You're one," I said again. I thought about stamping my foot but I didn't think that would help my cause.

"If I'm one, then you're seven." Well he had a point. "So which one is it Mom? Are you and I our physical ages of 23, or am I one, you're seven, and dad's a pedophile?"

I think the shock on my face registered, just as Jake's face fell. I knew he use to have a problem worrying about that. It was one of his biggest fears.

"David . . ." Jake choked, unable to say anything else. How could our son say such a thing?

"Dad, I . . . it's only . . . you know that's not what I meant. I'm sorry I upset you. No one thinks that. But that's my whole point. I'm an adult just as much as mom is."

"I know you're an adult, Dave. That's not why we are objecting to this. It's the fact that you are our son, we've only had you with us for one year and you want to leave us." Jake quietly responded after a minute.

"I've talked to Gramps, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel. They are all on board." Dave continued after neither I nor Jake said anything for a few minutes.

"What?" "What's that supposed to mean?" Jake and I both questioned in disbelief. At least Jake was talking again.

"Well, it's only a three bedroom house, one room for Gramps, one for Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel, and one for cousin Jeremy. Now with the birth of the twins, it's just too small for them. They needed a larger place. Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel just bought a house down the road."

I knew Paul and Rachel couldn't stay with Billy forever. What else could they do? There family was expanding and they needed more room. Billy's house just wasn't big enough to fit their growing family.

"Gramps thinks my coming to live with him is a wonderful idea. He's getting older and he could use the help now that my Aunt and Uncle won't be living there anymore. The timing is perfect, really." David continued.

"And what about the Pack, David. Have you thought about that. There can't be two La Push Packs." Jacob snarled.

I wanted to tell him, with my gift, to calm down, that getting into a fight with our son will not help anything. But that would mean getting closer to him, which was dangerous, so instead I settled on a warning look from across the room. He got the message and luckily his face relaxed and I heard his heart rate slow.

And it was not exactly true, anyway. There had once been two Packs in La Push, for a short time. Jake's Pack - Seth and Leah, had been there before they moved to New Hampshire, and Quil was there, though he has switched to Jared's Pack. Embry was still there though, well nearby. He was still in Jake's Pack, technically, if not actually in La Push, in the Washington state area.

"There won't be. I want to join Jared's Pack when I move there. I've actually talked to him and he has offered to let me be his second, until he stops phasing, in two years. And then I would become Alpha. That's the plan, at least for right now."

His son leaving his Pack was a big blow to Jake. Probably bigger than him wanting to move. He had slugged himself over to the sofa, next to Dave, and slumped down, looking a bit defeated. I knew Dave's words hurt, but Jake really needed to pull himself together. Where was my Alpha wolf?

"What about Collin?" Jake asked, seemingly recovering enough to try to come up with other reasons to dissuade our son. "He's already Jared's second. You can't just take his place."

"Collin is not going to be phasing forever. He imprinted remember. He's going to be getting married soon and he doesn't want to be a wolf that much longer. He's already twenty and wants to start aging again in a few years and grow old with his fiancé."

Damn-it! It looked like he had everything thought out, almost.

"And what about school?" I asked. "What about money? What are you going to do for work? How are you supposed to live out there? You know food, clothes, books, school, your comics and video games that you love so much – they all cost money." I knew it was really just an empty threat. Of course I would give him whatever money he needed but he couldn't just live off of other people's money his entire life.

"I'm going to continue doing what I am doing right now. I applied, and have been accepted to a school in California. I know it's a little bit away, but I've set it up so that most of my classes are going to be online; just like yours are right now. I'll have to only actually go to the school once a week and I can handle that. It's not that bad of a drive.

What? How did he do all of that without any of us finding out? How had Jake not heard anything in his thoughts when they were both phased?

"And as for work, I'm sure I can get a part time job somewhere out there. It wouldn't have to be much. And once I get a degree I'm sure I can find something better in time. Really guys you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"But we're your family. Won't you miss us?" Felicity sadly whimpered from the corner. Of course she had heard every word. Those two were so close. I wonder if they had talked about this previously?

"Of course I'll miss you, Fliss," he replied, using his nickname for his sister. "Just like you will miss me. But we have family in La Push too. Why don't you come with me?"

NO! I can't lose both of my children. Not yet, not on the same day.

"I don't want to leave." Thank goodness. "Why don't you want to stay with us, don't you love us?" she cried.

"Of course I do, but I don't like it here. I don't feel comfortable here. This place is not my home."

"Of course it is. You live here. You've always lived here."

"No. This is just a house," Dave said waving his arm around. "La Push is my home. Yours too," he said now looking at both Jake and my daughter.

"Yeah and what about your mother?" Jake questioned him. "You know it's too dangerous."

"Why? So what if all the potential teens on the Res turn into wolves because of her? Why is that such a bad thing? Is there something wrong with being a wolf?" he asked. I knew he was really asking Jake if there was something wrong with him.

"Of course not. But not everyone sees it that way. And fighting Vampires, protecting the Tribe, it's inherently dangerous. It's not something that should be forced on someone. You can't make life altering decisions for other people."

"Like you are trying to make for me? This is my life. This is what I want. That is where I want to live, I want to be a wolf, I want to protect the Tribe. They are my people. I feel this connection to them and the land there. Why don't you, dad?"

I knew why Jake didn't anymore. He wasn't connected to any set place on earth anymore, not since the day I was born. The day he imprinted on me. He always told me imprinting was like gravity, that it's not the earth holding him, it was me. Jake had lost his connection to the Reservation, his family, his Tribe, all because of me.

And just to confirm my thought, Jake just looked at me. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Dave had seen into Jake's mind, he knew this was how he felt, too.

 _Maybe we should let him go._ I finally risked going over to Jake, to say with my gift. It was hard to be so close to him, but I just needed to stay in control a little while, then I would rush back to the other side of the room. Maybe even stick my head out the window and take a few breaths of fresh air.

I wanted us to be in agreement before we said anything definitive, out loud. And I didn't want to let Dave go, but maybe my son was right. He was all grown up, as much as I hated to admit it. Was it fair to keep him here, just so I would feel better, if it made him miserable?

Normally Jake and I would huddle together, somewhere private and discuss this but we couldn't exactly do that right now. This was important so still using my gift I showed him all the reasons why I thought we needed to let David go. I still thought he was too young. He wasn't even two but I knew better than anybody else what it was like to grow up so fast and I didn't really want him to just run away again.

"Nessie?" Jake just questioned me.

"Jake, you left home to come live with us when you were was just 17." I replied, as I moved to a safer distance away from him. "As much as I hate to admit it, David is a man now." At least he appeared to be. Mentally he, like I had been an adult from the time we outwardly resembled six year olds. "We need to let him do this."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed over to me.

* * *

"How did you not know he was planning this?" I questioned Jake later that night, after the kids went to bed, but before I left to go to the other house.

"He seems to have learned a few things from Leah I guess, but honestly I wasn't looking. I have been trying to give him some space and not pry. I hated it when Edward was always in my head, looking for anything I did wrong."

"He didn't do that."

"Maybe not, but it felt that way. And when Dave asked me to not invade his privacy, I tried to honor his request. I thought he was embarrassed about a crush he had on girl he met at school, or something. This is my fault. I should have been paying more attention," he huffed.

"Don't be ridiculous, this still would have happened, we would have just found out about it sooner." I said to him before leaving to sulk back to my aunts and uncles old house. As I walked there alone reality crashed down on me again, as it did every night. I prepared to spend another long, sleepless night away from my soulmate. We had been taking turns sleeping here, saturating the sheets with each other's scent. It was better than nothing but not nearly enough.

It was so hard. I tried to stay away from my Jacob as much as I could during the day as well, but it wasn't really feasible. I was his imprint and we were just magnetically drawn together. I couldn't get too close to him, though for fear that I would lung for his throat.

We ended up spontaneously engaging in this weird mirror play, where we would stand on opposite sides of whatever room we happen to be in and just follow each other around, sort of close, but not exactly. It was horrible. We hadn't touched each other in weeks. And it was _frustrating_ on more than one level.

I don't know how Jake was putting up with it because I was crawling out of my skin with all of the tension. But in knew I couldn't risk it.

Just thinking about what happened between Nahuel and Leah sent shivers down my spine. If I accidentally bit Jacob, like Nahuel did with Leah, in the height of passion, there would be no way I'd be able to stop myself. I'm not sure how the hell Nahuel had. Of course he was not suffering from whatever pseudo-newborn, hybrid, maturity, bloodlust that I was.

Today was hard. Harder than yesterday, but not as bad as tomorrow will be. Each day, everything got a little harder. My thirst for Jake got a little bit more intense. The space I had to keep between us grew a little larger. And it was not just my want and need for his blood.

I wanted him – all of him.

My need, my want, to reach out and touch him, and have him touch me. Comfort me. Just . . . do _things_ to me, to each other was growing, rapidly! Every. Single. Day!

I don't know how much longer either one of us was going to be able to take this. I was hoping that, at some point the cravings would go away, like Nahuel had said they would. But according to him they only went away after many months, to a year, and only after drinking, no, gorging on blood . . . so much blood.

Nahuel in a way equated it to almost being a newborn. I wished that meant that eventually it would just go away on its own, But I knew it wouldn't. I knew that it wouldn't go away until I had drunk every last drop from my Jacob. It would be like this between us until I did. And unfortunately Nahuel, the only one here who had been through this was not able to give me any help or solutions. was not able to give me any answers.

* * *

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	83. Missing Imprint

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Three**

 **Missing Imprint**

Jacob's Point of View

I hoped this was just going to be temporary. Nessie and I had tried to resign ourselves to the reality that David needed to do this, but it was still hard. How long did he really plan to stay in La Push? Away from his family? Could he really leave his sister? They were so close. He couldn't really abandon her like this, could he? I imagined he'd stay for a while, a few months at most, then get home sick and miss his family and come back to New Hampshire. Not that Billy wasn't his family, he would always be his grandfather, but as much as we loved him, and understood he needed to do this, we were still his patents, and wanted our son home with us, at least for a little bit longer.

I planned to stay in La Push for a little while, a week maybe, just to make sure he got settled in. I don't like being away from Nessie for so long, but she was staying home with Felicity, who refused to come. One of us had to. And Nessie really shouldn't be around un-phased teens if it could be avoided. We weren't sure exactly how much exposure would set off the change.

And also someone needed to meet Mrs. Ripley, the new intermediary I had finally found to replace Jack Fisher. She use to be a real estate agent before having kids. Her time wasn't as open as Jakes had been, but she knew exactly what we needed, knew how to talk to Seth and was perfectly discrete and willing to keep our secret. We just needed to schedule our meetings around her schedule. Well, technically her kids schedule. Most meetings had to be held between when she dropped them of at school, and shuttled them to their after school activities.

It worked well enough, but we had a meeting set up for the day after tomorrow, at 12:30. It was the only time available for the next few days and we needed to let Seth know about the next round of inspections on the house.

Not that this was our number one priority, but we owed this to Seth, not that he was any closer to figuring out that we were behind his current job, or anything.

Right now We needed to cheer up Felicity and help Dave get ready to leave.

Felicity was beyond upset that her brother was leaving. She flat out refused to talk to him and wouldn't even acknowledge David over the past week, while he slowly packed up his room.

When everything was boxed up we had everything shipped to Billy's house ahead of his flight. Paul and Rachel assured us that they would have all of their stuff moved out of Billy's house and into their new place, save a few items – a couple changes of clothes, their beds, and some of the kids toys, that they waited to move until David arrived, not wanting to leave my father alone, completely.

Billy's health has been declining more and more over the years. It was a combination of his age and the diabetes. He needed someone with him most of the time, not that he was bedridden yet, but he needed help with the little things he use to be able to do on his own - tie his shoes, do the laundry, make dinner, things like that. Last year he had surgery to remove two of his toes and a couple of months ago Paul and Rachel had mentioned that he was losing the use of his left hand. He was a righty and could still handle the TV remote so his spirits were up, at least that was what Paul assured me.

If David didn't end up staying, and moved back home in the near future, I would have to find someone to care for Billy. As least I was now in a position to afford that. I had offered Paul and Rachel, and David already, but they had refused. I think I might just go ahead and employ someone anyway, at least to stop in every now and then, at least while David will be in school.

Paul mentioned that Sue, Charlie, Sam, Emily, the whole Pack and imprints, already stop by, all the time, to check on him, already. They tried to make it look like they were just visiting, not wanting to make him feel bad or dependent or anything, but still it was nice to know that he was being looked after.

During the 8 hour flight back to Washington, I should have probably been using the time to talk to David about what he was going to do once he was out there. How was he going to get to school? What was he going to do for a job? How was he going to earn money to live on? Would he really like living with and looking after his grandfather? I thought Billy was pretty easy to get along with, but the two of them really didn't know each other that well. There was a million things we probably should have been talking about right now, to get him prepared at the very least.

But instead, my mind kept wandering back to Nessie. All I could think about was her. Her bloodlust for me was getting more and more insatiable and there seemed to be nothing I could do to help.

So when the plane landed and we gathered our bags, got into the rental car, and began the two hour drive from the SeaTac Airport to La Push, I still hadn't thought of what to say to my son.

"DAD! What is it!" David screamed at me when we were about an hour away from La Push.

"Huh?" I pathetically quipped back to him. I wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about.

"Dad it's been nine hours. You haven't said a word to me this entire trip. What is wrong? You're so pissed at me you're giving me the silent treatment like Felicity? You're never going to talk to me again, either? Is that it? I thought you had come to terms with me moving home to La Push and moving in with Grandpa Billy, but if you're just never going to speak to me again . . ."

"No, Dave. That wasn't what I was doing. I . . . I'm sorry, I was actually thinking about your mother."

"Oh." Understanding replace the anger that had been on his face. "Things haven't been going that great between the two of you lately, have they?" he questioned me.

"We are just dealing with a few issues, nothing for you to worry about. Really, don't fret, it'll be fine." I lied. In reality I wasn't sure how we're going to fix things but really it was all I could think about lately. "I shouldn't have been ignoring you, you're right. This is our time together, our last time . . . for a little while now."

"Hey dad, if you want to talk about . . . things, go right ahead, I'm here to listen," he replied.

Damn. I have tried to keep the actual _enormity_ of Nessie's bloodlust for me away from our children. I didn't want them worrying about us. Clearly at least David had found out. Maybe he had seen something when we were both phased. I try not to think about it when we were, but I'm sure he might have found something. Then again he and his sister probably noticed that we weren't sleeping in the same bedroom anymore.

"Fine. I didn't think that it was possible," David went on, ''for imprints to fight, and break up, like you guys are. I thought it was a lifelong bond, or something. But feeding from wolves was bad, I know. I don't know how you could forgive her for something like that"

"No David, it is. That's not so what's happening here. And your mother and I aren't breaking up." Then probably against my better judgment I broke down and told him the entire truth. I wasn't sure how he was going to take it, we hadn't mentioned how bad it was to either of our children, we had just given them the basics, so they would know what might happen to them if or when it did, when they stopped aging. But I guess he deserved to know how bad his mother's bloodlust had gotten for me, if he, himself would someday have to go through what his mother was.

Then again he might not. Nessie thought she was only this attracted to my blood because of our imprint bond. David didn't have an imprint. He would finish growing in a matter of months, imprint free, and without a soulmate he need not worry about this happening to him. And he wasn't attracted to human blood anyway. I'm sure he could gorge on half the deer in the state and that would be the end of it, if this was like Nahuel said, the end of the maturation process for half-Vampires.

* * *

After we arrived at Billy's, we helped Paul move the rest of his family's stuff down the street to their new house, before unpacked all of David's shipped belongings. My old bed, dressers and other items had been stored in the attic and instead of buying new things for David we just brought them down.

Nessie and I didn't want him to feel like he couldn't come home to New Hampshire, even to visit, so all of his furniture and bedding stayed in his room there. At some point we would have to go and buy him some new sheets and stuff for here. After we organized everything a bit we decided to head out for a while. Billy and Charlie had gone off fishing for the day so the house was empty.

I decided to give him a more extensive tour of La Push than he'd gotten on his previous visits. Most of the time, when we had come here, we had been running as wolves or hanging out at First Beach. He loved those places, but there was more about the Res than just the beach and woods.

I decided to show him around some of the main streets and stores that he would need to go to around here, including a big box retail shopping store, the food market, and the drug store, since he'd probably have to be the one filling Billy s prescriptions, and a couple of clothing stores; things like that.

"Oh my goodness, Jacob Black, is that you?" the old woman behind the counter shouted, as soon as we walked through the door of the convenience store I used to work at during high school. It had been nine years since I'd seen her. Her hair appeared reversed, more grey than black now, and it looked like she had lost a few pounds over the years, but her smile was just as genuine and her eyes ever as kind.

Back then, when I use to work at the store, before I began phasing of course, I looked like a typical, skinny 16 year old teenager, now I looked like a 25 year old man. Of course I was pretty much that now, and had been ever since I first phased. But she didn't know anything about werewolves or any of that. In a way it was good that she hadn't seen me all this time, I'm sure she just assumed I aged normally between now and then.

"Mrs. Archer, it's good to see you again," I smiled warmly at her while going over to the counter and wrapping her in a giant hug. She was always so kind to me back then, and never even made a deal out of the fact that I pretty much just abandon her one day, never returning to work, back when I first phased into a wolf. There was no way I would have been able to continue working behind the counter of the convenience store, she owned, together with her now dead husband. I was way too temperamental back then, phasing into a wolf anytime my anger got too much for me. I would never be able to work at convenience store with customers coming in and out with their annoying issues or just messing up shelves that I just cleaned, organized, and restocked. But she never said one harsh word to me the few times she saw me after that and I was so grateful to her.

I'm pretty sure Billy had called her and gave her some excuse back then anyway, but a personal call, from me, letting her know I was quitting with at least a two week notice would have been right thing do, if I had been able to at the time, which I was not.

"And who is this?" she asked looking at my son.

"Oh, this is . . . err, my . . . um friend, David," I replied. My son looked about 23 years old. There was no way people would believe he was mine.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you," David jumped in, extending his arm and shaking her hand. At least he was showing some good manners. I guess Nessie and I did something right raising him over the past 15 months. Sheesh, that's really not that long, I winced to myself again.

"You have a lovely store," David continued as his eyes wandered around to some shelves behind the counter before something caught his eye in the corner. Of course it was a magazine rack and it look like there's a few Comics there that David was eyeing. It's funny in a way; all David wanted to do was be seen as an adult and here he was looking at Comic Books meant for children.

"Oh, those are strange funny little things, aren't they?" Mrs. Arthur snickered to herself, after following David's glance, herself. "Do you have a son that likes Comic Books?" she asked him.

"No, ma'am. I don't. Not yet anyway. I just used to read this one when I was little," he replied, looking a little embarrassed as he put the one he was holding back down.

"When you were little?" she questions him, but more to herself "This one's only been out for about three years."

It looked like David's cover story was about to be blown, or whatever it was that we were trying to pull off here.

"Um, David is about to begin college," I said a little louder than necessary to Mrs. Archer, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh, that's so wonderful! Did you just move here for school? I don't remember seeing you around these parts before."

"I actually have come around a little bit every once in awhile but this is where my family was from, originally. They moved away but some of my family does still live here. I'm moving in with them while I go to school," he replied.

"Oh, I see. Well, would you be looking for a job then? Because I do happen to need a new cashier and stock boy. It's just part time but if you're going to be going to college then you probably won't have a lot of free time anyway."

This is going to be perfect. I wouldn't even have to help David get a job, it would make him feel like he actually got one on his own, in a way, I guess.

"You wouldn't believe how big the boys grow around here," she continued, looking David and I up and down, now. "Actually, I guess you two would, but it seems like I have to restock the shelves here all of the time. Some of the boys on the Reservation seem to get the munchies two to three times a day, sometimes. Not that I'm complaining. Business has been wonderful this past decade or so. And if you were working here," she added, "you get a 10% discount, which judging by the size of you, will probably come in very handy." We all started chuckling. If she only knew the real reason why I don't think she would be laughing, but as the saying goes – ignorance is bliss.

David ended up eagerly accepted the job and was set to start next week, giving him a bit of time to get settled in first, then it would be time for me to leave.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

"What are you doing here?" I asked my family as their airport taxi's pulled out. They had just showed up, out of the blue. No text. No video chat. No nothing. They hadn't called, or anything, to let me know they were coming; not that I was upset. I was overjoyed that they're back, but what was going on?

"I called them, mom," my daughter answered. "I couldn't stand seeing you like this anymore."

"Actually," my father interjected, "we were going to be coming anyway. Alice had a vision that we would be here so we had already started packing when you called, Felicity; but until your phone call we didn't know why. Renesmee what is going on? Is there a problem? Has something happened?"

I tried to answer but I couldn't even get two words out. He probably saw everything in my mind already, anyway about how Jacob and David had left – over a month ago, and never returned. Instead of answering out loud, so that the rest of my family could hear I unintentionally dropped down on the floor, crying hysterically.

This was all my fault. If I had been a better mother to David, if I had taught him better, explained things to him, let him hunt Vampires around us, or . . . I don't know, something, then maybe, he would have stayed.

And Jake probably wouldn't have stayed away if I hadn't hunted wolves. They _both_ would still be here if it wasn't for me. But my stupid, selfish, weak reason for doing it . . . I never should have. I should have been stronger. I should have fought . . . fought my thirst better. I thought, at the time, it was the best solution; so that I wouldn't kill my Jacob. I couldn't hurt him.

I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, but now I've lost him; and my son, as well. They're gone. So what was the point?

I heard my father explain to everyone what I just thought in my mind, while my mother gently carried me up to my bedroom. Then she wrapped herself around me in my bed, cuddling me, as I wept into her hair. At some point I must have cried myself to sleep because the next thing I knew it was morning. I woke up, still in bed, but now wrapped in blankets. My mother was gone. I wish she was still here, I needed someone to hold me.

Instead I got up and went to take a shower. Once in, I just stood there, for what seemed like forever but it was really just over an hour. The warmth reminded me of Jacob. The water heater at the house was set at a hundred fifty degrees normally, so I just stood there, letting the warmth wash over me, pretending it was my Jacob. Nothing else ever seemed warm to me. But this - this reminder of Jacob it was another mistake. It brought all my sadness, fears, concerns, back and I crumbled down on the shower floor as the tears ran down my cheeks, once again.

Eventually my Aunts came and got me, wrapping me in a fluffy towel and quickly dressing me in something, I don't know what, I didn't really care either.

I could tell my father was furious. Which he should be. He heard everything by now. He heard the whole horrible truth. He knew what a monster I truly was. He now knew I was a horrible person. I couldn't believe I had done this. I'd ripped my family apart.

"No darling," he softly whispered over to me as my Aunts walked me into the living room where my family had gathered. "I'm not mad at you. You did nothing wrong. What you did was not evil or even intentional. You tried to do the best you could in a no-win situation. But we will find a solution to this. Don't worry, my darling. And don't worry about Jacob," he growled. "Everything will work out. I'll make sure of it."

What did he mean by that? How was he going to fix things for us?

"Renesmee, don't worry. It will all work out," my grandmother reiterated as she placed the breakfast she had made in front of me at the kitchen table. It looked so good, I wish I had an appetite.

"Nessie, darling, sweetheart," my mother cooed softly to me, "why didn't you call us? We would have been back sooner, we could have helped."

"How can you help? I want to feed from Jacob and I can't do that. There's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I can drink from him or turn him into a Vampire to curve my appetite for his blood like Dad did to you."

"Nessie, if there's a solution to this problem then we will find a way. You just have to believe that. You and Jacob were meant to be together."

* * *

"Nessie, honey you really need to eat something," my Aunt Alice said to me, waving the latest deer she caught me in front of my face. But I couldn't.

Deer blood no longer had any appeal to me. Neither did almost any other animal. The same was true of human food, but I never really cared for it, and now I couldn't even bring myself to eat the ones I mildly enjoyed - eggs and strawberries.

The only thing that I did want was Jacob's blood, and well . . . other wolves. But the reaction I got from Jacob – his leaving - was too destructive. I just couldn't drink them anymore.

But it didn't matter anyway. He was gone, he went home to La Push. I haven't heard anything from him, since he left. I know everybody in the family was worried about me. I heard the whispers behind my back. The plans my parents tried to impress upon my grandfather in order to force-feed me some blood, but my grandfather wouldn't allow it. And it's not like I was going to die. I was Immortal after all, so what was the point?

Sure I had lost some weight and wasn't as strong as I normally was, but I didn't care.

Of course my mother tried reasoning with me.

"What if we're wrong, Renesmee. What if you are only immortal up to a point? You need to eat honey."

But I didn't care, I couldn't be swayed. Maybe it was better this way. What was the point of living if I didn't have Jacob in my life.

David was where he wanted to be, and Felicity had adapted and was doing well, as far as I could tell. Nothing ever seemed to get her too down. She initially wept when her brother left, but as I withdrew more and more, while waiting for Jacob to return, she began hanging out more with Nahuel. They seemed to have become good friends and she was doing well, having found a substitute replacement brother/father figure in him, or something. I was too lost to really tell.

I just didn't understand it. Why hadn't Jake called me? I tried phoning and texting him a number of times. I couldn't get a hold of him, or David. The only person I was able to reach was Billy, and he just said that they were busy. Billy assured be that he was relaying my messages to Jake, but I never heard from him directly. Why couldn't he just call? How busy could he be moving David into Billy's house? And why would it take so long? Eventually I came to realize that "busy" must have been some sort of code that he had left me. I guess that was understandable, what I had done, drinking from wolves was apparently inexcusable. But he left Felicity too. How could he do that to his own daughter? And why wouldn't Dave want to talk to her either?

I was all questions and no answers.

I could not understand how Jake could do this to me. He imprinted on me. Didn't that mean that he had to love me? Had this been too much that I actually broke our imprint? No that could not be it. I was sure he loved me still. Just as much as I loved him.

But what had happened?

Finally it dawned on me. Jacob must have realized how low my control actually had gotten and decided it was safest for him to stay away. And that must be why he so readily agreed to let Dave move as well. Maybe he was also concerned for our son's safety.

Maybe.

As I looked around the room I noticed that's my father was missing. "Where's Dad?" I asked to no one in particular. Everyone's eyes kind of darted around, not settling on anything in particular or looked to the floor. There was something that they weren't telling me.

"What? What is it?" I asked again.

"Your father's gone to La Push, honey," my mother finally admitted to me.

"What? Why?" I screamed. I hadn't meant to, but my emotions got the better of me.

"He is going to bring Jacob home, of course," Aunt Alice chirped, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, he can't! It's too dangerous. Why would he do that?"

"Nessie, the only way to fix this is for him to be here, so we can work it out and find a solution. Nothing is ever going to get fixed if you two are separated." Rose tried to explain.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review


	84. MINE

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Four**

 **MINE**

Jacob's Point of View

My phone started vibrating on the ground beside me.

I didn't really want to phase back, I needed to watch David and make sure he didn't do anything stupid, but I saw on the caller ID who was calling. He knew I was out here as a wolf, why wouldn't he just phase to talk to me? Something must be wrong if he had bothered to call. Reluctantly I phased back and answered the still ringing phone. This better be good.

"What is it Jared?" I snapped.

"Hello Jacob."

"Edward?" His voice on the other end of the line caught me off guard. I saw he had called a couple of times earlier this morning, but since he was still in France I had let it go to voicemail.

I had been doing that a lot since I got here. Not actually talking to anyone unless it was an absolute emergency.

Not even Nessie, thought it killed me to do so. I missed her so much. I can't believe I missed Valentine's Day. I had so much to make up for when this was all over. But for now I thought that talking to her on the phone, or even worse Skyping with her, seeing her face, would be too much. I would abandon my mission and run back home to my beloved. But I couldn't, I had to stay focused. This was too important.

So, like with everyone else, I had figured I would wait and call Edward back later, once David was safely back home at Billy's. But Eddie wasn't in France, if he was using Jared's phone he must be in Washington. And he would only come here if there was an emergency. I started to panic. "Is Nessie alright?"

"That's why I'm here. I need to talk to you, in person."

"Please just tell me that she's okay?"

"Physically she is fine."

Thank goodness. But there was an edge to his voice that told me there was more that he wasn't telling me. It seemed like whatever he wanted to say he was going to wait to tell me in person.

"Alright, um, where are you right now?"

"I'm at the treaty line . . . wait, here is Jared."

"Hey Jake, Edward wants to come onto the Res. I don't have a problem with it, since he just wants to talk to you, he says he'll leave as soon as he's done, and promises to stay with you the whole time. Sound good? Want me to bring him over to you?"

That's a lot different than what I had to go through with Sam and the Elders, to get Nessie there when she was younger to hang out. But thought it was going to be a onetime thing. I guess it was like when Sam let Alice and Jasper cross our lands into the ocean prior to when the Volturi were coming.

"Err I'm actually just outside of the Makah Reservation." You know, spying on my son.

"O . . . kay. Um, Where about, I'll bring Edward to you."

"Sure, sure." I replied, before quickly let him know exactly where I was before hanging up the phone.

Now what was I going to do? How was I going to keep tabs on David while talking to Edward? And what exactly did he want?

What was I going to do? Embry! He was nearby.

I quickly phased back, then howled for Embry to come take my place. Thankfully he wasn't doing anything he couldn't get out of and showed up just before Edward did.

Where was Jared?

"I got your location out of his head," Edward said, tapping his own. Of course.

After filling Embry in on what I needed, Edward and I walked deeper into the forest.

 _Alright Edward, you're here, we're alone, now what is going on?_ I didn't really have time for games. And I still wanted to stay a wolf, to watch through Embry, that everything was going okay.

"My daughter seems to be under the impression that you are angry at her, and that you've left her for what she did."

What! How could she think that? _Hasn't Billy been giving her my massages?_

"Yes but she had doubted they were really from you, since you never spoke directly her, she thinks Billy is just trying to placate her."

 _That's insane. She knows I love her. But really what am I supposed to do about the whole wolf/blood craving mess?_ We were stuck at an impasse.

"I know Jacob. The situation doesn't look good."

 _You know I would gladly give Nessie my blood. All of it, if she needed or even just wanted it. I love her more than anything._ _But that wouldn't really solve the problem and I know it would be so upsetting for._ Killing me, that is. It would torment her and that would just lead to a whole new set of problems. And I wouldn't be alive anymore to help. I don't want to just solve one problem to cause her a new set of them.

I couldn't stand to be the cause of any of her problems or pain in any way. _I don't know what to do. Edward I don't know how to fix this._

I began thinking of the only solution I could think of. The one Nessie had rejected. I showed Edward how I wanted to get her to drink from me and have donated blood nearby to transfuse me, just in case. Even if Nessie had already rejected that idea, maybe Edward could get her to agree.

"My daughter was right," he replied. "Your solution was not one. It would have been too dangerous. Just like Renesmee thought there would have been almost no way she would have been able to stop herself. And then who would have been available to set up the IV for you?"

 _Yeah, I guess it really wouldn't . . ._

"Of course now that we are all back . . ."

All of the Cullens are back? Of course I should have known they would all come here together.

"Actually I am the only one in Washington, the rest of the family is with Nessie and Felicity in New Hampshire. But back to your plan . . . what you are suggesting is extremely dangerous Jacob."

Wait! He's really considering it? _Does this mean you think it might work?_

"It could," he hesitated. "But it would be hard, painful . . ." Doesn't he know that I'm more than willing to put up with some pain if it would help my angel.

"For both of you."

Oh, the last thing I wanted to do was cause Nessie pain.

"We would probably have to rip her off of you, if her bloodlust has gotten as bad as she says," he continued ignoring my inner ramblings. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he worked out the exact mechanics of how this would all work. I might be reunited with my angel before expected. Well as soon as I was done dealing with the current fiasco.

"What fiasco?" That got Edwards attention.

 _Well unfortunately I have had some rather unsettling problems with my son I have needed to deal with right now. It's been what has taken up almost every minute of my time here._

 _And there's also Billy's health, I'm not sure you know, I've tried to keep most of it from Nessie, but Billy isn't doing so good._

 _But that's why I haven't been able to get back to Nessie, why I didn't answer the phone when you called,_ I thought to him, while visualizing everything I've been dealing with regarding David this past month:

Soon after he and I first arrived, over a month ago, I had thought it would be nice if David could get better acquainted with my old friends and Pack members, Quil and Embry, (former Pack, in Quil's case). I set up a picnic lunch for all of us to take place that Saturday. I know he had met Quil before but this time they were both bringing their imprints. Embry and Colleen along with Quil and Claire all planned to meet us on First Beach at noon. The truck delivering David's new mattress arrived just as we were getting ready to leave so we were running late and had phased to make up the time. There were all at the beach waiting for us.

Quil was thrilled because Claire's mother had let her come down for the _entire_ day from the Makah Reservation. That in and of itself was unusual, she was there to visit with Quil every other day or so, but only for an hour or two after school, that or he would go up there to see her. What was also unusual was that she brought her older sister, Janet, with her that day.

Claire and Janet were only separated by a few years of age, but with Claire spending so much time with Quil, due to his imprinting on her, back when she was just two years old, the sisters never really hung out that much. Now Claire was ten and they were practically strangers.

It was a little sad really. I had hoped that one of the younger wolves would have imprinted on Janet, someone that could be her best friend, too. But it had never happened. I had thought that it was nice that she was tagging along for our picnic. I know she was probably a little lonely.

And then it happened. Janet was playing when she must have heard a rustle in the woods, from our giant wolf bodies and looked over to see what made the noise. David took one look at her, from the edge of the forest, their eyes met and I knew I had lost my son.

Damn-it. 30 seconds prior, I had been wishing that someone would have imprinted on Janet and now that it had actually happened, I was not feeling that same level of enthusiasm. At least with her only being 13 years old it would give the two of them a few years to grow up a bit before anything even started to turn romantic.

 _Mine,_ I heard David huff to himself as his eyes locked onto hers.

What? Oh crap! I did not like what was going on in his head. It was way too soon for him to be thinking like that.

 _Wait son. We need to talk a little about what just happened._ I positioned myself in front of him as he went to go move towards her.

I think I was going to have to explain imprinting and the birds and the bees to him, all at the same time. I guess it's my fault for waiting but I never thought my one and a half year old would imprint so young.

How much was I really going to have to tell him though? I was sure he already learned more than I would have liked from Leah and myself when we were both phased.

I had tried to keep thoughts of Nessie and my private time out of my thoughts when I was a wolf, but I unfortunately know I slipped, at least twice, in front of him. That combined with the biology school work he learned from Carlisle meant that there was probably little he didn't already know. And I don't even want to think about what he picked up from Leah's thoughts.

 _Sheesh dad, enough with the mental images. Gross. I've already seen more than I wanted to of you and mom like that. And don't bother anyway, you're right. I'm pretty sure I know all I need too._

 _Okay, Dave, no sex talk,_ I could now also see for myself that he did in fact already know more than enough. Too much actually. Someone (Paul, maybe? Or more likely Leah.) had some explaining to do. But I would deal with them later.

I don't think Leah meant too but once the secret of her and Nahuel's relationship was out in the open, before they broke up, that is, the two of them weren't exactly discreet and it seemed like she wasn't guarding her thoughts, when phased, as much as she should have been, and now I could see that Dave had snooped around. I probably should be mad at him too, but I understood what it was like to be a teenage boy. But had Leah really been so caught up daydreaming about Nahuel so much that she didn't realize my son was peeking into her head?

Later, that was a problem for later.

 _Right now we should talk about imprinting, Dave._

 _I don't want to talk dad. I need to go to her. Look at her, look how unhappy she is._

Unhappy? She was playing, on the beach, with everyone else. Quil had seen us, too and quickly distracted her so she wouldn't get freaked out seeing two giant wolves, so close. She was smiling and laughing, maybe not as much as the other two couples, not that Quil and Claire were a couple yet, but he had imprinted on her, which made them each other's halves. No one was going to be as happy as a wolf and his imprint. But Quil was doing his best to include Janet in on the fun.

They were playing around at the edge of the water, trying to splash and kick, soaking each other. It looked like they were all laughing and having a good time. Then Quil, joking around picked up Janet and threw her into the water, before he jumped in himself and they continued their splashing game.

The next thing I knew David was trying to get around me, heading towards them. I saw what he was planning and I immediately jumped in front of him again and started pushing him with my head so that he would back up. Force him back of the cover of the trees.

 _What exactly do you think you're doing?_

 _He touched her._ He screamed to me in his head. _He threw he into the water, she could have gotten hurt. I need to make sure she is okay._

 _You can't go over there like this. Not as a wolf._ You _could hurt her! And Janet doesn't know anything about wolves. Even if you didn't hurt her, you still probable would have scared her to death._

 _I wasn't going to hurt her, I would never. I need to get her away from that guy though. His hands were all over her. She's mine._

 _First of all, Quil did not have his hands all over Janet. He imprinted on Claire. Do you know what imprinting is?_

 _Of course I do. It's like true love, or something. Like what you did to mom, or Sam did to Emily, or what Uncle Paul did with Aunt Rachel. Its finding your soulmate, right?_

 _That's about it, so you know Quil doesn't have any feelings or desires for Janet. He only sees and loves Claire._

 _Good, because Janet is mine._

 _That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, David. Just because you imprinted on Janet does not automatically make her yours. She gets a choice. She might fall in love with you or not. She may choose someone else._

 _No! She can't. We belong together._

 _Maybe, but not yet. David look at her, she's still a child. What you're thinking . . . if you were to do it, any of it, it's is going to get you arrested._ I wanted to tell him more that it might make her hate him or at least be scared of him. And her parents would never let him near her ever again if they found out. _You can't touch her like_ that _for at least five years. Not until she turns 18. And that is only if she wants you too._

 _Why? I'm not even two._

 _David she is still a child, Besides you don't even know her. You need to slowly introduce yourself to her and then overtime build up a friendship. Eventually if she wants your relationship to turn romantic then that is her choice. Her decision, not yours._

 _But I love her. I need to be with her._

 _I know it feels that way, but that's not how imprinting works._

We never made it to the picnic. But Dave wouldn't leave Janet's view, so we stayed at the edge of the forest, close to the beach but safely out of sight. I had spent the next couple of hours going over exactly what imprinting was, with David, but even though he listened to what I said, he didn't want to wait. He wanted to go to her and I had to keep forcing him back into the woods. What was wrong with him? Quil and I never thought of our child imprints like that.

"Perhaps it is because he is still so young, technically," Edward surmised after I finished recalling everything. "His Vampire side seems to have thrown some of your Quileute magic a bit out of whack."

 _Yeah, no kidding. He can't seem to stay away from her, and even though she has tolerated him being around she sees him as an adult. She's a girl, barely a teenager. She's into_ _Nick Robinson, Ansel Elgort and other boys in the movies and boy bands right now. She doesn't see him like that, and she shouldn't. I've spent almost every waking minute, that I'm not looking after Billy, here either watching to make sure he doesn't jump her or trying to talk some sense into him._ I know he is my son and I love him, but he is the most stubborn man on the planet.

"I definitely would have to agree with you on that Jacob, but it seems like there might be more going on here than just his unwillingness to err . . . _compromise_ on this. It's almost as if you and your son were destined to live two completely separate lives. Everything that has happened to you has pushed you away from your home on the Quileute Reservation. But for your son, everything in his life keeps thrusting him here, like this is where he is supposed to be, even down to him imprinting so quickly on someone, as completely as he had."

What was that supposed to mean? Was he implying that I wasn't completely devoted to his daughter? I know that was ridiculous, but what did he mean?

"Have you actually looked into his mind? I know you have heard his thoughts, but have you understood their meaning? I'm not exactly sure what he feels towards the girl, but does it seem like he just wants to _physically_ be with her? Or is it that he needs to actually be near her, just like he needs to be here, in this place? He imprinted. You know what that means. I don't think that he would ever be able to leave her anymore than you would be able to truly leave my daughter. His imprinting just seems to be another thing to tie him to the Reservation."

 _What are you implying? That you think his imprinting is unnatural? That they weren't really Soulmates?_ That was ridiculous. I know David's imprinting was a little odd, he didn't seem to be as concerned about Janet's feelings (or youth) as I would have assumed, but he wasn't exactly normal. Some things were bound to be a little off, I guess. But that didn't mean that his imprinting was fake.

No, not fake, Jacob. I believe it is real, but I think all of the events of his life have conspired, in a way, so that he would find her, right away, to imprint on her, so that he would stay here. That way there would be no way you could bring him back home to New Hampshire," he said giving me a knowing look. "Everything seems to be so extreme with him for some unknown reason; like there is a greater purpose. That he needs to be here. I'm just not sure what that purpose is exactly," he shrugged.

This was getting ridiculous. What greater purpose was there in him practically molesting some innocent little girl?

"That is not going to happen Jacob. Please just try to take a step back and see the big picture. Think about it, Jacob. You once felt the same way when you first imprinted on Nessie."

 _Like hell I did!_

"That's not what I mean. Do you remember explaining to Bella, while she was attacking you, after she was first changed, that her giving birth to Renesmee, so you could imprint on her, was part of some bigger _plan_ all along. You understood back then that that was the reason why you had first become friends with Bella. Why you were so attracted, protective of her, so that you could someday be with her daughter."

Yeah, I guess he, or I, was right about that. But that didn't mean he was right about David's intentions. I still needed to watch him and make sure he didn't do something stupid.

"Tell me this Jacob, what were you planning to do, stay here for the next 4 or 5 years, while you wait for this Janet girl, to grow up? Hoping she falls in love with your son? Until it's proper for David to be alone around her?"

Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead. Between the pain of being away from my imprint, worrying about Billy, the turmoil going on in my son's head, and just trying to keep him from getting arrested, and her safe from him, I have been living pretty much one day, one hour at a time, just being able to get through each day without some catastrophe happening.

 _I know. You're right, Edward. He and I we're going to have to figure this out and soon._

"I'm glad you agree. Do you mind if I try and talk with my grandson, tonight?"

 _Be my guest, I don't see how it could hurt,_ I signed. _Now could you tell me how bad are things with Nessie? Why exactly are you here?_

"Things are not well with her. She's losing it without you there."

Crap, I had hoped, it just wouldn't to be as bad for her as it was for me. The separation, I mean. But what was I going to do?

"That's why I'm here. I came to bring you home."

 _As much as I would love to see Nessie, how exactly do you see that being possible? I can't leave . . ._

"Jacob, you are not the only one who can keep an eye on your son. Embry is currently doing a fine job. And I am sure he would be more than capable of continuing after you left. And there is also Quil. He will be with Claire the same time Janet is with David. Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity for the sisters to get reacquainted?"

 _It's not their responsibility. David is my son. They can't look after him all of the time._

"Neither can you. Look at yourself. When was the last time you slept?"

He had a point. I had been so worried about Dave sneaking off in the night that I never really allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep, and never for more than a few hours; always checking to see that Dave hadn't snuck away.

 _I know I'm probably being paranoid, and overprotective. It's just that his thoughts about her are so . . . intense. I'm scared of what he is going to do._

"What has he said when you talked to him about it?"

Images of the first conversation flashed through my mind again. All I got from David was that Janet was _his_ and he needed to possess her, all of her.

"Yes, but that was a month ago. What has he said recently?"

Recently? _He only lashes out, yells and screams for me to leave him alone._

"Why do you think that is?"

Huh? It may be the sleep deprivation but I was not exactly understanding what Edward was asking me.

"Jacob, he has not made a move against or rather towards the girl in a month. It's possible that if he was going to do something he would have done it already."

 _Or he is just waiting for an opening._ For me to let my guard down. That's why I can't. Doesn't Edward see that?

"I see that you need to have some faith in your son. You need to trust him. Even though his imprinting seems a bit different than others, he still imprinted on her. I doubt he would really do anything that would hurt her."

 _And what happens if you are wrong?_

"Let me see what I learn when I talk to him, but Jacob, you need to have some faith in your son."

 _Like you had for me with your daughter?_ I growled then started recalling the incident where he threw me against a wall and started choking me, when he thought I slept with his daughter, after I had simply started training her to fight.

I'm not the only overprotective father here.

But deep down I knew he was right. David was a good kid, if not a tad judgmental. He valued life, well human life, above all else, and Janet was human. Maybe if I had stopped to think about it, or even listened to the other wolves when they said basically everything that Eddie just had, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble. But I still needed to make precautions.

Edward talked to Dave alone, just like he said he would and assured me that he didn't believe my son was an imminent threat to Janet, or her virtue, as Edward put it. That made me feel better and I began to relax.

A few days later I talked Jared. With some convincing he and his Pack eventually agreed to keep an eye on my son and Janet whenever she was on the Res, and Quil and Embry agreed to watch them on the Makah Reservation.

I also asked all of them to be on the lookout for when David stopped aging and to call me immediately when he did. I gave them a rough estimate of when I believed it would be - in about eight months, if our calculations were correct, so that they would know to keep Janet safe, just in case. I didn't want him trying to feed on her, in addition to everything else.

* * *

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.


	85. Don't Leave Me

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Five**

 **Don't Leave Me**

Renesmee's Point of View

I woke up to the smell of freshly milled wood, cut grass, and motor oil.

Mmmm, that was the smell, Jake's smell that I loved so much. I've missed it.

Wait a minute. Why was I smelling him now? Jake was not here. He was still in La Push. My brain must be playing tricks on me. I just miss him so much that now I'm imagining him in my sleep. That was not so unusual, I dreamt of him every night, but this seemed much more real.

Had I bought another piece of his clothing, from the hamper, into bed with me? I didn't remember doing that. I thought I had already taken everything that he left here, and slept with it until all of his scent was gone. I didn't remember finding anything new last night, as I once again cried myself to sleep, but it was definitely Jake I was smelling this morning.

What was going on? I was either still asleep or maybe this was some new layer of hell that my brain was taking me into. I miss my Jake, my imprint, my love. I had pushed him away and now my brain was rebelling. Forcing me to pay for my actions, not only by just imagining seeing him where he wasn't, envisioning him in my dreams, both waking and while I was asleep, but now smelling him too.

Hopefully this was just a stupid nightmare. It must be, so I might as well wake up and start another dreary, horrible day, without my soulmate.

I had to blink a couple of times when I opened my eyes. I realized that the torture was just beginning. I was awake and my brain had somehow managed to create its most realistic version of Jake yet. Normally I just imagined seeing him, the way one heard others on the news claim to see Jesus or bigfoot on burnt toast or tree bark - I would see Jake's face in a pile of leaves, or suds in the tub, or something like that. And it was never a happy smiling Jake, he was always scowling at me, for how I had betrayed him.

But now I saw him sitting right in front of me, on the edge of the bed. And to add to my torment, my throat was burning with desire for his blood. What kind of new hell was this? I can't take it anymore. I just gave up, throwing the covers over my head, I began weeping uncontrollably.

"Nessie?" I hear a voice whisper.

Oh, god! Now I'm hearing him, too. What is going on? I must really be going insane.

"Nessie?" the Jake voice called again.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO," I started chanting over and over again, rather loudly, while covering my ears with my hands. Maybe if I scream loud enough I'll drown out my own torturous brain.

"Renesmee, I'm sorry. I . . . I . . . Edward came and got me. He said that you wanted . . . that you needed me here . . . I thought . . . I thought this was what you wanted . . . I guess . . . I should . . . I'll go."

It can't really be my Jacob, could it?

Slowly, I pulled the covers down so my eyes could peek out and I saw Jacob slowly walking towards the door. No, it can't really be him. He left me and was still in La Push. But he looked, smelled and sounded so real, maybe it was really him. Even if it wasn't, this false Jacob was better than nothing. Maybe this wasn't my brain trying to torture me. Maybe it realized I needed him back and created this delusion to help me in some way. Maybe I should just go along with it.

"Jacob?" I whimpered.

"Renesmee," my hallucination said with a bit of hope now in its voice. It wasn't the broken sound that had called to me before.

Could it really be him? "Are . . . are you really back?" My throat was on fire. Fully awake now, I grasped that I clearly wasn't hallucinating, Jacob was really here with me in my . . . our room, and I wanted him.

Oh, no! I promptly threw one hand over my mouth and wrapped my other around the bedpost as an anchor.

"Sorry," Jake mumbled as he dashed to the window and quickly opened it, letting some much needed fresh air in.

"Do you want me here?" he asked after moving back across the room as I replaced him there and stuck my head out of it to breath in some untainted, un-intoxicating air, before turning back to his waiting eyes. They were digging deep into mine, as if searching for answers. I didn't have any for him though.

I didn't understand what was going on. I thought he had left me, either because he hated me, or that he was trying to protect himself, and me, and now he just showed up out of the blue. But I guess it wasn't out of the blue. What had he just said? That my father had gone to get him. Now that I thought of it, I remembered my family had mentioned that he had left a few days, or was it weeks, or months ago? Yes it was weeks ago. He left almost two weeks ago to go get my Jacob. But what the hell happened?

"Of course I do, I love you. I just . . ." needed to stick my head out the window and breath some more fresh air, before I continued.

"Sorry," Jake mumbled to me.

While I was overjoyed that Jake was back, I . . . we both realized that his return didn't solve the problem of why he left in the first place, as I stuck my head back out the window.

"What happened?" I cried. "Why did you leave, why didn't you call, why . . ." No. I couldn't break down like this. I needed to be strong. If only so that Jake wouldn't rush across the room to try to comfort me. I couldn't have him that close.

After steadying myself, I began again. Slowly. Carefully. I asked Jake to tell me what happened while he was in La Push.

"David," he began, safety from across the room, "is settled in La Push, and has imprinted." That seemed like it should be good news. But Jake didn't look too happy about it.

Over the next hour he quickly told me everything that had happened while he was there.

"I stayed so long to make sure that David's imprinting was under control and he wouldn't be doing anything _inappropriate_ with the girl," Jake continued to vaguely explain.

I wondered exactly what that was supposed to mean, I had a fairly good idea, but how could an imprinting cause that kind of behavior, or even thoughts of it? Yikes!

But, thankfully, Jacob and my father had agreed to stay until both of them were sure that's David's intentions were _honorable_ , as my father put it, joining us to check on me and make sure I was doing okay with Jake in the room. He told me that he stayed until they were both sure Dave would not be a threat to Janet, or himself, or anyone else. "David agreed to Skype with us at least once a week," Jake continued his explanation of the events to me, as I continued to alternated between holding my breath and sticking my head out the window, as my father held me. "Jared's Pack, and Embry, will be keeping tabs on David and Janet. They'll intervene if it looks like David is about to cross the line."

I think the worry on my face prompted Jacob to attempt to assure me again that he and my father were confident that David would be fine . . . probably.

He also mentioned how David planned to start college next month and even got a job.

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah, I think Dave's even finally starting to like your dad." Jake snickered, looking over at my father.

Hmmm. I suddenly noticed how young he looked. I know my dad was frozen at 17, but I never really noticed that I appeared six years older than him, before now. Strange.

"And it only took me buying him a car. We'll call it an early birthday present." My father smirked.

"A car?"

"Well, he needed some way to get to class." Of course my father would buy my son a car. I wonder how strange that had looked. The two of them walking into the dealership and a 17 year old boy buying a 23 year old man a car. The sales person probably didn't know what to make of it.

"Nothing a little dazzling didn't take care of. The sales lady soon got over her shock and helped us find the perfect vehicle for your son."

Of course.

I guess that was it. Everything would be okay now. I was glad that everything had worked out.

While I would have appreciated a phone call I understood Jake's reasoning for remaining there for so long. But why couldn't my father call once he had first found Jake? Or anytime over the two weeks he was there?

"You should tell her," My father whispered over to Jake. What did Edward want Jake to tell me?

My father froze for a second. Was it because they were hiding a secret from me? Wait, I just referred to my father by his first name.

"It's alright, you should probably start doing that anyway. You are right, you do appear older than your mother and I. And your Aunts and Uncles for that matter. It's probably best if you start calling all of us, your grandparents included, by our first names."

"Oh, alright." This might be weird. But I'm sure I, and everyone else will get use to it soon enough. "So what is the big secret?"

Edward and Jake locked eyes for a second.

"He was taking care of Billy," Jake sighed, finally breaking down and telling me about his father's declining health.

Edward had stayed to doctor Billy, using his medical knowledge to get his diabetes under control. I wish Jake had told me how sick he was, but Jake didn't know there was anything that anyone could do. He assumed his father was receiving competent medical care. Which he wasn't. While my grandfather was the doctor in the family, my father knew just as much, he just didn't have the control over his thirst to practice on actual living human beings. But Billy, and a _simple_ case of advanced diabetes, he could handle . . . apparently.

Billy was doing so much better and the feeling had even returned to his hand, not that I knew that it had ever left. And my father had arranged for a full time nurse, to stay with him instead of the health care worker that Jake mentioned he had arranged. Apparently it wasn't enough. Luckily neither Jake, nor Billy took offense. I just wish I knew all of this before today.

"Nessie, with everything you were dealing with already, between us, I didn't want to burden you with my father's health issues."

I wish he would have. I felt even more selfish now. "Jake, I should have been stronger, I should have been there for you. You needed me. And I let you down."

"Nessie, you could never do that. You have enough to deal with. Let's just figure out how we are going to deal with our own . . . issue, and then when we are back to normal . . ."

"But Jake, your father could have died. He still could . . ." What else could I say? "Please know that, no matter what you can count on me if you need me. No matter what." I hoped he could see the determination in my eyes. Of course it probably would have been more believable if I didn't have to remain across the room from him.

Jake didn't answer, he just nodded. I hoped he believed me.

I knew Billy wasn't going to live forever, he was human after all. So was Charlie. So was Jake's sisters, and all of the wolves, like Seth, that will choose to stop phasing to grow old and die with their imprints. They will all die, eventually. Sooner, rather than later. Sometime within the next 50-60 years. Many probably a lot earlier.

But not Jake or me. Not my family. We were immortal. Few things could kill us. We would still appear as we do now in 50 years, and 100, and 200 years after that.

Everyone I know, outside of my family and other vampires will be gone. Well except for the two other remaining half-Vampires, Nahuel and Jennifer. And possibly Leah, if she ever gets back together with Nahuel and decides to continue to phase like Jake. But right now that was looking like a pretty big "if". I hoped she did. While it was true that we never really got along, I think Jake needed someone in his life from when he was human.

I worried about him sometimes. For me the thought of being immortal was normal. Aging a lifetime in 7 years and then becoming frozen at 23 forever was normal. It was all I knew. But Jake was born human. He grew up expecting to grow old and die someday. Just like everyone in his family and community. He never expected the everlasting life that now seemed to be before him. He would outlive everyone he knew. And would be alone.

I know my father was listening to my thoughts. He quietly got up and left so I could talk to Jake in private.

 _Thanks._ I thought to him as he slipped out the door.

"Jake. I know that this trip was necessary, and I'm glad you stayed to ensure our son didn't do anything . . ." my voice trailed off, unable to finish the thought. "But promise me" I began again, "that we will never be apart again like that. That you will never leave me again."

"I didn't leave you, sweetheart. Not really. I would never leave you. You are my other half. I would never do that unless . . . unless you wanted me gone." Now it was his turn to take a deep breath before beginning again. "I just had to deal with David. The things that happened there, the situation, my . . ." he seemed to be searching for the right words, "I'm sorry it took so long."

"I understand. Truly. But you should have called."

"You're right. I'm sorry. Somehow . . . I should have found a way to call you . . . at least once a week . . . or more. I . . ."

"Jake, you already told me your reasons why you didn't. But next time, if something happens, whatever challenge we face, we need to face it together. We are a team. We belong together. We are imprints. How can either of us deal with the pain again, if you leave me?"

"Pain? What pain, Nessie? My pain? I could deal with it, leaving your presence if I knew it meant that you were happy." He began as I stuck my head out of the window again. "I would leave again, if you needed me too, if it meant you didn't have to deal with the torment of your bloodlust." He gesturing over to me and my current predicament.

This was more than just the bloodlust that I was talking about, but I guess we should really address that before we moved on.

"I don't want you to leave and be in pain, my Jacob. But your leaving would only replace my thirst for pain. I was in just as much pain myself when you left. So how is you leaving solving anything?"

"Renesmee, are you saying you feel pain when we are apart, like I do?"

"Yes, of course. I thought you knew." He gave me a horrified look, so I guess he didn't. "I have a theory that since I'm half Vampire our imprinting worked differently between us than the other imprints and went both ways. I am certain that I sort of imprinted on you, too. It hurts when we are apart, I'm lost when you are not here, but I always feel a kind of pull to you. I love you and cannot stand to see you unhappy, or hurt or sad. It kills me to think of all the pain I put you through back when I tried dating Nahuel. I hadn't realized the extent of my side of our imprinting back then, but I think it was the catalyst that lead me to the realization."

My words seemed to have shocked him, but I could see that he also thought it make sense.

"I'll never leave you, sweetheart," he said to me while I once again grabbed a few lungfulls of fresh air, and sighed in relief.

We talked a little bit about the things I had thought about earlier before Jake quickly wrapped me in a dangerous hug then exited our room.

He was back, but we still weren't together.

* * *

Thanks for reading. What did you think? I know this wasn't my best chapter and needs a lot of work. Any suggestions?


	86. My Six Weeks of Hell

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Six**

 **My Six Weeks of Hell**

Jacob's Point of View

Oooowwww!

What hell had I signed up for here? I know this was to help Nessie, to help both of us. To get rid of her bloodlust for me, so that we could be together again, but I didn't realize it would be this bad. Of course, I would do it for her. Anything for her.

I loved my Ness, so I knew it would be worth it. But CRAP! I didn't think I would be begging for death now like I was. Not that I would ever say that out loud. No one, except Edward, knew how bad it was, and he better not mention anything to Nessie. I was doing this for her, I didn't need anything ruined now, now that we were so close to almost being done . . . I hoped.

Finding no other options we were going through with my plan. Carlisle, Edward and Rosalie had gone over the risks to both Nessie and I. It being my idea I knew the risk. I could die. So what! Living without my imprint was worse than death. If Nessie was willing, so was I.

It had been the same pattern for just over a month now. I would settle into bed while Carlisle stood by with an IV and several bags of O negative, ready to transfuse me. Nessie would drink from me until Carlisle gave the word that my heart was just about to stop beating and Jasper and Emmett would rip her off of me.

I knew the process was painful for Nessie. She hated the fact that she couldn't stop herself on her own. And it was torturing her that she nearly killed me every time. But just as they promised, as soon as she was secure in Jasper and Emmett arms, Carlisle would insert the IV and the blood transfusion would commence.

This was the fifth time we tried it, once a week, for the past five weeks.

It seemed that each time we did this, I recovered a little slower than before. Carlisle assured me that he believed it was just temporary. That once this ordeal was over my advanced healing would return to the speed it was before. It's not like it was gone, I still healed faster than a normal human, just not as quickly as I had done two months ago. Apparently I was just a little on the fritz, or something, right now.

The one thing I couldn't understand was why it hurt so much. I mean Nessie bit me all the time when she was a baby. And on Isle Esme, I know I had bitten into my own wrist, but when Nessie sucked out those few sips back then, it actually felt kinda good. But this was the exact opposite. It was an intense scorching pain. And I felt like she was draining the life out of me, which I guess technically she was, but I don't know. Something just felt . . . wrong.

"Jacob, I believe we need to discuss matters." Carlisle came over to me after he was finished with the latest transfusion.

"Wait, where's Nessie?" I didn't want her hearing anything he was about to say. Looking at the expression on his face I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good news.

"Bella and some of the others have already taken her shopping," he explained. That has been the trend lately, since my recovery time had increased. No one, especially me, wanted her to worry or feel bad about what she was doing to me, the pain she was causing me, or the increase in my recovery time. I had come up with the suggestion of just getting her out of the house on some excuse each week, and her family somehow had managed to make it happen. "They left over an hour ago," the Doc added.

"An hour ago? But how is that possible? We just finished."

"I'm afraid you passed out on us, there, for a little while," he sighed, trying to hide the wince that was creeping onto his face. "Jacob, I'm not going to lie to you, I am very concerned about the physical toll this is taking on your body and Edward has informed me of the . . . pain and emotional toll, among other things, that you have been dealing with."

 _Edward you trader_ , I thought to him. I was unsure if he was in the house or not, and if he would even be able to hear me, but I hoped he would. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not even Carlisle.

"Doc, I'll be fine, I can handle it. It can't be that much longer until this is over with, can it?"

"I'll make you a deal. We'll try this again, ONE more time, next week as planned. But that is it. If this doesn't end her thirst for your blood I'm going to have to look for other options. I don't think your body can take it anymore. It's now taking you days not hours now to recover. I'm afraid of what continuing Renesmee's . . . _treatments_ will do to you."

"I'm not the priority, Carlisle. Nessie is. It doesn't matter what happens to me, if Nessie gets better. So what if I'm stuck in bed for a few extra days?"

"It is more serious than that, Jacob. It is getting harder and harder to revive you. There is a possibility that one of these times I won't be able to, and then think of what will happen to Renesmee. How do you thing she would deal with your death on her hands?"

Damn it. That was what I was trying to avoid with all of this, that's why we were doing it with Carlisle and the others here, so that _that_ would not happen.

"Do you think it's at least working Doc? Please tell me that we haven't been doing this, that Nessie and I have not been going through all of this for nothing."

"I'm not sure. Emmett and Jasper have had to try equally as hard, every single week to wrench her from you. They haven't indicated that it has got any easier," he huffed, before taking an unnecessary breath. "But on the plus side, they haven't mentioned any additional difficulty. Nessie had discussed with me that her thirst for you had been increasing before we had returned, each day and week.

"I would have to conclude that that means that things are improving . . . if only slightly."

That was not exactly the overwhelmingly positive news I was hoping for, but I'd take it.

"And if this doesn't work, Doc, what are we going to do? I mean we can't stay away from each other forever."

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you, Jacob. We will just have to wait and see."

Great.

Alice had managed to keep Nessie out on an extended shopping trip to Boston overnight and well into the next day, so that when she and her Aunts returned I was almost completely back to normal. Enough at least that I don't think Nessie noticed anything. At least something went right.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

It was still hard being around Jacob, but we were sitting on opposite sides of the room, strangely enough with . . . Leah AND Nahuel sitting between us.

As had been the norm ever since Jake had returned, I was sitting closest to an open window, that someone had set up a window fan in, to constantly blow fresh air into the room, for me.

We didn't do this too often, hang out for long periods of time in the same room together, that is. But Jake and I needed to, for at least a few hours each day, or else both of us would probably go insane.

The four of us were currently all watching some movie my Jacob had picked out. At least that was what we were supposed to be doing. I wasn't really watching the movie anymore, I was too distracted by the events taking place to the left of me. Leah and Nahuel were actually, impossibly _snuggling_ on the corner of the couch and started making out . . . twenty minutes ago.

I guess they had worked out their issues.

I wonder what happened that got Leah and Nahuel back together? I discreetly texted Jacob.

Knowing them it probably had come to blows and they nearly killed each other before realizing they still loved one another.

I'm glad that they were back together now. Nahuel was a shadow of himself the past few months.

Leah would either glare or growl at him, whenever they happen to cross paths, when she would visit Felicity - that or just completely ignore him, pretending he didn't exist altogether.

Since Nahuel now thought of Leah as his true mate, it really looked like it had been killing him not to be with her.

Leah had not imprinted on Nahuel, but she knew that he basically had done the Vampire version of imprinting on her. What was she thinking treating him like this? Unfortunately she had refused to talk to me prior to this so I had no idea. But I guess they had gotten past it . . . somehow.

I was so glad.

I had felt horrible. The misunderstanding that led to them being separated had been entirely my fault. Jake and I both tried talking to her, again and again, to explain things but she refused to talk to either us, as well. Only Felicity had been immune to her anger, since she saw her as the only innocent one in all of this. She wouldn't even talk to my parents, Aunts, Uncles or grandparents. And they weren't even here at the time this all took place.

It was actually pretty simple, really. I just phased with Leah so she could see the truth in my mind of what really happened, Jake texted back.

Oh, I guess I should have thought of that. Wait a minute . . .

How did you get Leah to phase with you? I thought she had been refusing to do that, she wanted you out of her head.

I know, it wasn't easy.

As soon as he hit send, Jake's eyes dropped down to the floor instead of over to me as they had been. Whatever had happened it looked like he was ashamed for whatever occurred.

Realization then dawned on me.

You actually gave her an Alpha order to phase?

Jake nodded over to me, before continuing to explain through his next series of texts.

I wouldn't have done it if I thought I had another choice.

It was acutely needed. I didn't think there was any other way either of them would be able to move on if she didn't know the truth.

I couldn't stand for her to be hurting the way she was, and I knew she would be a lot happier this way.

I felt like it was something where the good outweighed the bad.

It was probably wrong of me to do but look at how happy she is now, Jake typed on and on, seemingly trying to convince himself, more than me . . . probably.

I know he hated taking people's free will away. This was only the second time he had ever given an Alpha command; the first time not meaning to, and he felt so guilty that time.

"But look at how happy she is now," I quietly said, out loud, to Jake, just as Leah burst into a laugh from Nahuel nuzzling kisses into her neck.

Yikes, I was actually getting a little embarrassed being in the same room as them right now. Jake did too, judging by the look on his face. The two of them were really getting carried away on the couch, maybe they needed to take this somewhere more private. That or we should leave.

Right on cue Jake tilted his head to the front door as he got up, walked over to where I was sitting, and held out his hand for me.

I was a little worried about being alone with him. What if I lost control?

No, I could do this. We would be outside. There would be lots of fresh air, and I promised myself not to get too close, no matter how much I wanted to.

I would be doing that tomorrow. Part of me was excited by the thought that I got to drink from Jake again, so soon. I know it had only been six days since our last _session_ , but part of me also hated having to drink from my Jacob. I loved the taste of his blood but hated what that made me. I was willing to risk my soulmates life for my own selfish needs. I was truly a monster - no matter how much Jake tried to deny it.

And what was worse was that I wasn't even sure if it was working. My cravings weren't going away. I know Nahuel said this would take anywhere from a month to a year. Well, it had been over a month and still I could detect no change. I didn't know how much longer I could do this.

Tomorrow I would feed from Jacob with Emmett and Jasper standing by to yank me off of him, making sure I didn't take too much and accidentally kill him. Then Alice and Rose were planning to take me shopping in New York this time, for another "fun-filled" weekend in an attempt to cheer me up.

My life was so weird.

And why did we have to go far away. These _Cheer-Nessie-Up_ sessions were getting more and more elaborate. I wanted – and hated wanting - more of my Jacob's blood. Both realizations were disturbing.

I know I got depressed after I drank from Jacob, ut it just proved to myself how little self control I actually had. And I hated myself more because I was never able to stop feeding from him, myself. But I was comforted to know that he was a wolf and recovered quickly, once Carlisle gave him more blood. It wasn't like I was really hurting him, at least.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

I was getting settled into the hospital bed again, in Carlisle's office, for our sixth and final attempt to cure Nessie's bloodlust.

Please, please, please let this work. It just has to work, I chanted to myself, over and over again.

As usual, the Doc was standing by with bags and bags of donated blood, all set up to transfuse into me, while Emmett and Jasper stood by to yank Nessie off of me.

Bella and Edward refused to be in the room during any of these _treatments,_ for lack of a better word, and of course Felicity wasn't anywhere near here. I didn't blame her, she didn't need to see this.

David had not been told anything about what we were doing, or attempting to do, and everyone was pretty much sworn to secrecy not to tell him. Even Felicity agreed that we shouldn't tell her brother, knowing how he felt about the drinking of human blood, even though I technically wasn't human, and the blood was donated.

As Nessie prepared to bite me I took a few deep breaths. I knew if she saw me scream, or yell, or even flinch, or in any way show any discomfort this would only be harder for her, and I did not want that. I knew it was going to hurt but I needed to be strong for her. Just as she was trying to be for me.

As she bit I tried to relax as much as I could, and not think about the pain. Instead I tried to concentrate on the sound of my angels heartbeats, and not my own, which were slowing, as they normally did when she drank. Not satisfied with that, I decided to focus on the sounds of her swallowing, how it meant that she was taking my blood into her. With each gulp I thought of how it was helping her . . . us. That's why we were doing this, to make her better but then, suddenly . . . she stopped.

It wasn't the yanking and ripping of my neck skin that normally happened when Jasper and Emmett pulled her off of me. This was different. She actually unclenched her jaw, opened her mouth and backed away.

Oh no. Was something wrong? Has something happened with all these transfusions I had been receiving? Did my blood now no longer taste good to her?

Wait. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

"Nessie are you okay?" I asked, lifting my head as much as I could to look her in the eyes.

Woe, was the room spinning?

She hesitated for a moment. As the dizziness subsided is saw her eyebrows scrunch together the way they did when she was thinking hard about something. Crap. What was wrong? If she didn't tell me soon I was going to lose it.

"I think . . . I think I finally have had enough Jacob. I don't want anymore," she smiled.

What? Does this mean what I think it does? Had we really done it? Looking at the broadening smile on her face, I think we had. I could finally relax, we could be together again now. Everything would be okay.

I know she hadn't drank as much as she had in the past, but I still felt weak, just like I always did after she drank from me. Closing my eyes, I was suddenly dizzy again, but I could hear the wind whizzing around me, as Carlisle rushed over and started an IV to transfuse more blood into my system. While she had not taken that much I was probably still down a few pints. That was fine. I would be back to normal soon.

Wow, I was . . . dizz . . .

"Jacob?"

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

"Jacob?" Did he fall asleep? "Jake?" Still no response. Something was wrong. I could feel it. "Jacob!" I screamed, grabbing his shirt and started to shake it and him. Why wouldn't he wake up? What the hell was going on?

"Nessie, please try to calm down, I need to get in there and see what's wrong," my grandfather quietly but quickly ushered me aside.

Suddenly I felt two cold arms wrap around me as my father appeared, dragging me away from Jake's bed.

"Daddy," I cried into his chest, "what's wrong with him? Why isn't he waking up . . . I didn't take that much, did I?" It wasn't possible. I had taken much more on previous attempts. What was wrong?

That's when my father told me what everyone had been keeping from me. That my Jacob had been getting weaker and weaker each week. Every time I drained him.

"Why would you keep this from me? How could you? I killed him? How could you let me kill him?" I screamed and wept. "I love him, he's my soulmate. How could you let me kill my soulmate?" But I knew they didn't _let_ me kill him. I had killed him. I had done this.

That's when I looked over at the bed. My grandfather was still working on him. He was performing CPR, pumping his chest and breathing into his mouth, but Jacob just laid there. Unconscious. Unmoving. Of course he was no longer capable of moving. His was dead and it was my fault.

"No sweetheart, he's not gone. Not yet," my father corrected me. "I can still hear him. It's faint but he's thinking of you. Of how much he loves you."

What? "He's not gone? Then what do we do? What's wrong with him, there must be something we can do," I frantically screamed to everyone in the room.

"The problem must be the transfusions we have been giving him, Carlisle exclaimed, it seemed like he was admonishing himself at the same time. "I just realized the problem is with the blood. It's human blood we've been using. It doesn't have the same healing properties as his own Quileute, wolf blood."

That's it! I knew what we had to do. But was there enough time?

"Grandpa do you think he'll survive, if you keep giving him CPR, for a couple of hours?"

Even before he responded I knew how much of a long shot it was, but I had to try.

"I don't know darling. Why? What did you have in mind?" he asked me between breaths.

But there was no time to answer. Every second counted. Quickly I got out my phone and dialed the one person who actually might be able to save my Jacob.

"Jake needs you now, run to my grandparents house as fast as you can. He's almost gone." I screamed into the phone, not bothering to explain.

Luckily Leah was not two hours away, at her house, or school, or work, like I feared, she was with Nahuel, just a few miles away in the forest.

Less than eight minutes later, she burst through the forest. As soon as she phased back I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the room Jacob was in.

"Oh my God! What did you do to him?" she gasped, yanking her hand out of my grasp, and rushing to his near lifeless side. His chest was still being pumped by Carlisle, while Edward now blew into his mouth.

"We need your help," I explained to her before turning to my grandfather. "Can we do a transfusion with Leah's blood?" I practically pleaded to him. That would work, right? I had no idea what her blood type was, but the anti-venom, meant for Jake, that I had given her, after Nahuel bit her, had worked. Wouldn't that mean that a transfusion from her to Jake would work as well? I hoped it would, because there was no time for anything else.

I didn't even have to explain my plan to Carlisle though, Edward had told everyone my plan when I had left to meet Leah at the door.

Not even bothering to respond to me, he quickly had Leah lay down next to Jacob while he inserted a needle into her arm and then connected it to the tube that was already in Jacob's, as Edward took over chest compressions. I watched breathlessly as her blood flowed into my soulmate.

Please, please, please let this work. I chanted over and over to myself.

* * *

So . . . what do you think? Do you hate me? Please review - good or bad, just be kind.

Things are getting interesting for our two lovebirds, is this the end? There are only 5 chapters left, not including another 10 in the . . . err "epilogue".

As always - thanks for reading.

Sorry to leave things on a cliffhanger, but you'll have to wait till monday to read what happens next.


	87. A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Seven**

 **A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding**

Renesmee's Point of View

Felicity's first birthday should have been a happy occasion. A time for celebration. But someone who should have been here wasn't.

"Felicity," Alice called to my daughter.

"What is it Alice?" she sighed.

"We have to plan your birthday party, silly," my Aunt replied to my daughter.

"No thank you. There is no way that I'm up for that. I'm sorry. But I'm just not in the mood for a party."

"Of course you are. A party is exactly what you need. Something to lift your spirits. You've been so sad for months now, and I refuse to let this behavior continue. You can't keep going on like this. I know what happened is upsetting, but you need to begin to move on."

How could Alice be so flippant? Didn't she realize the pain and the loss my daughter was suffering from? The loss we were all suffering?

"Listen missy," my Aunt continued when Felicity made no move, "you're going to sit down, at this table with me, and plan your birthday party, because you deserve it. You only get two birthdays with the way you age and I'm going to make the most of the ones you have. Do you hear me? So sit that little butt of yours down and start telling me what your favorite colors are. I am going to plan the most amazing, most wonderful, specialist birthday party ever. Because you, my grandniece, deserve it," she chirped and ordered at the same time.

I think that was my cue to step in and say something.

"Look Alice, if my daughter does not want to have a birthday party this year then she shouldn't have to have one. Maybe you could reschedule and have one in a few months, if she is feeling more up to it then."

I don't think my Aunt even heard me. I mean I know _technically_ she had to have heard me, with her super vampire hearing, but she just chose to completely ignore me, I guess. Two seconds later she had my daughter sitting in a chair, while she opened her ridiculously large party planning binder and started sketching out ideas. I was a little worried about Felicity but it didn't look like I was going to be able to do anything, once Alice got into party planning mode there was no stopping her. And plus Felicity had that look in her eye that told me that she had already resigned herself to the task at hand.

"I'm sorry," I quickly mouthed to her. I probably should have put up a little more of a fight with my Aunt and stuck up for my daughter more. But I just didn't have the energy. I was equally depressed right now, myself. "Okay, let's start off with the guest list. I already invited a bunch of people but who do you want coming to your birthday party?"

"What does it matter," she replied slumping her head down onto the table. "The one person I want here isn't going to be. So does it matter?"

That was my cue to leave. I couldn't listen to this anymore. I wanted to just curl up into a ball somewhere and cry. But I knew I couldn't do that.

"Bella?" I called as I walked out of the kitchen. I knew she would be able to hear me anywhere in the house.

"In the library," I heard her reply.

Of course. I should have known. Where else would she be?

I needed to talk to somebody. I needed some advice and hers was the closest experience that I could think of right now.

"Bella . . . um, Mom can I ask you something?" I was getting pretty comfortable calling my family by their first names. I did it most of the time now, but I just wanted my mom right now. Even if she did look like she was five years younger than me.

"Of course sweetheart what is it?" she asked looking up from the book she was reading. I didn't even need to look to know which one it was. Over the years I came to realize she seemed to reread Wuthering Heights when she was anxious or upset or sad. And currently we were all sad. This was just her way of dealing with the grief. I wondered what it was about the book that comforted her though?

"How did you deal . . ." my voice trailed off. How could I ask this?

"Honey, my situation wasn't the same exactly as this." She said, not even waiting for me to finish asking my question. I knew this was hard for her as well. She loved him too. "When we all left for France we knew we were leaving you here, but you weren't alone. You had Jake and David and . . ."

"No," I cut her off, "not that time. I meant when dad left you, when you were human." That was, I think, the closest experience that I could think of, of anyone in my family having an experience similar to what was going on now.

"Hmmm. Well as you know," she started twisting her fingers absent-mindedly, "those memories aren't very clear but as best as I can remember I didn't actually deal with it very well at all. I just stopped," she sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea. I know that time of her life was painful. I shouldn't have dredged up her old heartbreak. I would have told her it wasn't necessary to relive her past pain now, if I had another option. That was not what I had meant to do.

"I stopped eating. Stop caring. Stopped talking to my friends," my mother continued after she had recomposed herself. "I had nightmares every night. I tried not to think about Edward or anything else, I wouldn't even say his name, I didn't even let myself think it. I was pretty messed up."

Felicity was just taking this so hard. I was dealing with it myself as best I could, but I was wondering, looking for answers. Seeing if there was anything I could offer her, to help her, through this time. I know eventually the pain will ease for her. But that was the thing - eventually wasn't right now. And right now she needed my help.

"Renesmee listen to me, you need to be strong for your daughter now. She's going to look to you to get through this. Not just during her birthday party, but the next day, and the next after that. If she sees you breaking down and crying all the time she's not going to be able to feel like she can move on or ever be happy herself."

I guess my mother had a point. I needed to try to at least pretend to be . . . maybe be not exactly happy, but composed. Not the crying, slobbering mess I had been. And that's just what I planned to do, starting now, through the her party next week, and beyond.

It was her very first birthday and Alice was right; she deserved to have it be as special as she was.

With all of the planning and prep to do the week flew by. Everybody Felicity invited, or those Alice invited had arrived, or at least Alice _saw_ that they would be here by this evening, with only one very notable exception.

I couldn't believe David was doing this. It was his own sister's very first birthday party.

I know that Alice had invited all of the families Vampire friends once again, and Dave took offense to having to be in the same house as them, but Felicity didn't have a problem with them, like he did. He could at least have come back for her birthday if not the party. They've always been so close but ever since he moved to La Push it's like he'd forgotten about her and the rest of us.

Well that and the fact that he refused to leave his imprint, Janet. It wasn't like he was going to bring a human here with all of the red-eyed Vampires around. I knew that. In a way I understood. But I was also angry and of course sad. I missed my son.

"Come on darling. I think Alice is about to come looking for us, if we don't get to her house to help her set up," Bella said while grabbing my hand and lead me down the stairs.

"Okay so let's finish setting this up for Felicity's party, tomorrow," Alice squealed, while bouncing up and down.

"Really Alice? It's going to take us that long to set this room up for Felicity that we need to start this early?" I questioned her. "You do realize she still does not want this party. Right?"

"What are you talking about Nessie? It's not just this room," she said gesturing to the living room, "but the kitchen, dining room, music room, and backyard."

Yikes!

Even though Alice had started planning this weeks ago, against my daughter's objections, it just kept growing bigger and bigger and bigger. At least Alice was listening to my daughter on the color theme and some of her choices for music and food. Originally Alice had shoved her nose up to my daughter's green and purple choices for her color choices, but they were Felicity's favorites and somehow Alice made them work together in a way that didn't look tacky, like the Joker from Batman, or something. She had managed to design everything around a floral arrangements theme. With purple lilacs and hydrangeas and green ivy and leaves.

The purple flowers were being hung and placed everywhere, on every available surface and empty inch of wall, then long strands of green vines were woven throughout, for accents here and there.

By the time it was dark outside, after hours of work, everything was finally finished and everything looked really pretty. The soft spilling creams of the tablecloths and sheer curtains billowed from the ceiling, creating this beautiful and ethereal cloud look to everything.

After everything was finally set up the only thing left to do was wrap the gifts from Jake and I. He had carved a chess set for Felicity months ago, beginning it soon after she was born. It was similar to the ones he had made for me and David.

While he was unable to work on it when he had gone back to La Push with David he had recommitted himself to the project and finished a lot of it in record time, the following weeks. But each piece took days to complete.

Between Jakes rush to try and finish Felicity's gift and him Alpha ordering Leah to phase so he could get her back together with Nahuel, it was like he knew how badly things could go with my _treatments_. Of course he did. He knew it . . . I . . . my drinking his blood, could be potentially deadly to him. I hadn't realized, at the time, how much he had believed, or at least had prepared for the possibility that he might not make it.

In the end I had to carve a few figurines to complete the chess set so it would be finished in time to give it to her tomorrow. There was too much to do for Jake to have done everything on his own. There simply was not enough time. At least this way it was actually from the two of us.

While the set Jacob had carved for me was made up of members of the Cullen family and the wolves, David's had been of himself as he matured from a baby to an adult on one side, and his favorite comic book characters on the other. Felicity's was equally meaningful to her – the Cullens, on one side (of course), with the wolves as the pawns, and since she loved music, piano especially, some of her favorite composers were on the other – Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Strauss, Chopin, Stravinsky and a few others, with different musical instruments as the pawns.

"Which color wrapping paper should we use?"

"Well . . . purple is her favorite color," Bella offered, "you can't go wrong with that."

"Yeah, but there is so much already with the flowers, and napkins, and chair covers. And Alice is already having us all dress up in different shades of Lavenders and Plums. Isn't that a bit much? I don't think we need anymore."

"Why not use this one and add a purple bow?"

"Jake that is perfect!" He had grabbed a beautifully embossed ivory roll of wrapping paper from the huge pile we had stocked in the closet. Alice not only seemed to go overboard with clothes but everything else, including wrapping supplies. There was probably enough stuff in there to have our own wrapping room, if they all had not currently been taken up as bedrooms.

What would I ever do without my Jacob?

I was glad I never had to find out. And can't believe I almost did. Thank goodness for Leah and that her blood had revived him after my final attempt to alleviate my bloodlust. And thank goodness it was now cured . . . or ended . . . or whatever it was. It was over and Jake and I were back together the way we were supposed to be.

After Carlisle assured us that Jake was fully recovered, and I confirmed that my bloodlust had completely disappeared, we . . . err, rekindled our love life in a way that not only sent Edward running out of the house, and probably the state (sorry daddy), but in all probability would have even made Emmett blush – if he were able to, that is.

The next night Felicity's birthday party was wonderful, at least that was what she said. I know she was upset that David never showed up. All night long my daughter kept glancing at the door, assuming he was somehow miraculously going to appear. But of course he didn't.

There were plenty of other guests though.

Alice had been sure to invite only those Vampires, most of whom had been our Volturi witnesses and a few others, who would be able to control themselves and not feed on our family. Most came, but there were a few exceptions, Huilen and Jennifer being the most notable.

I was more than a little nervous about the human/Vampire mix but while most of them normally fed from humans, they agreed not to hunt in the area, just like when I was a baby. And Alice assured us that she _SAW_ my extended family getting on the plane to return to La Push tomorrow.

Part of the evening, while I wasn't checking on Felicity or nervously watching to make sure Alice was right and no one got thirsty, I spent watching Tanya. I was interested to see how she behaved towards my parents, after reading about her and my father's past, in his journals. I didn't see anything going on between them tonight, nor have I ever in the past, not that I was looking back then, but I was still curious to see if I had missed anything. I mean, I know my father didn't return her feelings, but it looked like she had actually gotten past her feelings for him, or at least she wasn't choosing to act on them.

It was almost midnight and most of our human guests – Billy, Charlie, Sue and the few others had already left. In addition to flying them out, Alice had booked them some rooms at a five star hotel in town.

Being in the same house with a bunch of red eyed Vampires for a few hours during a party was one thing, (and a real test of the control of the others.) All of them were in on the supernatural secret so, while it was uncomfortable for some, to say the least, no one questioned the other half of the guests red eyes. But having a bunch of humans sleep upstairs from them was really tempting fate.

Our Vampire friends didn't require sleep so they would be staying, visiting, and partying, at least until morning; some longer as they wanted to spend time with various members of the family. I, personally was excited to stay up a little later and spend some time with the Amazon coven again.

"Alright mom and dad," Felicity said to us through a yawn. I could tell she was still sad, but she like me, was trying to put on a cheery mask. "I'm going to bed. Thank you for my gifts. And please thank Alice for the party. She really did a wonderful job, I would thank her myself, but she and Jasper seemed to have disappeared with Peter and Charlotte awhile ago."

Jasper hadn't seen Peter since I was a baby, they never made it to my last birthday party and I know Jasper was slightly upset that he didn't get to see his friend. They must have gone off somewhere to reconnect.

"Wait a minute young lady," Edward called from across the room, just as Felicity was about to hit the front door to head back to our house. "There is someone who wants to have a word with you," he told her holding out his cell.

 _David called your phone?_ It was highly unlikely, but I asked my father nevertheless, to which he just shook his head so small I knew Felicity missed it. _You called him._ I sighed. He didn't need to nod.

Damn-it David!

 _Thanks dad._ I could see by the look on her face that the call just made my daughter's night, even if it wasn't at David's initializing.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

It was getting dark outside. Nessie and I had been sitting on the couch, at Nessie's Aunts and Uncles house, for the past few hours, playing a game of gin rummy with Alice and Jasper. We had spent the entire afternoon packing to make the trip back to La Push tomorrow, for Embry and Colleen's wedding, and were now just relaxing.

Not wanting more teens to turn to wolves, we wanted to keep the vampire presence down so no one else in the family, except Felicity, was coming with us.

Felicity had been so strong for so long, when Nessie had broken down, after David and I first went to La Push. She had kept it together that whole time. But finally lost it when David refused to return for her birthday.

I wasn't sure how she was going to react, seeing him tomorrow. But we would be gone the entire week so we could visit with Dave, Billy, and Charlie and Sue as well. Hopefully this would be enough for her, until our next trip out there.

"Oh." Alice had that far away look to her when she was getting a vision. "I'm so sorry." She said looking over in our direction.

"What is it? What happened?" Nessie asked.

"He died. I didn't realize he was that sick. I would have told you earlier so you could have gone to say goodbye," she apologized.

Billy? My father died? I know he hadn't been going great, but Edward assured me he had gotten his diabetes under control and he was now doing much better. How had things got down hill so quickly? And why had no one told me? David, Kim, and Paul had promised me that they were taking care of him, and making sure that he was taking care of himself – eating right, checking his blood sugar, getting at least some exercise. All the things he was suppose to do. And what about the extra help Edward had arranged for? What the hell happened? And why had they not called to tell me he was so bad.

"Rosalie, I'm so sorry," Alice continued.

Rosalie? Looking now, I saw she was standing behind me. I was filled with relief that Billy wasn't dead, then the confusion took over. Who was it? I had not realized that Rose had anyone in her life that was still _alive_.

"Alice, what are you talking about? Emmett is in the other room. He's fine." Rose scoffed at Alice's apparently obvious mistake.

"No, not Emmett, Theodor." Alice corrected her.

Who was Theodor?

"Who?" Nessie asked out loud for me and probably everyone else.

"He's my brother, or rather . . . he was."

"Your brother?" I spoke up breaking the silence that now hung in the room, "I didn't realize anyone else in your family was still alive."

Emmett had appeared by her side, hearing everything and was now comforting his sobbing wife. Not that she was crying, but was doing whatever the Vampire version of crying was.

"It was just Theodore left, he must have been 93 years old by now. I kind of lost track of him over the years. I was the oldest. My other brother, Simon, was in the middle, but he's been gone for awhile now. I heard he died during World War II."

"So I guess that if you had been a boy you would have been named Alvin?" I chuckled, trying to lighten the somber mood.

Rose scowled over at me. I guess she wasn't a chipmunks fan.

"Too soon dude," Emmett leered over at me. "Even I knew that."

"What?" She hasn't seen or even thought of him, in what, like eighty-something years? Maybe I was wrong. "You're not really that upset by this, are you?"

"Of course I am. He was my brother. What is wrong with you, mongrel?" she growled.

"Sorry, it's just that I figured that if you really cared about him you might have . . ." I stopped when I really looked at her. I don't think I have ever seen her looked so hurt and sad. Err . . . oops. Emmett was right. If I hadn't seen Billy for years, I would still love him and was devastated when I thought it was he who had died. I needed to be more understanding of Rose's feelings. "I'm sorry Rose." I should probably say something else, apologize more, or better or something, but before I got the chance Emmett, probably in an attempt to help, changed the subject.

"Did you want to attend the funeral?" he asked Rose.

"Will I be able to?"

Alice spaced out and came back, after less than a second, and let her know that it would not be possible as the current plans stood. The burial was going to take place on a beautiful sunny day, in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Well, we'll just have to go at night and have our own, then." Emmett decided.

"When should I book the plane tickets for?" Jasper asked, already opening his laptop, he had retrieved from the other room.

"Four days from now." Alice replied. There is a Delta flight, number 314, that will get us there just after sundown. If you hurry we should be able to book 10 first class seats, for everyone.

"What about the wedding?" Nessie asked. "Rosalie, I absolutely want to be there for you, but Jake and I also need to go to Embry and Colleen's wedding. It has taken so much for him to get to this point in his life and I think we need to be there for him. And Felicity needs to see her brother. Felicity can stay in Forks with Charlie and Sue, and spend more time with Dave. Um . . . Jasper can you book Jake, and I, a flight for right after the wedding from La Push to Ohio that will get us there on time?"

"Already did, darling," he smirked as he printed us our tickets. "It will be tight but with a little luck, and maybe some, slightly faster than human running between flights you should make it there on time."

"Thanks," Nessie beamed and then wrapped her uncle in a hug before moving over to Rose whom she managed to wiggle herself in between her and Emmett so she could hug her aunt as well.

* * *

Seeing David with Janet during the wedding and then going directly to the funeral for Rose's brother got me thinking on the flight home.

Imprinting and death.

Normally wolves didn't equate those two things together, but I did.

Yesterday's events took me back to when I first imprinted on Renesmee. Of course, the circumstances back then were a bit different than with Dave and Janet. I wanted to kill Nessie. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm shocked how Edward let me get so close. He knew what I was thinking back then, even if he was worried about Bella. It was his daughter and I was clearly thinking of going to destroy her.

"I knew you would not," Edward said to me from across the first class aisle, responding to my unspoken thoughts and breaking me out of my delirium.

Nessie and I were in the front two seats on the left side of the plane, with Edward and Bella on the right. Rose and Emmett were right behind us and Alice and Jasper behind them.

Carlisle and Esme occupied the last row on the right since some random guy took both seats, in the row, between them and Edward and Bella. Luckily he had fallen asleep almost as soon as the plane took off, so we were free to talk without having to worry about what he might overhear.

The only people we had to worry about were the flight attendants and they were busy serving food to the passengers in the back of the plane. Apparently one of them was suppose to remain in first class the entire flight but Carlisle had said something to her and she took off to help the others after serving us our meals, that everyone then quickly piled in front of me as soon as she was gone.

"What, how could you know that?" I whispered back to Edward.

"I was fairly certain by that point that you had, in fact, imprinted on Renesmee."

Suddenly everybody's heads shot up. I guess he had not shared this particular piece of information with anyone else in the family either.

"And how exactly did you know I imprinted on Nessie when I had not yet?" I hadn't even seen her, not really, I had refused to look at her up until that point, a requirement of imprinting. Or at least I had thought.

"Your thoughts are fairly loud Jacob, especially back then, when you thought Bella was dead. But even before that, the entire time you were with her, with us, watching Bella suffer as Nessie was growing inside of her, I could hear the love, the pull, you had towards her. At first, I believed, as you did, that you were being pulled towards Bella, but then once you thought Bella was gone and you still felt the pull, only it was moving downstairs, it confirmed my suspicions and I knew instantly that you were really being drawn to my daughter.

"I had experienced a similar feeling when I was able to listen to the thoughts of Sam, Paul, Jared and Quil, previously. The way your thoughts reacted to the pull, was similar to how you once described it - being like gravity, that you needed to be near her to stay grounded.

"I know you were thinking at the time that it was just hatred, but I could see it was something else. It was understandable, your confusion, with the amount of sleep deprivation you were under at the time, that you weren't fully cognizant of your thoughts or reasoning back then.

"But since I don't require sleep and my brain is capable of functioning on many more levels, I had time to think about it while also dealing with saving Bella's life.  
Believe me, if you were, at any point, a real risk to my daughter, I would have been there with Rosalie, to end you," he half growled, half chuckled.

I probably should have been furious at what he said, but I was actually relieved. The thought of hurting my angel back then had terrified me, and use to be the cause of more than one sleepless night for me.

"Your memory of that day is particularly clear Jacob," Edward was now the one that seemed shocked, for some reason. He was clearly seeing the flashback, in my mind that I was currently going over, trying to remember any details of him noticing my imprinting that I had missed.

"Yeah, well it was a big day for me. It was pretty important, you know. Imprinting on this perfect angel." I said squeezing my loves arm.

"I don't know, Jacob. I have seen you recall that day many times before and the days leading up to it as well, just as you're doing now. They were pretty fuzzy memories to begin with and had been degrading over the years, to say the least." I started to growl, before he continued. "Like I said, you were so sleep deprived back then, and human memories aren't that good to begin with.

"But _now_ your memory of that day is matching my own. Every detail is in place, perfectly correct and in order." Then he looked to Nessie, before turning back to me. "Has something happened that I'm not aware of?"

"Not that I know of," I shrugged. I mean I was doing better in school. Tests this year had been easier, and I was finally making progress learning French, not that it looked like I would need it anymore. But that wasn't that unusual.

"His memory has been getting better," Nessie disagreed with me. I didn't think so but then she started listing off some of the occasions where she had witnessed my recall being a little better than normal lately. "And I am sure you have noticed the improvement to his diction and grammar over the years, but it has become even more pronounced lately."

It has? I had not noticed.

"What happened, did you get hit in the head and your brain finally turned on?" Emmett chuckled over the seat to me.

"Why? You worried you're gonna be the dumb one in the house now?" I teased back. This was weird though. Maybe Nessie was right. I knew my brain had changed when I first became a wolf, obviously – wolf telepathy and all. But in other ways as well.

I remember, back when we were still living in Forks, thinking that when I first became a wolf I could recall precise smells and forest terrains with exacting detail, that I had not been able to do as a regular teenage boy, but I had not given it much thought since then. Were things really changing in me again?

"If there actually is something going on with your brain, Jacob, I believe we should conduct some tests," the Doc now chimed in.

Tests? I really didn't want a bunch of Vampires poking wires, or electrodes, or whatever they were planning, into my head, well anymore than Edward already did. As comfortable as I was with the Cullens, this just seemed a little strange, even for them.

"No, nothing like that, Jacob," Edward snickered. "Carlisle was just thinking of an IQ test to start with."

"Sure, sure. I guess that'll be alright."

"Wonderful. You will probably want to get a good night's sleep before you take it. I will download and print an appropriate one tonight as soon as we arrive home and you can take it first thing tomorrow." The doc gleefully exclaimed. Why did he have to look so happy about this?

"Err . . . first thing in the morning, Doc? How about after lunch. Give my brain a chance to wake up first."

"Of course, if you prefer."

The next day, just like planned, as soon as I had finished eating, Carlisle brushed my plate aside and shoved a stack of papers and a number two pencil in its place.

If I had known how long and boring the test would be I think I would have declined. But I was an hour in and only had two sections left.

It was the most tedious thing I've done in a long time. Over one and a half hours of just sitting there filling in little circles. Really, they couldn't come with some sort of a Wii or Xbox version of an IQ test?

Finally I finished and handed the test to Carlisle who had lingered nearby the entire time. Not oppressively on top of me, but close enough that I knew he was just out of sight.

I hope they all get a good laugh out of this. The more I thought of it the more I had become convinced that Eddie was wrong and there was no way I was getting smarter. But still, I was a little curious.

"How long before I get to know the results Doc? Do you really think you are going to tell me am a genius or something? Seems pretty late in the game, to me, to suddenly realize I'm actually super smart." Or am going to be, I guess would be more accurate.

"It will take me about 15 to 20 minutes to calculate the results, Jacob. But I have a feeling, if suddenly your memory has exponentially improved then at your age there certainly is nothing natural about it and there will be no way to be able to predict the extent of the changes or the possible outcome . . ." he trailed off, not finishing the thought. "To that point I surmise it is more supernatural, something to do with your shape-shifter heritage that is at work here."

"Sure, sure."

But they were probably wrong. They had to be. If they were right, you'd think Sam would have told me, since he was the first to phase, that after a certain number of years of being a wolf, his memory started improving.

"It probably didn't happen for him." Edward said walking over to me now.

I'm going to have to get used to him being in my head, all over again. I kinda got a little lax in my guarding of my own thoughts during the year and a half he was gone.

At least we were not living in the same house anymore. Since Nessie and I had taken over his and Bella's old room and given David and Felicity ours, they had moved into the guest room at Carlisle and Esme's that Nahuel had been staying in, and he in turn was now staying in David's old room, since my son moved to La Push. If he, or Jennifer, or Huilen ever move back we were going to have add some additions onto, at least, one of the houses.

Wait. What did Edward just say? "What do you mean," I asked him out loud.

"You might be the only one who is experiencing a boost to your memory, since your imprinting on Nessie was different than the other wolves." Why were people always thinking my imprinting was so different? "There may even be other changes you may someday experience . . . possibly," he ignored my fuming though and added more as an afterthought.

"Why do you think that?" I wanted an answer. Why is everyone always thinking that my imprint was different? I love Nessie just as much as any other wolf loves their imprints, possibly more. It wasn't some sort of platonic guardianship, like a few people first thought it might be. We have a true, romantic love connection, a normal imprinting. What makes it so different from everyone else's?

"Every other wolf imprinted on someone from the Quileute or Makah Tribe, for starters," Edward began. "Renesmee is barely related by marriage, so that doesn't count."

"Excuse me?" What was he talking about? He knew I never married his daughter. There wasn't some secret Vampire marriage ceremony that I didn't know about, was there?

"No Jacob, that's not what I am referring to," Edward chuckled, before looking more sullen. "You and my daughter are definitely not married." After regaining his composure he began again, "Charlie's Grandaunt, Molly Swan, was married to Old Quil, before she died.

"I never met her, but he had very fond memories of her. She seemed like a very kind lady. But I don't think that is enough of a connection for a normal imprinting to you, Jacob. I believe there's something special about yours. A reason why you imprinted on a half-Vampire."

"I imprinted on her because she is my Soulmate." Was he trying to say that Nessie and I really didn't belong together? That we were just shoved together by some Quileute magic for some other reason? That our love wasn't real? That we were being forced together for some other, abet _higher_ , reason?

"No Jacob, that's not what I meant, but since you found your imprint in a half-Vampire, it is requiring you, and your wolf _magic_ , for lack of a better word, to change, to adapt, to her super-naturalness.

"It is not very often, never really, that a wolf imprints on one who is going to live forever, you would need to adapt somehow to that. All previous wolves who imprinted eventually gave up their immortality to grow old with their soulmates. That is not going to happen for you. Certain adjustments would need to be made."

"And you think memory improvement is one of these _adjustments_?"

"It seems like a good place to start," he shrugged. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to forget a moment of your life, or yours and Nessie's lives together. In 50 to 100 years a normal man, if they were still alive, that is, but after all that time, a normal man with a normal memory, would forget.

"Remember the first time you saw my daughter, the days you took her to the beach to play in the water, holding her hand while walking down the street, her first day of college, the first time you . . . kissed her. They are simple memories but they're important, especially after a few decades, let alone a century or two, pass, you'd want to remember them. We all," he looked around the room now to each of the Cullens who had gathered around us, "have lost most of our human memories and would give anything to get them back. You're very lucky, if what I think is happening is actually happening, Jacob."

"And just what do you think is happening to me?"

"Not only are your new memories more permanent, and accurate, but your previous ones, those from last month, last year, 10 years ago, 20 even, they seem to be crystallizing in your mind. I can see it happening as you think them. It's very strange. You'll never have to worry about forgetting anything. You are very lucky."

I didn't really see that it was that big of a deal to remember things from my past. Well . . . except for Nessie. As long as I remembered my time with Nessie, that was all I really cared about.

"Jacob this means you'll never forget your sisters, your mother, your father, your Pack. You'll carry their memories with you always. None of us have that, just fuzzy human memories, and very few of those."

Hmmm, when he put it that way I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. Sure I was glad I would remember my family and Pack. But that also meant I would remember that they were no longer with me. I know we were not together right now. But soon, someday in the all too close future, it would be more like it is with my mother. They would be gone, dead, like her. Did I want to remember them, if their memories brought me pain? It didn't look like I had a choice regardless.

"I have the results, Jacob," Carlisle said sauntering back into the living room.

"Okay, what's the verdict Doc?"

"I'm afraid you are not a genius . . . yet. But by the results of this test it looks like Edward is right and you will be soon. Your test results are much more improved than previous scores."

How does he know that? I've never taken an IQ test before? But then again, I'm sure they could have been tested me all these years without me knowing it. No one responded. It's not like I said anything out loud, but Edward surely had heard me and just gave me a smirk, letting me know I was right.

Sneaky Vampires.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.

Sorry this chapter was so long but I loved the idea of the chapter title, so I didn't break it up into two, like I originally planned.


	88. Well That Was Unexpected

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Eight**

 **Well That Was Unexpected**

Jacob's Point of View

Any other version of the story would not result in the same

No wait. That's not right.

Another version of

Oh, damn-it, I did it again. Delete, delete, delete.

No other version of the events that took place would lead to

Aurg, why am I having such a problem finishing this? It's my last paper I have to write before I graduate, and I'm stuck. I should have be able to write it in three to four hours. And here I was going on six.

"Hi there handsome," Nessie called from the doorway. I guess she was back from her latest shopping trip. "How's the paper coming?" She asks giving me a kiss.

"Awful," I whined. "I just can't seem to get past this part right here," I said, indicating the section on my laptop, now that she was standing over my shoulder.

"Why don't you take a break? I need to go hunting and could use a partner," her sweet voice cooed in my ear.

That was all she needed to say. I closed my laptop and bolted out the door after her. A distraction would be exactly what I needed. After a few hours of hunting, I could go back and finish my paper. No problem. This would be perfect.

Oh what I wouldn't do for a vampire brain right now. I just had to write this one _small_ 35 page paper. Okay, so it was not exactly small, but I only had 13 pages done and now seem to have writers block. I can't even remember what the theme of the paper was currently. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that I was running after Nessie and might have gotten a little too distracted by the way her butt currently looked in her jeans. Yum!

It's amazing how over the years it no longer bothered me to see her sucking up blood. I mean I know it wasn't human blood she was drinking, but while I _knew_ it was what she needed to survive, but when I really thought about it, when she was younger, it was a pretty gross concept. That's what I use to think at least.

I just loved watching Nessie hunt now, especially since she was back to feeding from elk, and deer, and even the occasional black bear or cougar; whatever we could find in the area that wasn't a wolf. It made me so happy to see her move. She was so graceful and strong man. I could watch my girl for hours.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I would follow her as she hunted. After she had drained whatever animal she killed, I would then eat the meat. There wasn't any point in killing two animals when we both needed separate parts of the same animal. So while, I gnarled away on the deer she had just finished drinking from, she got to watch me. I didn't really like eating raw that much but judging by the smirk on her face, I believe she found watching me equally as entertaining as I did her. Man, we truly a were the perfect pair.

A few minutes later I felt full, which was hard to achieve with my high wolf metabolism.

Looking around I noticed the area of the forest we were in was really pretty. Maybe before Nessie and I run back to the house, we could just hang out here for awhile. It would be nice to just be with her, alone, instead of being in a house full of other people, or Vampires.

It wasn't just that I was procrastinating, giving me some more time, before I had to go back to work on my paper, but Nessie and I missed so many months together. And now that her family was back I just missed being alone with her.

Quickly I went to phase back to human, pulling the heat into me, like I had a thousand times before.

Woe. This wasn't right. What happened? I felt like I was flying. It actually felt like I was disconnected from my body. I hadn't phased back to my human form. What was going on? Did I somehow get stuck mid-phase? But I felt light as a feather, like I was being carried by the wind. Wait. I was. I was floating . . . I think. Whatever was happening, I was definitely not on the ground anymore.

What was going on? I was supposed to be standing on two legs right now, but that was not what happened. This was really discombobulating. I couldn't tell exactly what was going on.

I once described imprinting as redefining . . . no, more like re-finding your gravity. Your soulmate was your new gravity, holding you down, keeping you connected to the earth. When I, and every other wolf who had imprinted first laid eyes on their soulmate, it was like your ties to the earth were broken and retied to her. Once I imprinted I was no longer being held to the earth by gravity, but by Nessie.

Had something happened to Nessie, while I was phasing back?

Where is Nessie, where is my gravity?

Now I was panicking, not for me, but for her.

"Jake!" I heard her scream. Thank goodness, she was alive, but where was she?

Looking down I saw her huddled over something. Me. She was crouched over my wolf, which was currently laying on the ground – unmoving.

What was going on? Was I dead? I didn't feel dead.

Somehow I needed to get back to her. And me, apparently.

I didn't currently have a body, so sans a mouth, or lungs, or anything to technically make an auditable sound I was not sure this was really going to work, but I had to try and let her know where I was and that I was okay . . . sort of.

"Nessie," I called.

She didn't make any motion to acknowledge that she had heard me.

"Nessie," I tried again.

 _Jake, is that you._ I heard someone's voice in my head call. Wait, was that Embry? What was he doing in New Hampshire? He moved back to Washington.

 _I am in Washington,_ he answered me. _You're in New Hampshire? How is it that we're speaking to each other? You're 3000 miles away. What's going on?_

 _Hey Jake, what are you doing back here? We . . . wait, you're not in Jared's Pack. How come I can hear you?_

Whose voice was that? Oh wait, was that Collin? I hadn't heard his voice in my head in years, not since we were part of Sam's Pack 8-9 years ago.

 _So you're still in Washington too, I take it?_

 _Yeah Jake, of course I am. La Push is my home. I never left it._

Okay, what is going on? And then I realized I was hearing all of the voices from Jared's Pack, all that were currently phased anyway, in addition to Embry's, who was still in my Pack. But how was this possible?

 _Jake, dude, it's like those old legends, your dad tells around the bonfire, about the spirit warriors, leaving their bodies. Except you left your wolf,_ Embry offered.

No way, not possible. There hasn't been a spirit warrior in what? Hundreds or Thousands of years? Not since before there was writing, that part of our history was just stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Who knows how much of it was even true.

Oh crap! As I looked down, I knew that it was, though. How was I going to go back in there? Back into my wolf and then phase back to my human form?

 _Just think about the stories your father used to tell Jake, just float back down and jump in,_ Embry suggested like it was no big deal.

Yeah, easy for him to say, he wasn't the one who actually had to do it.

 _Okay, here I go, but if this works, I'm not going to be able to talk to you anymore,_ although this is pretty cool, I guess, thinking about it now. " _Embry, I'll give you a call if it does, and let you know everything's okay. Here goes nothing,_ I said, as I did what he suggested and attempted to float back down.

It was working and a few seconds later I was back in my wolf body, much to my and Nessie's relief as my body mobilized.

"Jake, oh thank goodness you're alive," Nessie screamed wrapping her arms around my wolf neck. I gave her a quick lick to her cheek to let her know I was okay then bobbed my head to let her know to back up a bit so I could phase back. Man I hoped this worked.

I hope I don't just have a repeat of a few minutes ago and turn into a spirit warrior again. Not knowing exactly how I did it the first time I wasn't sure how to not repeat it, again, as strange as that was to think of.

 _Picture yourself standing on two legs, Jake,_ Embry offered.

 _Yeah, good idea,_ I replied before attempting to phase again, back to my human form.

It worked, I was back on two feet.

"Jake, oh my god. I was so worried. What happened?" Nessie screamed and hugged me again. She was squeezing me so hard it actually hurt.

"Ow, Nessie, darling. I love you, and am fine, but I won't be for much longer," panic struck her eyes, before I spoke again, "if you don't loosen your grip a bit."

Realizing just how tight she was holding me she let up a bit, but didn't completely let me go. I could see why she wouldn't want to. From my view it had looked like I was dead, she had probably thought the same thing.

I quickly took out my cell phone and texted Embry that everything was okay. I know I had promised to call, but Nessie was verging on becoming hysterical and I needed to calm her down and assure her I was okay.

Once I had calmed my sweetheart down Nessie and I made our way back to the house. Not surprisingly Edward was there to greet us. Of course he was. He probably heard the whole thing, we were within his five mile range.

"You heard," I simply acknowledged.

"Yes," the shock was still evident on his face. I knew the feeling, still in more than a bit of shock, myself. "Are you all right, Jacob?"

"I think so. How much could you hear?" Was he able to hear just me or . . .

"I could hear everything, you and Embry, and all of the wolves, back in Washington. It was remarkable, being connected to everyone so far away. How is this possible?"

He was asking me? How am I supposed to know? No one in the Tribe had been a Spirit Warrior in at least a thousand years. I don't even know how I did it. I didn't know how it worked.

"I think I needed to call my father. Maybe there was some part of the Tribes legends about this that he had neglected to tell us over the years." Or something that was written down in a book somewhere, or I don't know . . . something.

"Sounds good. Come on, it's still early there. I'll make some cookies while you call him." Nessie said as she lead me into the house.

* * *

Humph. Well that wasn't helpful. Billy didn't have any more answers than I did. Embry had gone straight to him after I had sent the text, so my father already had a chance to look through the Tribes logs, when I called. But he didn't have any answers for me. He assured me he was going to keep looking, but no one knew the Tribes histories better than him. It seems that what happened to me was a first, or at least a first in a very long time.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

The cookies I baked this morning were now cool enough that I could pack them up to ship to Washington for David.

I knew he would probably enjoy oatmeal raisin, they were his favorite after all, and since I was over-nighting him that ugly necklace, with everything else I had gathered, I thought this would be nice to include as well.

"Hey sweetheart," Jake said after coming into the kitchen, kissing my cheek and stealing one of the cookies.

I slapped his hands away before he took another. "Hey, those are for David," I reminded him.

"You're actually sending all of them to David? Felicity and I don't even get a few?" Jake sadly asked me, trying his best to emulate puppy dog eyes. Even though Jake was a wolf, he didn't quite get the look down. But he still looked cute.

"Don't worry, there's another batch in the oven for you." Like I would really only make one bunch of cookies. Silly wolf.

"Honey . . . um . . . why are you sending David _another_ care package?" Jake hesitantly questioned me. "Didn't you just mail one last week? I thought you were trying to cut down to once a month?"

Jake was right. After seeing my son during Embry's wedding, right before the funeral for Rose's brother I started overcompensating, sending David boxes and boxes of care packages every week. I would make batches of cookies, buy clothes, comic books, and include pictures of all of his family still in New Hampshire. It got to be so much that soon I was sending a box every day and would freak out when I didn't have enough time to shop and bake to fill a new box each day.

It finally all boiled over when I put a batch of cookies in the oven, then left to run to the store to buy a few more things to send David. I thought I would be back in time, but the Comic book store had just unpacked a new shipment, just as I arrived, and I got carried away looking through the selection.

The cookies, still in the oven, were the last thing on my mind and they baked and baked, and over-baked and dried out, until they were burnt to a crisp. But I was still at the store, so then at some point, they had caught on fire.

Fire is never good, especially for Vampires. It being the only thing that can kill us.

Emmett heard the smoke detector go off from his house, raced over, and managed to put out the oven fire before it spread. After that incident my family sat me down and made me realize I was taking things too far.

"I know, you're right. I did just mail something to David last week. But I just thought I'd put these in the box with the rest of the stuff being shipped."

"What stuff?"

"David called yesterday, Janet is in the school play this year and apparently the school's wardrobe department isn't that great so they needed a little help. I gathered a few things no one was using here. I thought it would be nice if all of the families fancy clothes got put to some sort of good use instead of sitting in closets forever," I chuckled.

"Yeah, what are you sending?" he skeptically eyed the large box sitting on the table for the first time.

"Some old hats and jewelry, a few gowns from my Aunts closets, and some old suits from my father's and Uncles that they already wore. Alice would ever let them wear them again anyway. You know she only lets people in this family were things once, normally. You being the only exception because you put up such a fit."

"Sure, sure. What play are they doing?" he asked me next.

Oh, he was going to love it. "Beauty and the Beast," I grinned over to him.

"Ha, ha, ha, that's interesting," he chuckled. "So what part is Janet's?"

"I think David said she's Bells understudy."

He found it as amusing as I did, but I could still see the concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm not going to get carried away again. I promise I won't even send him a box next week, just think of this as next week's box being shipped a few days early."

"You're sure?"

"Of course. Totally fine." I still miss my son, but going overboard again would not bring him back home. "How are you doing?" I asked, changing the subject. "Has Billy found anything?" David never mentioned any new theories or legions when he called, but that was 20 hours ago. Something could have turned up.

"Still nothing," he huffed. "But I am getting better at controlling it."

That was something, at least. He scared me so much the first time it had happened. But Jake had been practicing, with me, Bella, and Edward, over the past few weeks and had gotten to the point where he was at least able to control when it happened.

* * *

Okay, what do you think? Was the Spirit Warrior thing too weird?

Thanks for reading and Please, Please Please review. I only got one review for my last chapter. :(


	89. Old um, friends?

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighty-Nine**

 **Old . . . um, friends?**

Jacob's Point of View

 _David there you are_ , I said in my head, as I realized David's wolf mind had finally joined with mine. I've been waiting in my spirit form for about 10 minutes now, but I think I might have been a little bit early anyway.

 _Hey Dad what's going on?_

I didn't really like being like this for too long. It was still very disconcerting, not having a physical body, just kind of floating around everywhere. But it has been a while since I talked to David and I wanted to talk to him about a few things.

For one thing Nessie and I were graduating from Dartmouth next week and I wanted to make sure he had received the plane ticket we had sent him. There were 10 altogether – one for him, Janet Billy, Charlie, and Sue. Not to mention Rachel, Paul and their three kids. No red eyed Vampires were invited to the graduation so there was no reason that he couldn't come this time. As I saw it at least.

I was also interested to see how he was getting on in La Push. I wanted to know if everything was going as well as he claimed over the phone and Skype. Billy would call and Skype every so often. He seemed to be telling me the same story I was hearing from David, that everything was going great between him and David, and David and Janet, and David and Jared, and the rest of the Pack. But I just wanted to be one hundred percent sure.

I tried searching through David's mind to get what I was looking for, but I got nothing. It was almost as if I was talking to Jared, or like when I used to talk to Sam, Alpha to Alpha. I guess I could only hear the thoughts he wanted me to hear, in this form. Damn. Well this was a bust, but at least I got to see my son again.

We spent the next 40, or so minutes, catching up on everything. He got the plane tickets and assured me everyone was planning on coming next week. And I got to see through my sons eyes, for a bit, and got to _see_ Billy. I appreciated it that David went and visited him for me. But I was also concerned to see how my father's health was still continuing to decline, since the last time I had seen him. I knew it wasn't just that his diabetes was catching up with him. It wasn't only the problems with his legs anymore. He actually looked like an old man now. And as much as Edward had helped him rein in his diabetes, there was nothing he could do against old age.

We had been finishing up and just as I was about to float back down into my body, or whatever it was I was doing now, to phase back.

 _Hey Dad_ , David yelled into my head. I was . . . I don't know mid phase, maybe a little less. But still in spirit form enough that I could still hear my son, apparently. I strained to make myself return back to my spirit form so I could continue to communicate with my son. Easier said than done. This was all still new to me, but somehow managed.

It sounded like David's voice, or his thoughts at least, were urgent. That they wanted to tell me something important. But why had he waited until now?

 _Yeah Dave_ , I answered him.

 _There was one other thing I want to talk to you about_ , he informed me. _I ran into a couple of Vampires around the Cullens old place. I was just doing some routine patrolling and had wandered by when I picked up their scent. I was going to attack them but they said that they were friends of yours._

 _They claimed to be part of the group that helped save mom from the Volturi, so I let them go. But they're still in the area and I wanted to make sure that they were telling the truth._

 _You let them go? When was this?_ This was a new change in my son. Was this Jared's influence on him? I'm not sure if this was a good thing or not. I mean I didn't want him trying to kill every Vampire he came across, well not the ones the Cullens counted as friends, at least, but I also didn't want him believing them at their word either.

 _It was this morning actually, if we didn't have this chat planned for this afternoon I would have called you about them right away, but I figured it could wait a few hours. Don't worry. There are a couple wolves keeping an eye on them for now, making sure they're not going to do anything sneaky._

Okay, that made me feel better. At least someone was watching them.

 _Why don't you take me through what happened and show me who they were, David._

 _Sure, no problem dad_ , he thought and then he let me into his mind enough that I could see a rundown of the events that took place. It was just like he said, doing a routine patrol and then catching their scents. When he approached them I instantly recognized the two Vampires he was talking about. Dracula one and two - Stefan and Vladimir, my least favorite of the ones who had _helped_ us.

I wasn't sure if they could be trusted or not. Really the only reason that they were on our side back then was that they wanted to get rid of the Volturi. But I was pretty sure that they also wanted to become the new Volturi, or at least their former versions of what they were, when they were the ones in charge, over a thousand years ago.

They were very old and very dangerous.

I told David everything I knew about them, their names, were they were from, the fact that everything that they had told David was _technically_ true but I was still a little weary of them. I wasn't sure Dave should actually trust them or not. I think he needed to go back and get more information from them. Why, for one, were they visiting the Cullens?

David agreed to talk to them again and find out why they were here, or there, I guess. He was going to phase back tonight around eight, letting me know more of what was going on. Them being in La Push got me more than a little worried. The Cullens were not their friends. They would not be stopping by for just a friendly chat. Something was up.

Why exactly were Stefan and Vladimir looking for the Cullens, Did they need their help? And if so, what for? Were they planning on attacking the Volturi again? Or maybe the Volturi were planning on attacking Stefan and Vladimir. Or the wolves. Or the Cullens. Or was it something else entirely?

If there was a problem we needed to coordinate with Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens and maybe even go to Washington.

* * *

I spent the next few hours pacing. I did NOT like waiting. Something was off. I could feel it. The tension in my body was too great and I couldn't take it. Somehow I needed to burn off the extra energy I suddenly had. I thought about going for a run, but if those two Vampires were in La Push that meant danger (probably) even if it was not close to us, But it meant I could not be away from Nessie.

"Jacob, stop that." Nessie half yelled – half smirked from the front door. "You've been traipsing back and forth so many times you've made a permanent bald spot in the lawn. Esme is going to be pissed."

Damn-it. Looking down I could see she was right. Instead of phasing back to human I just moved and started pacing in a new location on the grass.

"That's not what I meant sweetheart. David is not going to phase for another fifty-two minutes. Why don't you come inside. I'm sure I can give you something much more enjoyable to occupy your mind," Nessie teased as she began walking back into the house, her blouse now airborne traveling towards my feet. I guess no one else was home.

She didn't have to tell me twice. Before her shirt even landed on the ground I had phased back, picked up my beautiful imprint and was carrying her to our bedroom.

Fifty-seven minutes later we headed back outside, just as Bella and Edward were pulling his car up to their house. It was new record for us, and not in a good way. I didn't like having to rush like that, but at least I got another outlet for my pent up tension.

Nessie always knew what I needed. I loved her so much.

I chuckled as I saw Edward pinch the bridge of his nose, just as he entered his house. I guess Bella didn't have her shield up. Sheesh, he really needs to take that stick out of his butt. His daughter and I have been together for years now and have two grown children together. _Time to get over things and move on Eddie._

* * *

What David told me that night was disturbing, and so unnerving that Edward immediately joined me outside. Not that he could actually see me in my spirit form but he stood next to my abandoned wolf body and could hear what I was thinking, nevertheless. He immediately started mobilizing everyone to make the trip back to La Push, or I guess the Makah Reservation, depending on how you looked at it. The Washington area, anyway.

Stefan and Vladimir wanted to go after the Volturi. But this time they wanted the wolves as allies, instead of an army of other vampires; thinking that they would have a better shot, since the Wolves held no allegiances to any vampires, or so they thought.

I wasn't sure exactly what their plan was, nothing good anyway. But somehow, and I don't know exactly how, they had convinced David, and David had convinced Jared, and the rest of the wolves, that Stefan and Vladimir's plan was a good one and they were making arrangements to go to Italy.

 _David this is madness. It's a suicide mission._ I continued to try to reason with him.

Going after the Volturi was stupid and reckless, but Dracula One and Two didn't care about the wolves. They didn't care how many of my brothers would lose their lives trying to go up against the Volturi. David didn't know that without Bella's shield they would be useless against Jane and Alec. They would either be numb or be writhing in pain before they even got a chance to fight. But Stefan and Vladimir must have been counting on them taking out at least a few of the Volturi before that happened.

 _Why are you even listening to them? You hate Vampires, why would you voluntarily work with them?_

 _Why do you think, dad. They are giving us the opportunity to take out the biggest coven of Vamps on the planet. We exist to kill Vampires, why wouldn't we want to do this._

 _David, putting aside the fact that this is beyond dangerous, the Volturi are not evil exactly._ Okay so I hated them for trying to kill Nessie when she was a baby, or at least using it as a pretext to get Edward and Alice to join them, but I had come to realize that they were a necessary evil. As much as I hated to admit it, they kept order in the Vampire world. Without them Vampires everywhere would be much more of a problem than they already were.

David would not listen to me and was planning to leave tomorrow morning. We needed to get there first and stop them. But Edward had gathered the rest of the Cullens and told them everything he had seen in my mind. Alice could not see if we would arrive before their plane took off.

"Try reasoning with David again. You need to talk him out of the idea of going to Italy," Edward shouted up to me once again.

 _What do you think I have been doing for the past hour?_ I shout/thought back to Edward

 _I'm going and killing some vampires, dad. Why don't you join me? It will be fun, doing what we were born to do._ David wasn't listening to me, as usual, and now was currently actually trying to convince me to join them. Great this was going perfectly.

And did he say that he thought that this trip was going to be fun? More like suicide.

"Tell him you will go, Jacob." Edward shouted up to my general direction again.

 _What, why?_

"It will give us the time we need to fly there while he waits for you."

 _Alright, Dave, I can be there by tomorrow afternoon at the latest._

 _No, don't bother coming all the way out here, dad, just to turn around and fly out again. Our flight has a few stopovers along the way. One of them is near you, in New York. Just meet us there._

"You need to convince him not to leave until you get there."

 _Duh . . . you think?_ Eddie was starting to get on my nerves.

 _I don't think that's a good idea. We need to make a plan . . . come up with a strategy, and contingencies just in case. We can't do that on the plane, not with the other humans, a bunch of innocent passengers, within earshot. And once we touchdown in Italy it will be too late. I don't mind coming to meet you, I can sleep on the plane._

Amazingly, after a little more convincing, David eventually, agreed to wait for me. Unfortunately that meant that I and the rest of the Cullens would have to go and meet him in Washington. NOW! And that meant more Vampires around La Push, and probably more wolves being turned if we stayed too long.

* * *

Once we got out of the cars, at the La Push boarder, we smelt them. Vampires. Stefan and Vladimir. But their scents went in two different directions.

"Do you smell anyone else with them?" I said out loud to no particular Cullen. It didn't matter, really. "Why did they split up?" This was wrong. They were always joined at the hip, last time.

"It's just the two of them. But you are right. They normally, always stay together to watch each other's backs. Either they don't consider the wolves a real threat or they are up to something," Carlisle answered me. Each of the Cullens had the same vacant expression on their faces.

Great, now what?

"We split up." Edward answered my internal question. "We'll go this way after Vladimir," he said, gesturing, to the other members of the Cullen clan, then pointing to one scent trail that seemed to head towards the Cullen's old place, "you meet up with your son and the rest of the Pack and go after Stefan." That made sense. The other trail seemed to head deeper into La Push.

"I'm coming with you," Nessie said to me. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well maybe if she stayed home, nice and safe in New Hampshire, away from all of the danger. But she would never do that. She needed to be here, for her son. Nessie was a fighter. And I loved her for it.

Felicity had agreed to stay home. At first she was a little hesitant, not wanting to be stuck around Nahuel and Leah. "Too much PDA," she had exclaimed. She was right, those two put Rose and Emmett to shame.

But much to her relief Nahuel and Seth stayed with her, while Leah came with us. I know the separation was going to be hard on them but I had a feeling I was going to need Leah's help.

A few minutes after the Cullens had taken off, Leah and I phased and, along with Nessie, we were following a trail east. Once a wolf I could see that David, Jared, and another wolf in his Pack were also phased and currently searching for Drac one and two. Not being an Alpha or a member of my Pack, I couldn't get into their mind but I was sure it was Quil with them.

Even though David was now a part of Jared's Pack it seemed that I could still communicate with him like this. I wonder why? Quil was a big blind spot to me right now, like every other member of Jared's Pack. It must have been because Dave was my son.

While I was glad that we could still communicate like this I was troubled about what I was currently getting from him. He was worried about something. But what?

 _David, what is it_?

 _Nothing, nothing,_ he tried to assure me, but I still got an uneasy feeling, his uneasy feeling.

Is it Janet? _Has something happened to her?_

 _No, I just left her a couple hours ago. She has dress rehearsal for the school play. She looks so beautiful in her Belle costume._ He thought to me. I could feel a giant smile unintentionally appear on his face, as he thought about his imprint. But he still felt something was wrong.

 _I don't know what it is. Probably just the situation, I guess,_ he again tried to assure me but the uneasy feeling wouldn't leave either of us. I knew mine was just because of the way he felt though.

I guess whatever it was could wait until after I dealt with Stefan and Vladimir.

 _Right, so Jared, do you want to let us know what's going on?_

Clearly I could tell that everything was not as cozy as I had seen before we had gotten on the plane but I didn't know what had happened. Even though I could only hear from him what he wanted me to, Alpha to Alpha, I could see in David's mind that there was some sort of confrontation going on between them and Stefan. But what? Why? Not that I wasn't glad about it. I just needed to know the reason behind it.

 _I don't know exactly,_ David stated to explain. _All that we are certain about is that no one has heard from Stefan and Vladimir escorts in over an hour._

 _They're MIA, a couple other wolves are guarding La Push just on the edge of the forest, then there's us. If you are right and they split up, we don't have the numbers anymore to go after the other one, at the same time,_ Jared continued. Obviously he was pissed. He was trying not to lose it but there was an edge to his thoughts. _That's all we have. It isn't like it was eight years ago. We're down to single digits and can't be everywhere at once._

 _I found Stefan, he's just up ahead of us. I think he's actually waiting for us,_ David exclaimed.

 _We're right behind you. Should be there in two. Wait for us._

In no time the three of us (me, Leah, and Nessie) ran up beside the three of them (Jared, David, and Quil), as they were closing in on Stefan. They looked like they were ready to attack.

That seemed a little extreme. Something more must have happened, but I wasn't getting anymore from either Jared or my son.

I still didn't know exactly what the hell was going on though. I thought they were all buddy-buddy now? Not that I was complaining, but how could things have gone from planning to attack the Volturi together to getting ready to tear each other to shreds?

"You've been lying to us," Stefan spat. "You've been working with the Volturi the whole time."

 _No we haven't. What is he talking about?_ I heard Jared think. I knew that was what he wanted to ask, but we were still in wolf form, so he just shook his head no.

Stefan seemed to understand his response but then held up something shiny, seemingly as proof. It was the necklace Bella had worn during our encounter with the Volturi. How did it end up here?

I heard Nessie gasp and saw my son's eyes nearly leap out of his head, but his thoughts were a jumble, frantic, not making any sense. I could feel his panic.

"Where did you get that," David cringed after quickly phasing back, faster than I had ever seen him do before.

"I ripped it from the neck of the girl who was wearing it, of course," Stefan said as if he was commenting on the color of a beige rug. "Don't worry, I don't think she'll miss it. She was delicious however," he tauntingly added, licking his lips.

David's face went white before he collapsed on the ground.

Oh crap, Janet must have had the necklace!

But how did this happen? How did she have it? And how did Drac one and two even get anywhere near her? She wasn't anywhere La Push.

Just because they agreed to go after the Volturi did not mean that they should have trusted these two. Clearly. And up until an hour or so ago weren't there were two Wolves watching Stefan and Vladimir at all times?

Damn-it! They must have killed their wolf escorts. But which wolves were watching them? Who else did we lose?

Who was not here right now?

I suddenly got a picture from Jared's mind the two wolves that had been _guarding_ the Vamps. Brady and Scott - Collin's younger brother, who had recently phased after Nessie was in La Push recovering from Felicity's birth.

That was stupid of Jared. What was he thinking having Scott be one of the wolves to guard Stefan and Vladimir. He was brand new to being a wolf. He didn't have the experience necessary to be effective.

Of course Jared was thinking that they were allies with Drac one and two now and he let down his guard, a bit.

Before I knew it Quil had pounced on Stefan. Less than a half second later Jared, Leah, and I joined the fight.

David didn't help us, he hadn't moved from his slump in the ground. And Nessie stayed out of the fight to attempt to comfort our son. But we didn't need their help. Four was more than enough. And I could tell his heart wasn't into it anymore. His heart was gone, with Janet.

A wolf really couldn't survive without his imprint. I felt . . . I don't know how I felt. David had only been alive for a year and with Janet gone that was probably going to be it, unless a miracle happened.

I knew that if I lost Nessie I would find some way to end my own life as well. But I just hoped . . . somehow, David could get past this tragedy.

I don't know how but I would try to help him as best as I could. So would Nessie, so would the rest of the Cullens, so would the rest of my Pack, and Jared's, and Billy, and Charlie, and Sue, and anyone else I could think of. But first there was something we had to do.

"David, I'm so sorry . . ." Jared started after we all phased back.

"How did this happen Jared?" I screamed cutting him off. His stupidity was going to kill my son.

"I don't know. Brady and Scott were watching them. But they must have phased back to human at some point, because I never saw the vampires attack them, or go after Janet or anything. When we hadn't heard from them in over an hour Quil, David, and I were about to check on them when all of this happened.

"I thought we were on the same side. That we could trust them. They helped save Renesmee before. I didn't think . . ."

"That's right. You didn't think." I spat.

"Jake, don't be so hard on him. This was not his fault. It's no one's but Vladimir and Stefan's. Stefan is gone and Vladimir will be too if I know my father and the rest of my family. We need to deal with the present situation." Nessie said hugging our sobbing son.

She was right. There was no use yelling at Jared. There was more important things to deal with.

"Jared and Leah why don't you go see about Brady and Scott, we'll handle Janet's family." I said, as we burned the body. "Come on David, Nessie, Quil."

"Just go away. Leave me here. I'm . . ."

"No, David. We have to go to Janet's parents, they deserve an explanation." Of course there was also the chance that Stefan had been lying and Janet was fine, asleep in bed, none the wiser.

But judging by David's near catatonic state I had a feeling that he could feel the loss of his imprint through their bond, or I guess the now lack of it's pull.

He just responded to my words with a blank stare. Like he didn't understand what I was talking about.

"For why they'll . . . never see their daughter again." I gently tried to explain.

David managed to stand up but was like a walking corpse. There was no way we could run all the way with him like this. I managed to drag him back to the rental car and we made our way up to the Makah Reservation.

Right away, as we approach Mr. and Mrs. Young's house, it was obvious that they knew there was something wrong. I'm sure they noticed that their daughter was missing, at least. Janet had been gone for awhile, it was dark now. School had been over for hours, she missed dinner and should be getting ready for bed by now.

I didn't need to be inside the house to know, I could hear them from outside. Her parents were making phone calls, looking for their daughter, talking to the local police, giving them a physical description - Native American girl, brown eyes, brown hair, 5 foot 3, approximately 120 pounds, and so on. All the normal things you do when someone goes missing.

David looked like death. Nessie was in the back seat with him, trying desperately to console him. She didn't want to lose her son either.

"David, you need to be strong now, just for a little bit longer, for her parents. Please . . . just try to hold it together for them."

Quil didn't look much better than David. He was preparing himself to have to console Clare, his nine year old imprint and Janet's little sister. I was just taking the key out of the ignition, when my phone rang.

Checking the caller ID I saw that it was Eddie. What could he want? I thought briefly that they might be calling with good news. That it had all been a mistake. That they had found Janet, alive and well.

"Edward, have you . . ."

 _"Jacob, is David with you?"_ he cut me off, yet spoke so quietly I could barely hear him.

"Yeah, he's right here. What's going on?"

 **"** _Listen to me, very carefully. We have a situation. You need to move out of earshot of your son,"_ he continued to whisper into the phone.

"Err, I need to take this, guys, just wait in the car for a minute, please." I said as I climbed out before anyone could object. I just hoped they stayed put.

"Alright, Edward. What is it?" I asked when I was far enough away. "Stefan's dead, along with Brady, Scott and . . ."

 _"Yes, I know. That is why I am calling. We found Janet,"_ he cut me off again. _"We followed the scent trail to Vladimir_ _. I guess he didn't count on our response because he actually taunted me - showing me the tragic events that happened prior to our arrival. They never paid much attention to Bella, back then, and never saw her wearing Aro's gift, all those years ago. They believed David and Jared's Pack and the rest of the La Push and Makah Tribes were somehow in cahoots with the Volturi."_

I needed be in private for him to tell me this? "Yeah, Stefan pretty much told us the same thing."

 _"I'm so sorry, but if it is any comfort at all, please know that Vladimir is no more. We ripped him to pieces. His body has been burnt, and will soon be a pile of ash."_

"Great, so is Stefan's, but that isn't going to bring Janet back."

 _"No, you misunderstood me Jacob. We_ found _Janet."_

"What she's alive?"

 _"Not exactly . . ."_

"What is that suppose to mean?" I hated when he got all cryptic like this.

 _"I mean Stefan bit and drank from her . . ."_

"Yeah, I already knew that." I don't have time for this, get to the point.

 _"But she is not exactly dead."_

"Oh, she's . . . changing."

" _I'm afraid so. Carlisle gave her the anti-venom he developed but she had already lost so much blood, and she's not a wolf or related to you. He is_ doubtful _it will work._

"So what do we do now?"

 _"We wait,"_ his voice was coarse, unemotional. Devoid of hope. Crap.

"How long?"

 _"I'm not certain. When you inserted the syringe into Leah how long did it take before you started to see it working."_

"I don't know . . . five, maybe ten seconds. How long has it been for Janet?"

 _"18 minutes,"_ he dryly responded.

Oh, he realized, just like I had that if it hadn't worked by now it probably wasn't going to.

"What about Brady and Scott? Did you find them?" There was a chance, however small that they were, like Janet, still alive.

" _I'm sorry, but Vladimir very clearly thought, mostly apparently, solely for my discomfort, about how he and Stefan killed them. They're gone. Jasper and Esme are out now retrieving the bodies."_ He continued telling me exactly where he saw them go down in Vladimir's mind.

"Yeah, so is Jared." Damn leeches!

" _We're at our old house. Why don't you meet us there and we'll discuss our options. I'll leave it to you to break it to David and the wolves as you see fit. If there is anything I can do, please let me know."_

"Yeah, thanks." I replied before hanging up and called Jared to let him know where to find Brady and Scott's bodies. Jasper and Esme would not be able to carry them onto the Reservation.

Great! How the hell was I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to tell my son that his soulmate . . . his imprint, his reason for being, was currently being transformed into the one thing he hated more than anything else on the planet?

This was going to kill him. Literally. Probably more than him thinking she was dead.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to basically hand my son his death sentence. But he already thought she was dead, so he already had one. I knew what I had to do.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	90. Three Days and Counting

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety**

 **Three Days and Counting**

Renesmee's Point of View

David was beside himself. He loved Janet and didn't want to see her die, but he didn't want her to become a vampire either. I was worried he would try to kill her, and then himself, as soon as we walked through the front door of my family's old home. I saw the look on his face, I knew what that look in his eyes meant, but he wouldn't talk to me or Jake the entire drive.

As soon as he entered Edward's old room, and saw Janet on the bed, writhing in pain, David seemed to lose his nerve, or have a change of heart, or something. He must have still felt her, in there somewhere, through his imprint bond.

"How long will she be in this pain," he choked rushing over to her side.

"Approximately three days." Jasper replied.

"That long?" His face fell, even more. If that was possible.

"That is the average. For Bella it was only two, but Edward had given her a large amount of venom." Carlisle answered this time.

"Can she hear me?"

"Most likely, I can only tell you from my own experience, I'm sure the experience is slightly different for everyone. My own was excruciating but I was able to keep silent through the entire process, in order to remain hidden. When I changed Edward, Esme Rose and Emmett they screamed at different volumes off and on for the entire three days. As for Bella, Edward was able to inject her with morphine beforehand and her change was painless. She managed to sleep through the entire thing."

"Why haven't you give Janet any morphine then?" David screamed at my grandfather.

"I'm afraid it is too late for that. It would have had to be injected prior to the venom entering her system. I tried with Emmett, but the venom burned off the morphine before it had any chance of working."

"I don't care if it didn't work for him." Dave continued screaming. "Try it again. It could work this time."

"If you wish, but you should prepare yourself that it most likely will have no effect."

"Fine."

"I don't have any on hand, but will call an old colleague at the Forks Hospital and acquire some right away."

"David, please, I know you are upset, but yelling at your family who are only trying to help is NOT helping." Jacob whispered to our son.

"I know but . . . I just . . . I . . . I just love her so much. What am I going to do?"

"Why don't you calm down. Take a few deep breaths. If Carlisle can do anything for her, he will. In the meantime, why don't you talk to Janet. Let her know you are her for her and that you love her."

"I do love her. I love you Janet." He sobbed, then stranger than strange, actually gave a small chuckle. What? "I have never actually told her that before. I'm never going to get a chance to hear her say it back to me."

"You don't know that. And you have no idea what she thinks."

"She loves you too," my father replied. "But she is in too much pain, I doubt she will be able to respond verbally to anyone until . . ."

"Can you see her, Alice? When will she . . . you know . . ." Jake questioned.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what is going to happen. Right now she is fuzzy. Maybe if you both move away from her," she said gesturing to Jake and Dave, "I'll be able to get a clearer picture."

I don't think Dave was paying attention to her though because he did the exact opposite, and climbed into bed with her, trying to hold down Janet's convulsing body with his own. As strong and big as he was he wasn't having that much of an effect.

Three days passed and there was no change.

.

.

Day Four (Sunday) Janet was still screaming.

Carlisle couldn't offer us any explanation as to why it was talking the change to take so long.

A funeral had been held for Scott yesterday and Brady's was today. Jared's Pack had attended, but none of us had left the house, with the exception of my grandfather who quickly left to pick up some medical supplies and food. Alice had arranged for the flowers, caskets, had the wakes catered and most everything else. Billy had taken care of the formalities with their parents. And while Edward had paid for everything my entire family stayed in the house looking after Janet and David, only leaving to hunt when needed.

"Please there has to be something you can do." David pleaded to anyone and everyone in the room. Just like my grandfather had told him earlier, the morphine he had given Janet had done nothing to ease her discomfort.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what's going on myself," the Doc confessed. "It should have been over by now. Or at least lessened."

While Janet was clearly writhing in pain, as everyone in my family, save my mother, had done when they were changed, we all could clearly see that she wasn't. Just on the pure superficial side of things, a humans physical appearance is altered during the change; they all became more beautiful looking as a vampire.

While I hadn't seen it happen personally I remember what my mother looked like just after I was born, and had seen pictures of her as a human. She was good looking back then, but as a vampire she was gorgeous. All vampires have that in common - gorgeous supermodel looks.

Janet, for all that David loved her, and as pretty as he thought she was, still looked like herself, actually worse since she was currently writhing in pain. And then of course everyone could see that her wounds – the bite mark that started this whole thing, and the other scrapes, cuts, and bruises she had sustained in the process – none of them were healing, at least not quickly.

.

.

Day Five (Monday) David finally broke down from Janet's screams.

"You did this," David screeched. He had been practically numb this whole time, not leaving her bed once. It seemed like he could feel her pain on some level. Each time her body lurched he sunk a little deeper.

But now he seemed to wake up and while screaming, jumped on Carlisle. "Whatever you did, whatever you injected her with, that is what is doing this to her," he seethed as Jasper and Emmett pulled him off the Doc.

"It's alright. Let him go." Carlisle calmed his sons. "David, I'm afraid you might be right. The venom and anti-venom must be fighting each other inside of her."

"So now what? Help her. Please. There must be something you can do."

Blank stares were all the answer he and everyone else gave and received.

.

.

Day Six (Tuesday) – no change in Janet

"If you want," Alice hesitantly approached David, "I can try to see if I can see anything. The only thing is you'd have to move away from her for it to work. You block my visions," she shrugged.

"If you think there's any way I'm moving one inch away from her you're crazier than I thought you were." David spat.

I know he was hurting but there was no need for him to be rude. But as much as I wanted to correct my son, I just couldn't. If Janet died from this, he would soon follow and I couldn't be harsh to him on his (possibly) last few days.

.

.

Day Seven (Wednesday) – still no change

We called Felicity. Janet wasn't changing. She might still die, she probably would, and if she did, as much as it pained me to admit it, David would most likely find some way to follow. She deserved the chance to say goodbye to her brother.

It's not like everyone was just standing around doing nothing. Carlisle, Edward, and Rosalie, the three Cullen's with medical degrees had thrown themselves into trying to find a solution to the problem at hand. They used their own venom, more of the Doc's anti-venom, and samples of blood from Claire to find out what was going on and possibly even develop a solution.

I don't know how they had managed that one, but Edward had gotten in contact with Quil, who was able to sneak Claire away for a few hours so that Carlisle could draw some of her blood, hers being the closest available to Janet's. Unfortunately all of their efforts had been in vain . . . so far.

.

.

Day Eight (Thursday) – again no change in Janet's condition

Felicity arrived. Neither I nor Jacob could leave our son. Rose and Emmett ended up picking her up from the airport, filling her in on everything that had happened that we were unable to say over on the phone.

As soon as she arrived she had asked for a few minutes alone with her brother. David had refused to leave Janet's side so everyone cleared the room, save the three of them.

I'm not sure what she said to him, but when she opened the door after they talked David seemed to have a change in attitude. At least a little bit.

"Alright, Alice" David sighed over to her, once we all had filed back into the bedroom. "Please look and see if you can tell me when this is going to be . . . over. How far away . . . exactly do I need to be? Can I . . . stay in the room at least?"

"How about you just go over into the corner," Alice sighed. She knew, just as all of us did, how hard this was on him. She was probably going to look and find out when Janet's life was going to be over, how many more days of torment she and David were going to have to endure before she died and David somehow managed to follow by taking his own life.

We all watched is Alice's eyes lost focus, she seemed to be concentrating very hard; her eyes were scrunched, her brow creased, and then finally after a few minutes - longer than it had ever taken her to see anything before, she came out of her daze.

It's not like any of us were expecting her to look happy with the information she found, but she at least stop looking as distraught as she had been. I wonder what she saw? This waiting was killing me. It looked like I wasn't the only one.

"Well Alice?" David asked rushing back to Janet's side. "What did you see."

"All I can tell you is that it will all be over in 76 hours and 37 minutes. I don't think she's going to die. I'm not sure what's going to happen, she just disappears out of the vision. It's not like she gets turned into a vampire, then I'd be able to see her perfectly fine, but I don't think she stays human exactly because I can see those too. And there's no way she can become a wolf, which is why I can't see you and why I can't see her when you are near her, but she's going to turn into another blank spot. Something happens to her, I'm just not sure what."

"Alice, I hate to say this, but she may not make it. Based on your vision, you could be wrong. She may die and she might disappear, like you saw, but it might be because all of the wolves huddle around her." Edward theorized.

"What about the rest of us?" I asked. "Do we, or at least the rest of the family, look happy that she's alive? Or sad that she doesn't make it?"

"I'm not sure," Alice replied, solemnly. "There's nobody else in the room, at least no one else I can see. I'm sorry, it's very confusing. I'm . . . I'm sorry I even suggested this. I don't know what, but something is going to happen in three days."

"Well I guess that's enough for now. Three days isn't so long." Carlisle spoke up.

Three days! I could potentially lose my son in THREE DAYS and my grandfather was acting like it was a good sign. What the Hell? But I know he was just trying to comfort my son, in some way.

"You did your best Alice, I'm sure Dave is grateful for that." My grandfather continued, hoping that David probably wouldn't explode or get irrational over Alice's inability to give him a definite answer.

"Yes, Alice. Thank you. I know you tried," he said before sinking back down into the bed next to Janet.

.

.

Day Nine and Ten (Friday and Saturday) More of the same turmoil for everyone

.

.

Day Eleven (Sunday) We finally saw the first hint of relief.

Carlisle had set up an IV to administer fluids (he had given up on the morphine) on the second day. But I'm not sure if it was doing much either, beyond keeping her hydrated. She hadn't eaten in a week. Carlisle tried inserting a feeding tube but his attempts were unsuccessful.

Now at least something was happening. Her screams were softening, her body jerks were lessening, but she still was not changing.

Maybe the antivenom was finally working.

"Please, please, please," David just mumbled over and over again to himself as he rocked back and forth holding Janet's hand, or waist, or arm. He would just continuously move around her trying to connect with her, like if he touched the right spot she would wake up and come back to him.

.

.

Day Twelve (Monday) – Janet stopped screaming and was still. Hmmm. If you didn't know she was bitten by a Vampire, one might have thought she was just sleeping.

"I think she is." My father replied to my random thought.

"What?" David asked. I hadn't realized he was even awake. He had barely slept, or ate, himself these past two weeks. It looked like he had lost ten pounds. He'd been so quiet, just laying on the bed, staring at Janet. In addition to not sleeping, he had barely even said anything, only looking up when Jake talked to Quil every time he called with an update on how Claire, and Janet's parents were doing.

We hadn't told her parents what was going on. We couldn't really tell him about vampires, but we also didn't want to give them hope about their daughter, we still weren't sure what was going to happen to her, if she was going to make it through this human or vampire or at all.

While Janet's parents had contacted the police with a missing persons report, Esme had called Charlie, at some point, to let him know what was really going on, so even though there were a bunch of cops out roaming around looking for her, Charlie had them stay clear of our house.

And Jared's Pack was dividing their time consoling Collin and his parents, along with Brady and Janet's families, and visiting us here.

Quil was doing the best he could to calm Claire down, but it was her sister, and they had finally connected once David had imprinted on Janet. The four of them – Quil, Claire, David, and Janet were this tight little quartet that had become inseparable in the past few months. I hope this wasn't the end of that.

"She's dreaming about being trapped in a blizzard." Edward informed us, while covering her with a blanket. "She's cold," he continued. That's odd. Everyone had said venom felt like you were being burned alive. Why was she cold?

"I'm not sure, if she was finally beginning to change she would not notice the drop in her body temperature."

David went to reach for her hand and confirmed that she did in fact feel cold to him. But that wasn't saying much, humans were normally cold to 108 degree wolves and Half-vampires. Now he seemed to hug her even tighter, hoping his high body temperature could warm hers.

.

.

Day Thirteen and Fourteen (Tuesday and Wednesday)

More of the same from everyone. Carlisle and the others had yet to find a cure or even an explanation to what was happening to Janet. Her body temp register as 94.3 on the thermometer.

And there was no change in her at all from yesterday. She still remained cold, no matter what David tried to do. He laid in bed with her all hours of the day, we turned the heat up, brought in a space heater, heated blankets, but nothing affected her temperature. She was shivering day and night.

.

.

Day Fifteen (Thursday) A change, but not one we wanted

Sometime around 2am, while Jake and I were sleeping in Rose and Emmett's old room we were awakened by the sounds of my son's screams.

Oh no. What now?

Jacob, and I, and most of my family ran to Edwards old bedroom where Janet and David were and we were confronted with a scene that none of us were expecting. Janet's heart, David told us, had stopped. He was currently giving her CPR.

NO!

* * *

Thanks for reading.

I went and added a bit to the last chapter. It turns out it didn't need as much as i thought so i uploaded the new and improved version, without breaking it up into two chapters. Almost everything stays the same so you don't need to reread it if you don't want to.

But this chapter did get a major overhaul. (i think i just don't want this story to end) and i ended up expanding it and splitting it into two chapters (originally it didn't end as a cliffhanger, sorry) and i like it much better now.

Please review, thanks


	91. Waiting for the End

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety-One**

 **Waiting for the End**

Jacob's Point of View

Carlisle rushed over, instantly in doctor mode, and began setting up the portable defibrillator he had, similar to one paramedics carried on ambulances, to shock Janet's body. Edward rushed in, behind us, from the cottage, to help.

How long had David been doing CPR?

"CLEAR!" Carlisle shouted, before placing the paddles on her chest to attempt to jolt Janet's heart back to life. I watched helplessly as her torso jumped off the table before resuming its lifeless form.

"NO, NO, NO! Don't leave me. Please," David whimpered backing away from the bed and collapsing into the corner of the room.

Edward took over chest compressions, while Carlisle blew into her mouth, as Nessie and Bella pulled David into an embrace.

"Oh, no. Janet!" I heard Felicity cry as she stumbled into the room. She must have awakened from David's screams just as Nessie and I did.

Cradled Felicity in my arms I turned her face away so she didn't have to watch. This was disturbing. Too disturbing for my baby.

A few seconds later I heard the Doc again.

"CLEAR!" Again Janet's body jumped. Again . . . nothing.

More chest compressions. More breathing into her mouth.

More sobs from Felicity, more gasps and pleas for someone to do something from David.

"Janet, darling. My sweet girl. Please come back to me. Please. If I could trade places with you I would. In a heartbeat. Please, please, please," David sobbed over and over again.

"CLEAR!" Carlisle yelled again. I lost count how many times I heard him yell that before shocking her again.

After several more agonizing attempts Carlisle finally managed to get her heart beating on its own again.

Thank goodness!

David let out the deepest, loudest gasp and then sigh I have ever heard. It was like his own heart had started again as well. And in a way it had.

Janet's heart was pumping, she was breathing but she still looked horrible. And still looked like she might not make it, but there was no way I was going to say that out loud, not while David was in the room at least.

"Jacob, could I talk to you in private for a moment" Carlisle whispered after pulling me aside. I handed Felicity over to Edward before following the Doc.

Once we were out of the room he began. "Jacob I have an idea that I would like to try. It's only a theory, but I don't believe there is time to run tests and try it out beforehand. Janet is currently alive but in no way out of the woods, her heart could give out again at any moment." That made sense. It has been two weeks and her fragile human heart could not take much more of this.

"Sure, sure. What do you need Doc?"

"David said something tonight that got me thinking. He mentioned that he would change places with Janet if he could. Of course if he was the one that had gotten bit the anti-venom would most likely have worked on him. To that end I was wondering if you would be able to get in contact with Embry and ask him to come here as soon as possible?"

"Alright, but why?" How was Embry going to help save Janet? And what did it have to do with what my son said?

"He wants to try giving Janet his blood." Edward replied from behind me. When did he get here? But Carlisle already gave Janet a blood transfusion when he had set up the morphine and saline drip, to replace the blood Stefan drank. Why did she need more? And why Embry's. If the Doc couldn't get any more from the Forks Hospital I was more than willing to donate some.

"You're the wrong blood type Jacob," Edward replied, shaking his head to my thoughts. "Embry's is a match to hers. Carlisle wants to try wolf blood and see if it will have a more favorable result than the human stuff.

"Carlisle believes, and I agree with his hypothesis that wolf blood is the missing piece to the puzzle. It's why none of our tests have worked as of yet. If we are right Stefan's venom has currently been fighting the anti-venom inside of Janet's body. I believe have been stuck in a sort of stalemate, neither one gaining the upper hand. It is my hope that if we add even just a small amount of wolf blood to the equation it might be enough to overwhelm the venom."

"This is a long shot, Jacob. I don't want to tell David anything about this." The Doc added. "There is a high probability that since Janet is not Quileute that Embry's blood will have no effect."

"Okay. You're right. There is no point in getting his hopes up. I'll go call Embry."

I hoped this would work, but I doubted it.

Alice's vision implied that this would all be over – whether that was good news or bad we didn't know, but she had lead us to believe that it would all be over tomorrow.

Everyone was under the impression that nothing would happen until then. What the hell? Why hadn't she seen Janet's heart stopping tonight?

And why in the world would noone be in the room with Janet when she . . . whatever she was going to do, - wake up, die change – whatever it was, happened. That didn't make sense to anybody, but of course it could have been just that the room was packed with wolves, like Edward thought. They all heard about Alice's vision and were planning on being here, for David tomorrow. But why would none of the Cullens be there? This just didn't add up. Something must happen between now and then.

At least we didn't have too much longer to wait to find out. But of course if things didn't turn out right that meant I would lose my son.

After hanging up with Embry, who was not exactly happy that I had called him at 3:38a.m. he arrived a half an hour later. Carlisle drew his blood and set up a drip to give it to Janet.

David was so relieved that Janet was still alive yet overwhelmed by how close he came to losing her, never even questioned what was happening.

Two hours later the blood bag was empty, yet there was no noticeable change in Janet.

Damn-it! I really had hoped that it would have worked.

The sun, a rare sight in Forks, was just making its presence known. It was morning, but I had barely gotten any sleep last night. The same was true of all of us who normally slept.

Esme had offered Felicity her old room, so After coaxing Felicity back to bed I tried to do the same with Nessie. I had a feeling we were going to need to be well rested for whatever was going to happen tomorrow.

"Jake, how can you think about sleep at a time like this? I'm too wired." She scoffed.

"Okay, how about a quick hunt then. You haven't drank enough blood these past two weeks. You must be thirsty." I only coaxed her into hunting once, and only then with the pretext that we would drain a deer or two to bring back for David. I knew she didn't want to leave her son right now, but could see her resolve waning. "You're going to need your strength tomorrow. And we'll get some more for David too. Come on," I continued holding out my hand.

Thankfully she took it and I led her out side where we quickly took off to the north. After not too much searching we located a herd of deer. She drank one while I drained another for our son.

"Feel better?" We both were worried about our son, and Janet, but the lack of blood in her diet was impacting her almost as much as her emotional state. Now at least she looked a little healthier. Her cheeks were a bit pinker, her eyes a bit brighter, she didn't look so sulken. She in no way looked her normal radiant self, of course. I wouldn't expect that, I probably looked pretty bad myself, but at least now I didn't have to worry about her health as well.

"Much."

"Come on, if we leave now, and run quickly, we should be able to get a four to five hours of sleep before . . ."

I thought she was about to start running home, but then I caught a glint in her eyes. Hmmm. I guess we could make due with a quick catnap.

* * *

We were all squished into Edward's old bedroom – all of the Cullens, and most of the wolves (some had to stay in La Push - just in case), and of course Nessie, me, Felicity, and David and Janet.

It was so quiet despite Janet's labored breathing and muffled yelps. You could probably hear a pin drop, what with the eight vampires in the room who didn't breathe and all of the Wolves gathered who were barely breathing themselves. Everybody knew what time it was. Whatever was going to happen, to Janet, was going to happen in the next twenty-two minutes.

But then Bella's phone started ringing, breaking, or possibly adding to, the tight tension in the room. Even though she didn't put it on speaker everyone present could all hear Charlie on the other end of the line.

Charlie called to warn us that some new _hot shot_ cop on the Forks police force was on his way over and would be here soon.

Everyone reacted – the vampires temporarily froze as they did when tense and the wolves went into overdrive, but with no direction just started vibrating – though thankfully everyone present had been a wolf long enough to not phase and soon calmed down enough to try to begin to figure out what we were going to do, just as the Cullens also unfroze.

In the end it was decided that the Cullen's would just meet him at the door and handle the situation as best as they could. But Nessie and I, along with the rest of the wolves, were staying upstairs, refusing to leave our son now.

Alice! What was going on with her visions lately? Last night she missed Janet's heart stopping. Now this. How could she not have seen this was going to happen?

"Why are you always looking at me? I am not omnipotent. I can't see everything, all the time," she whined. "All of the wolves are here, all the time. I'm effectively blind to everything going on in this house. And why would I be checking up on the cops in Forks? We called Charlie to let them know to stay away from here. I didn't think it was necessary to constantly go back and make sure everything was okay there. I thought he could handle this."

"Relax Alice. Nobody is blaming you," Carlisle tried to soothe her as Jasper tried to settle down his wife while glaring at me for my outburst.

I wasn't really in the mood to be scolded by him right now though. I know he was protective of his wife, but this was my son, and I was pissed. So I yelled at his wife. So what. I needed to do something. Luckily he could feel how I felt and dropped it.

We had more important things to worry about right now.

At least now that Alice knew what to look for she easily saw the cop and filled us in on what was going on and what was about to happen, at least downstairs.

Apparently this new hot shot cop, _Officer Dan_ , had done a little digging, still looking into Janet's "disappearance" and it had led him here, to the Cullen's old house.

Officer Dan had decided to ignore Charlie's orders and gone off of his own and _investigated_ some crazy theory of his. Thinking that's Carlisle or someone pretending to be him, since everyone knew he left the area almost a decade ago, was keeping Janet captive here, and was . . . what? Subduing her with drugs or something like that?

Apparently, "Yes!" That was exactly what he thought, according to Alice, and we all knew not to bet against Alice on things like this. He had found out about the morphine and other medical supplies Carlisle had acquired from the Forks Hospital.

It didn't seem like a very thought out hypothesis, on his part, but it's been almost two weeks and the police had searched everywhere else. I guess it was really only a matter of time until they turned up here.

"Jacob!" Alice squealed. "I think you need to come downstairs with the rest of us."

"What? No, I'm saying here with my son, he's gonna need me now more than ever."

"I know Jake, but I saw it. You need to be down there with us," I knew what she meant by the way she looked. She'd been going in and out of her vision for the past couple minutes, trying to find the best solution to our current predicament, but I still couldn't. Why would she want me to do that?

"Jacob, I'm not sure exactly what's going to go on, but that officer is bringing a bunch of his cop buddies and a whole pack of dogs. Real dogs. And those dogs are going to be freaking out with all of us," she said gesturing to herself and the rest of the Cullens.

"I checked every possible scenario I could think of and the only one that didn't end in bloodshed, was when you went downstairs with us. You seem to, somehow, in some way get them to calm down with your presence or something. I don't know, exactly. I couldn't see you, of course. Just that a big void in the room was keeping them from attacking. Not that we couldn't defend ourselves, or even get hurt by them, or the officers, but that would lead to the cops attacking. There would be blood, lots of it, and we all know what would happen then," she continued her ramblings while eyeing Jasper. "That would result in a giant mess for us to clean up. And how would we explain that?" she then chuckled uneasily.

Damn-it! I guess I was going down with them after all. We didn't need a bunch of dead cops too.

They all started to vacate the room, everyone who was going, except me.

"Jake are you coming, we need to go." Alice chirped from the doorway.

"Yeah just a minute. I'll meet you down there." And that was true. I would, but I needed to do something first.

I could hear Alice start to explain to everyone some plan she had, but I didn't bother trying to listen. I would just have to wing it I guess. I needed to say goodbye to my son . . . just in case.

* * *

We were (almost) all gathered downstairs now. According to Alice, this _idiot_ guy, Officer Dan, would threaten to search the entire house. It wouldn't have been that bad if he wasn't bringing a truckload of police dogs with him along with the four other officers.

Normally the Forks Police Force only consisted of Charlie, and three other guys, but this new guy Edward whispered to all of us, too low for the cops to hear, transferred from Seattle. He must be close enough that Edward could hear his thoughts.

"His father was the chief of police there and he was well connected and brought those connections with him." Edward explained.

As soon as Carlisle answered the door the dogs started going crazy, because of the Cullens. We had discretely watched from the windows as they struggled to even get the animals out of the police trucks.

Normally, while hunting, forest animals would run away from vampires, but these dogs were specifically trained to follow the officer's commands and therefore, fought their baser instincts and stayed put. Of course all of them, including the cops that were trying to control them, they were rightly . . . extremely . . . agitated. And that was an understatement. Possibly the understatement of the century.

At least Janet's muffled screams could not be heard from the front door; the officers only possessed weak human ears and could not hear Janet's screams, as soft and infrequent as they now came, now that it, whatever it was that was going to happen, was about to happen. But of course the dogs could hear her.

"Officers, I assure you, everything is under control." The Doc tried to placate them. "My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, this is my house," he said opening his arms to indicate the house, "and my family," he continued, gesturing to those of us gathered near the front room.

We all stayed close but tried to look casual about it. Somehow the Cullens managed to pull it off, except for Edward, he was trying, but I wonder what the cops were thinking that was making his normally perfect composure crack so? Of course as bad as his was I'm sure my own performance was lacking, at best.

"It will be over soon, you can do this," Bella whisper to him, too low for the cops to hear.

The Doc then showed the cops his ID as further proof, but how was this going to work? Everybody in Forks new that Carlisle left almost a decade ago and there's no possible way that the forever 23 year old doctor looked like the 40 something year-old that must have been listed on his old work ID, or license, or whatever he was showing them.

Glancing over I saw that the Doc had conveniently placed his thumb over the birth date on the license he was showing him. I guess that will work as long as no one tries to take it from him.

"Dr. Cullen, with your permission, we are going to need to . . ." Officer Dan began to ask something before Janet let out another anguished shriek, this one loud enough for them to hear. "What's going on here? Who's screaming?" he yelled while shoving his way past Carlisle. The other four rushed in behind him as well, with the dogs pulled behind.

Of course Carlisle wouldn't have been moved by the cops feeble attempt to brush past him, unless the Doc had let him. Which he must have done. But why? He, and his cop buddies are that last people we needed in the house right now. I thought the point was to try to get rid of them. What was Carlisle thinking?

"We're just back in the area on vacation," Carlisle started to explain, seemingly ignoring the sound of Janet's screams, or the cops questions, yet quickly stepping in front of them so they could not head upstairs. "We used to live here a number of years ago and have returned, just to visit some family and friends. Soon after we arrived we came across a young woman who stumbled up to our door, obviously in distress. She collapsed on our doorstep. Since I'm a doctor and she was in no condition to be moved, I took it upon myself to treat the young lady."

"And you didn't feel the need to bring her to a hospital, or call the police, or her family, to let anyone know what was going on?" One of the other cops questioned him. They were now gathered in the center of the room. Carlisle blocking the stairs and the rest of the Cullens surrounding them. Clearly they could sense the danger they were in, surrounded by Vampires, even if they didn't know that. But they noticeably looked extremely agitated, verging on downright scared. I wonder if Jasper is doing anything to them?

And the dogs. They were freaking out now. I tried to meet their eyes, somehow get them to calm down a bit, but I wasn't in my wolf form, it only worked a little. Not that I thought I would have any better luck as a wolf. I would probably freak them out even more. But at least I was another creature in the room that was warm and had a heartbeat, I think that they knew that, and somehow the fact that I was calm, calmed them down as well, at least a little.

"Of course that would have been the first thing I would have done under normal circumstances." Carlisle continued to explain. "Unfortunately the young lady was too unstable to be moved all the way to the hospital. She didn't have any identification on her and had not told us her name."

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't notify the police. Her parents have been worried sick about her."

"Her parents?" Carlisle questioned. What was he doing now? "The young lady told me she was 18 on one of the few times she briefly regained consciousness. I had no reason to not believe her, so therefore saw no reason to alert the Police."

The Doc's delivery was perfect. There was no way these guys would be able to tell that he was lying. But anybody looking at Janet could clearly tell she was not an adult. But did he really think he was going to convince these cops that she was 18 and not the 14 years old that she looked? I know the Cullens are good at dazzling people but this just seems a bit much.

This was not going very well. They were getting more and more agitated and the dogs were going crazy again.

"Officers," Rose fluttered her eyes and smiled over at all of them, "you look like you've had a very long day why don't you come and sit down and we'll get you something to drink." She said while lightly touching each of their shoulders, arms, chests . . .

What was she doing? This was what Alice saw. That she seduced them? Was that really . . .

Never mind. Her flirting and dazzling was clearly going to work. Yuck! I think at least two of them literally started drooling right there in the middle of the living room.

I thought Emmett would have been growling but he just chuckled and disappeared into the kitchen. I guess he had seen her do this sort of thing before.

Seeing that it was working Bella, Alice and even Esme joined in much to their husbands chagrin. This must have been the "plan" that Alice explained to everyone while I was still with David. Edward's face winced in misery but he didn't make a move to stop her.

Bella, Alice and Esme then joined Rose and each grabbed a cop's hands, pulling them over to the couches. Thank goodness Nessie had stayed upstairs with our son.

Next Edward did something I was not expecting. He grabbed the fifth cops hand and pulled him over to the love seat, much to the guys delight. Interesting. At least now I understood why Eddie was so troubled before.

Unfortunately the dogs were still barking. That was my cue I guess.

Was this actually going to work? A quick quizzical look over at Alice and I saw her slightly nod, so small no one would ever really notice it unless they were looking for it.

Then just like she had predicted at 3:42p.m. the screaming and shouting upstairs stopped. Janet must have . . . whatever it was that she was suppose to do.

Damn-it! I wish I was up there.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

I had been looking at the clock for the past twenty minutes, ever since Bella got off the phone with Charlie. I don't know why I kept doing it. With my half-vampire brain I always knew exactly what time it was whether I looked at a clock or not. I guess I was just nervous. I wish Alice could have seen what was going to happen.

I was currently sitting on one side of the bed with Felicity, while Dave was on the other looking for any sign, any change in Janet.

Quil would have been here but he was trying to comfort Claire, but most of the rest of the wolves were – Leah along with Nahuel, who had come to forks with Felicity, Seth, and Carol), Embry, Jared, Collin, and a few of the other, younger wolves.

Paul and Rachel, Billy, Sue and Charlie, and even Sam and Emily, had all stopped in throughout the past two weeks. But they weren't here now.

I think they would have been, along with the wolves imprints too, if they were not so worried how David would react to . . . whatever was going to happen to Janet. No one wanted to risk their mate getting harmed if Janet died or became a newborn or whatever, and David burst into a wolf in the middle of the room.

It was already really very crowded in here. My father's old bedroom had not been that big to begin with. We had moved out all of the furniture, save the bed to gather every additional square inch of room already, and space was still tight. It would have been suffocating if my family wasn't stuck downstairs.

And then at precisely eighteen minutes before four o'clock, just like Alice had said . . . it happened.

Janet opened her eyes.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review


	92. Aftermath

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety-Two**

 **Aftermath**

Renesmee's Point of View

I couldn't see from where I was. The wolves had rushed the bed, pushing in front of me and Felicity, crowded around Janet and my son.

What color were her eyes? I couldn't see.

David hadn't phased yet so I was assuming that they were not red. Which meant Janet probably was not a newborn. But then why was she so cold to the touch?

I wish my grandfather was here, now.

"David," I heard Janet's weak voice creak out. I still couldn't see her, but wasn't going to tolerate that anymore. Pushing my way through the sea of wolves I finally made my way back to Janet's bedside.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that she was still human . . . I think.

Her eyes were still brown, her skin was paler than it had been, but that was understandable considering all she had been through, and her heart was beating. She looked horrible. Strangely enough that was a good thing; for my son at least.

Yet some things were still off with Janet. Her skin was cold, but not as cold as my family's, and her smell was off. Maybe it was just traces of Stefan's venom in her system. But it didn't smell like venom. It was sweeter. Not as sugary sweet as my family, more of a subdued floral mixed with baby powder. It was nice but knowing how my son had a problem with my families scent it made me a bit worried. Glancing over at him now, if he was bothered by it, he wasn't showing it. That or he was so overwhelmed that she had woken up that he had not noticed yet.

And then the tears came. And for once they weren't solely from David. Janet's screams were now replaced with uncontrollable crying. This was way too much for a 14 year old to handle. And she justifiable broke down. Now that there was something else to think of other than the immense pain she was in she couldn't handle it anymore.

But that was why we were all here. David never left her side as she cried and shook, convulsed, and dry–heaved (she probably would have thrown-up if there had been any food in her system.)

The wolves, Felicity, and I stayed for moral support for the first couple of hours. Eventually after they were reassured that Janet wasn't a vampire and David was not going to attempt to kill her and/or himself they began to excuse themselves.

Quil, who had been with Claire, comforting her and keeping her safe at her home, _just in case_ , was called and he arrived 47 minutes later with Claire. Just seeing her sister seemed to help calm Janet down and I think the same was true of Claire. While she knew that we were attempting to _treat_ her sister, she had not been brought over to actually see her until now.

As soon as she entered the bedroom she ran to Janet and they hugged for what seemed like forever, but was really just 8.57 minutes.

* * *

Just over an hour later Quil was the only wolf left and that was and only because Claire had refused to leave her sister. But he had called her parents, letting them know that he would bring her home soon. He knew they needed some time together but it was already 6p.m. and we didn't need their parents thinking that they had two missing daughters.

My family eventually made their way upstairs to us. I guess that meant the cop situation had been handled. I hadn't gotten the opportunity to ask Quil what he saw, when he arrived; I hadn't heard any cops yelling or dogs barking in awhile.

Carlisle needed to give her a thorough examination, but after all that she had been though she was in no shape mentally for that. David was doing the best he could to calm her down and reassure her that it was all over and that she would be okay. Of course until Carlisle examined her there was no way for him to be certain of that.

"Here, Janet," my mother said re-entering the room with a tray of food. "Why don't you try eating something and then maybe you'll feel more up to letting Dr. Cullen look at you."

My mom was so smart. Calling my grandfather "Dr. Cullen" would probably make a teenage girl much more likely to let Carlisle examine her. And the soup and crackers she brought was just what Janet needed right now. She hadn't eaten solid food in two weeks. She must be starving. Carlisle had done what he could, adding vitamins and nutrients to the saline he had given her, but beyond that he had not had much success.

A half hour later he returned and tried again. This time he was successful. Janet didn't feel comfortable being in the room alone with him though. Quil had to take Claire home awhile ago, and even though Dave had imprinted on her, and it hurt him to be away from her, he understood her need for some privacy.

"Thanks, for staying," she sighed to me. "I've never been to a doctor that was a man." I was surprised she had asked me to stay with her but readily agreed.

"Of course, darling. And don't worry. My grandfather is my doctor too. He's completely professional, and he's the best in the world." Literally.

"Alright, shall we get started?" Carlisle asked, still standing in the doorway, until Janet nodded her approval. "Wonderful, why don't we start by taking your temperature," he said while slowly (human speed) walking across the room and placing a thermometer in Janet's mouth after she nodded in agreement.

A few seconds later it beeped and he removed it.

"Hmmm, 96.2. Well we are moving in the right direction. How do you feel Janet? Are you still cold?" For the first time in days she wasn't shivering anymore.

"Yeah, I'm kinda chilly. Can I have a jacket or sweater or something."

"Of course. I'll get you one when we are through here," he replied.

Next he checked her heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. He looked in her eyes, ears and mouth, and checked her reflexes. He drew some blood and ended by asking her for a urine sample.

When she returned, I thought he would be done but Carlisle asked if he could run a few more tests, which she again agreed to only if I stayed, which I of course did.

Carlisle gave her a full body set of x-rays and used his ultrasound machine over her entire body. I wasn't sure what he hoped to see but he probably would have given her an MRI or Cat Scan if he had the equipment in the house.

"Well my dear, I still need to check your blood and urine samples but you should feel much better in a day or two. I am going to go check these now," he said holding up the blood filled test tubes and urine cup. "would you like me to inform everyone of the results or shall I leave that to you?" he asked Janet.

"Ummmm . . ." she seemed lost.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of telling everyone," I cut in. "Can I talk to you first about something first?" I asked him, trying to sound casual.

All the while Carlisle was examining Janet, his face appeared a little worried. Not that any normal person, especially not Janet, would be able to tell. But I had known him my entire life and he could not hide anything from me. Something was definitely wrong with her, beyond a dip in her normal temperature and the other things I had observed.

"Of course, after you," he replied, opening the door for me. I grabbed Jake, who had been waiting in the hall just outside the room, with David who now rushed back to Janet's side, and we headed to Carlisle's office.

I wanted us to talk to him, in private, to go over what was _exactly_ going on with my sons imprint. I needed to know if we need to prepare ourselves for their demise again, or not.

"Carlisle, what is it? Just get it over with and tell us."

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you, Renesmee. It's almost like she's caught halfway in between staying human and turning into a vampire."

"What do you mean? Is she . . . half, like me, now?" I question a little unbelievably.

"I'm not exactly sure what has happened to her to tell you the truth. Your temperature is higher than a normal human's, hers is lower. Your skin is hard like marble just like the rest of ours, hers is not. I was very easily able to get a needle into her arm to draw some blood. Her eyes are not red, but then again, neither are yours.

"But there are other differences as well. Your heartbeat is quicker than humans, just like Jacob, or any of the other wolves, yet hers, it's almost imperceptibly slower than it had been. And then there is the change in her smell."

"Yeah, I noticed. But what does this mean? David doesn't seem to be upset by the changes, so maybe it isn't so bad."

"He hasn't noticed, not all of them at least, but when he does . . ." Jake winced. He didn't need to finish his sentence, We both knew it wouldn't be good.

"I need to run more tests to find out exactly what I'm dealing with." Carlisle cut in. "Which means doing more extensive blood tests, to begin with, but that requires more blood than I already took. I'm afraid that in her condition, taking anymore, without replacing it, would be detrimental to her already fragile health. And unfortunately I ran out of what I had acquired from my hospital contact."

"Should I call Embry and ask him to come back here to donate some more?" Jake asked. "I'm sure he would. Even if his wolf blood didn't help before, at least it could replace whatever you take."

"Actually, I believe it did help, at least a little. It is just a theory but I believe that his blood was the push that finally woke her out of the state she was in, even if it was hours after it was administered. There was so much venom and anti-venom in her system that it is possible that it just took a little while for it to work through her system."

"But I thought she was getting better before you even gave her Embry's blood," I questioned.

"I doubt it. It's is more likely that the reason she had stopped screaming and thrashing around as much as before was actually due to exhaustion, not the anti-venom. It merely was temporarily halting the venom from completing her transformation. My initial tests on her blood lead me to believe that it was Embry's blood that was the factor that brought her back."

"So then could more of his blood possibly completely fix her?" Jake's eyes brightened for the first time in awhile. I could see the hope in them now.

"Jacob, wolf blood is not a cure all. But I don't see any harm in using it now."

"But you're not certain of that, are you Doc? If it worked once it could work again." Jake seemed a little frantic. I know he needed Janet to be alright for David, but I just hoped he wasn't putting too much hope, or faith, or whatever in wolf blood being some sort of miracle fix.

"Jacob, I don't want you to get your hopes up. But no, I am not 100% certain. There is always the possibility . . ."

"Sure, sure. Thanks Doc. I'll go call Embry." Jake said dashing out of Carlisle's office to retrieve his phone.

"All right, well then I need to check on Janet and then we still need to deal with the . . . um, situation downstairs," Carlisle spoke again before going back to attend to Janet, with David, while I went downstairs to see what this _situation_ was.

I guess I was wrong when I thought everything had been taken care of.

"What happened to them?" I asked, spotting the five sleeping cops zonked out on the living room couches, and the dogs doing the same by their feet. At least I hoped they were sleeping; yes, I could hear their heartbeats. Not that I really thought my family would result to murder, but you never know.

"Well . . . we had to do something, and I saw that nothing we _said_ would work so . . ." Alice began to explain.

"So what? You thought replacing one kidnapping, drugging, and holding captive charge wasn't enough, you wanted to add to it by five, and with police officers, no less?" I had been through too much today. This was too much.

"Relax Renesmee. The officers have only been temporarily rendered unconscious thanks to a few different drugs Carlisle obtained from the hospital. While they were ineffective in helping lesson Janet's discomfort then worked perfectly on them." Rose assured me.

"I put it into their drinks, while the others _distracted_ them." Emmett chuckled. "One of the pills knocked them out, and another will make them forget ever even coming here. You might have heard of a street drug similar to it – Rohypnol. What they got does the same thing but is much safer and Carlisle said that it is routinely given to surgical patients; the cops are perfectly safe."

"Jasper called Mr. Jenks. Everything is set up and will be taken care of. They," Alice said pointing to the cops, "are going to wake up at a . . . err, strip club in Seattle. The normal staff has been compensated and if asked, though I don't know who would, but if anyone does, they will swear that these gentlemen have been there all day for a private _party_ before the club opened.

"And Charlie is on his way. He is going to help us destroy any notes Office Dan, or the others made, and return the police dogs. He's not happy about it but Bella got him to go along with it anyway.

"Thanks to the spiked drinks they will have no memory of coming here. Office Dan is the only one we need to be concerned about. But the um . . . strippers should be very convincing. And now that Janet has made her recovery and will be home soon, collaborating our side of the story and denying that she was ever here, all should be fine."

"But how did you get a bunch of strippers to go along with this?" How much money did they have to pay them?

"Actually we just had Jenks rent out the strip club, not the staff. The "strippers" will actually be Tanya, Kate, and Carmen. Eleazar and Garrett should make some pretty convincing bouncers," Jasper chuckled.

"Normally we wouldn't bother with all of this Nessie, but we have Charlie to think of. It will work, trust me, I've seen it." Alice begged.

I guess now was not the time to bet against my Aunt, I just wished she could have come up with something a little less depraved.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . .

"Hello, you've reached Embry Call's phone. I am unable to –"

Damn-it Embry! Pick up your phone.

Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . .

"Hello, you've reached Embry –"

Aurrg! Now what? Maybe he was a wolf.

I quickly went outside to phase. Unfortunately Embry was NOT in his wolf form. Nor was Leah. That was it of my Pack. Now what?

I quickly shifted into my spirit form and found that thankfully Quil was currently a wolf.

He must have finished dropping off Claire at her parents' house and was running home.

 _Quil, can you hear me?_

 _Hey, Jake. What's up?_

 _Quil, hey. I'm sorry to bother you, I'm sure you have your hands full with Claire, but I need you to go find Embry for me._

 _Sure I just have . . ._

 _No Quil, I need you to just find him and have him call me –_ _right now_ _!_

 _Oh . . . um, okay. Is everything alright?_

 _No. . . Yeah . . . It will be. I just need to talk to him. Just GO . . ._ I was sure Quil could hear the stress and building anger in my voice. I needed to calm down. Yelling at Quil wasn't going to help Janet, or David right now. _Can you PLEASE just go find him, NOW._ Okay maybe a little more yelling. I couldn't help it.

 _Alright, Alright. I'm going right now._ He said before taking off. I returned to my wolf body and phased back to human to waited for Embry's call.

Twenty-two minutes later my phone finally rang. I thought it would be Embry calling me back, but it was actually Quil again.

"Quil, what happened. Could you not find him?"

"No, um . . . I found him. But he's . . . um . . . busy. Maybe tomorrow . . ."

"WHAT? What is he too busy doing that he can't pick up the phone?"

I was enraged, but a twinge of guilt hit me as I said that, thinking back to when I was in forks last. How I had been too busy, watching David, to call Nessie. And that was an entire month. Quil just said Embry would call tomorrow. No wait, actually he said _maybe_ tomorrow. Was there some new emergency he was taking care of?

I heard Charlie's police cruiser pull up, but made no move to go over there. The dogs were still knocked out so he wouldn't need help getting the dogs into the truck to return them. I had other, more important things that needed my attention.

"Colleen is in labor, Jake. The baby is coming, he's with her at the hospital. Whatever it is you need to talk to him about I'm sure it can wait, dude."

"I don't care . . ."

"Thank you, Quil." Carlisle said taking the phone out of my hand. "I assume she went to the one in Forks?"

Quil confirmed the hospital and then the Doc ended the call before turning to talk to me.

Great. Was I in for some sort of lecture? I know I lost it there, but I was worried, and stressed. I know I shouldn't have taking it out on Quil, but . . . aurgg.

"Jacob, please calm down." Here it comes. "Why don't you stay here, with David and Janet while I run to the hospital. I have some pull there," he smirked to me. "I'm sure I can quickly get what we need and Embry will never even have to leave Colleen's side."

Oh, no lecture and he was going to get Embry's blood. Damn, now I felt even worse for my behavior. "Sure, sure. Thanks . . . and sorry."

"Of course, but I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

 _No, duh!_ But I didn't say that. I just sighed as I watched him turn and go. I would call Quil and apologize later.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review. Also if you haven't already can you please add me to your favorites list so others can see. I would love to get some more people to read this story.

Please let me know what you think about the story so far. I plan on doing a revision when the entire thing is finally posted but i would love to know what you think of a few things.

Were there any parts that you think should be taken out or expanded?

Chapter 85 is a mess and needs a major overhaul for one thing.

And I know a lot of you had a problem with the whole Nessie/Nahuel dating chapters but i feel it was important she at least try to date someone else before she settled down with Jake forever.

Also i wanted to go back and add some more physical descriptions of things - people, clothes, locations, stuff like that. I know SM is all about the flowery descriptions of things and i tend to favor more of the internal monologue but i think i can beef up some descriptions here and there.

Also before anyone suggests it yet again - the story is going to remain entirely in RPOV and JPOV.

Please let me know, thanks.


	93. Wolf Blood

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety-Three**

Wolf Blood

Jacob's Point of View

Finally! "You got it?" I questioned Carlisle as he made his way up the stairs to the room Janet was recovering in. He had been gone for hours. I know donating blood took a while, but he should have been back much sooner. I hoped that Embry wasn't giving him any trouble.

"He allowed me to collect three bags worth of blood."

"That's our cue," I heard Rose say from somewhere in the house and then she and the rest of the Cullens all fled out the front door to go hunt. Good, no need to even be tempted.

But three bags? Wasn't that too much?

"We had to stop halfway through so he could eat something, but he wanted to do as much as he could. Colleen is still hours away from delivering, so he won't be able to come here and didn't want me to have to come back again. Don't worry, with his wolf healing abilities he will be fine within an hour. Embry is a good friend to you."

Great now I felt even worse for what I had thought and the way I treated Quil. I was going to owe both of them big time after all of this. "Yeah, how am I ever going to thank him?"

"I'm sure you will think of something. In the meantime I believe there is someone upstairs who could use this," he grinned slightly tapping on the cooler in his hands.

"Right Doc, let's go." I said turning so we could both go to Janet's room. She was awake and talking to David and Felicity. Janet still looked horrible and so did David, but it sounded like my daughter was trying to cheer them up with stories of her time with Nahuel and Leah and their endless PDA. Yikes. That was suppose to make them laugh? It haunted me.

"Where is Renesmee? I thought she would be in here as well," Carlisle asked looking around.

"Relax Doc, she's just catching up on some sleep. David you should do the same." I said turning to my son. He had barely sleep the past couple of weeks.

"I'll sleep when I know Janet is better."

"Well then let's see what we can do." As he moved closer to Janet's IV bag I could see her get a bit agitated. "Relax darling. Nothing to be afraid of. You still are a bit . . . weak and I need to run some more tests to determine exactly what is going on. I will need to draw more blood from you but have some right here to replace what I will take." the Doc reassured her, gesturing to the cooler once again.

"Alright. Will you stay with me?" she asked David.

"Of course. I'll never leave your side. If you don't want me too, that is."

"We'll stay too, if you'd like," Felicity said gesturing to the two of us, to which Janet just nodded.

She winced as Carlisle inserted the needle, but I saw David give her a comforting hand squeeze and he kissed her forehead which made her relax a bit. After the bag was full Carlisle moved to hook up Embry's blood. But as soon as Carlisle opened the cooler Janet's head snapped around and her eyes grew wide.

"What's that?"

"Remember I explained to you that we would need to replace the blood that I took from you?" Carlisle explained.

"Yeah I remember, but it's . . . I . . ." she didn't seem to be able to finish her sentence. What was wrong?

"Why don't I start the transfusion and then you will probably be feeling much better. Blood loss can sometimes lead to the confusion that you seem to be experiencing," the Doc tried to reassure her.

"No . . . I . . ." she was shaking now, digging her nails into the mattress. Carlisle seemed to ignore her strange behavior, probably accustomed to it in all his years of medical practice, and continued to move closer. But before he could hook up the bag she had ripped it out of his hands, tore it open, and began guzzling down its contents.

We all froze.

"Janet . . ." David gruffed before slowly, shakily, backing up, over to the large window at the far end of the room and flinging himself out of it. I saw him phase mid air, land safely on the ground and run into the forest.

Damn-it.

"I need to go after him." He probably just needs to calm down, but I didn't want him doing anything stupid.

"Of course, perhaps you should wake Renesmee up before you leave."

"Sure, sure," I said as I began to run out the door. I did not have a lot of time.

"No, no dad, you go after David. I'll go get mom," Felicity said, as she ran out of the room ahead of me.

"Thanks," I called as I ran in the opposite direction.

"Are you feeling alright? Did drinking blood upset your stomach at all?" I could hear Carlisle ask Janet, as he jumping back into doctor mode.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

"Mom . . . mom . . . MOM!" I dimly heard as I was pulled awake out of my sleep. Oh crap, I hadn't slept more than four or five hours a night in the past couple of weeks. What was going on now?

"Hmmm? What is it?" I slumberly asked. Then I saw the panic on my daughters face. Now I was awake and began getting dressed at Vampire speed. Ten seconds later I was headed to Janet's room.

"Janet, how are you doing? Felicity just told me what happened." I asked after entering the room. She had quickly filled me in on the way.

Oh my goodness, how is this happening? I guess it wasn't that unexpected, though. I mean she was some sort of half-vampire now, I guess drinking blood was going to be part of that. I just didn't know how David was going to deal with this new development. Hopefully Jacob would be able to calm him down; talk some sense into him and bring him back here.

"I still don't know . . ." she shook her head. "Why did I do that? I drank blood. That is soooo gross, why would I drink it? It just . . . it just . . . smelled so good, I couldn't help myself. Why did I . . . Gross. Ew, ew, eeeewwww," she squirmed and then started to gag.

"It's all right, calm down." I whispered, while stroking her head, trying to calm her. "Carlisle will the blood make her sick?" Why was she gagging?

"No I don't believe so, actually she seems to be doing much better. And she says she feels fine, despite being a bit repulsed by her actions."

What does that mean? "So is she . . . " I didn't want to finish that sentence, not in front of Janet. She was already so emotionally fragile. Learning she might be part vampire might push her over the edge.

"Why don't we talk in my office." Carlisle suggested. "Janet would it be okay if Felicity stayed with you for a moment, that is if Felicity is okay with it."

"Of course," "Yeah, sure." they both replied at the same time.

Once we were in Carlisle's office he explained to me that the blood she drank only seemed to return her to the state she was in prior to his extracting her own. Everything else - her low body temperature, slower heartbeat, and sweeter body aroma - were the same. He had also discovered in his examinations that while her skin was not sold like mine or a full vampires, her bones were. It seemed very unlikely that she would ever break a bone like most people do at some point in her life.

And it seemed that her body now craved blood, even if her mind didn't.

Jake would be crushed. He was really hoping that Embry's wolf blood was going to be a magic cure all.

"So what does this mean?" I questioned my grandfather. "Is she continuing to change into a Vampire or is this it? Is she going to be like this forever or start to regain her humanity?"

"It means I need to get started testing her blood immediately, I'm afraid, before I can give you any definitive answers. For now she is stable. I'll continue to monitor her. And someone should call Quil."

Quil? "Don't you think that having Quil bringing Claire here now is a little dangerous? I know Janet hasn't attacked anyone for their blood yet, but now that she's tasted some it might only be a matter of time."

"No, you misunderstand. That is exactly what I mean. We need to call him and warn against having him bring Claire here this afternoon, like was scheduled."

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll do that right now."

After calling Quil I returned to Janet's room, where Felicity quietly informed me, too low that she wouldn't be able to hear, (at least I didn't think she would, of course she might have enhanced hearing along with the other changes in her. I don't think anyone thought to find that out yet.) that Janet had been asking her what happened to David. My daughter did not know exactly what to tell her, not wanting to upset her even more. Apparently Janet missed him jumping out of the window.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

 _David, there you are._ I had been running all over the state looking for him. This was hard, him not bring in my pack anymore, I couldn't see into his head as a wolf. I only saw and heard what he wanted me to see. And he didn't want me to see where he was. After more than an hour of searching I had finally picked up his scent. If this had taken any longer I was going to phase into my spirit form and find someone in Jared's Pack that was also phased to tell me where he was.

 _Dad I just can't talk to you about this right now._ He started to run away as he heard me approach.

 _Please stop. Let's just talk for a minute_. I said jumping in front of him. He started growling back at me, but it wasn't meant to be an attack. I know how it could look, two wolves angling for position in the forest. But I opened my mind to him and showed him that I just wanted to talk. He did not do the same, but at least he didn't pounce or run. _I know this is hard, son. I know how you feel right now. When I first heard how Bella, your grandmother, wanted to change into a Vampire . . ._

 _This is not the same dad. First of all . . . it's what she wanted. Janet does not, this was forced on her, she wasn't given a choice. Second I know you loved her, but not as much as I love Janet._ I was about to interject but he cut me off and continued talking. _All of your pain went away when you imprinted on mom. I don't have that option. My imprint is now the thing I hate. What am I suppose to do now?_ He said while collapsing onto the ground.

 _Are you telling me that your imprint bond was broken? That you no longer love her?_

How could that be? I don't know anything that would make me stop loving Nessie, imprint or not. She was truly my soulmate in every way. What was David telling me.

 _I don't know dad, I just . . . I don't feel that way anymore. I don't know if the imprint magic is . . . gone, or what._

 _David, I think you are wrong. You didn't really give it . . . her . . . a chance. She has been like this since shortly after she was bitten weeks ago. It wasn't until you saw her drink the blood that you got upset and ran away._

 _What are you talking about, dad? She's been exactly the same,_ human _, just writhing in pain up until today._

 _No son, she has not_. I grimaced internally at what I was about to say next. I didn't really want to tell him, but I felt I had too. _There have been many differences in her. You already know that her body temperature is lower. And there have been other changes as well. She smells sweeter for one thing. I'm not saying it's as bad as a full vampires scent, like the Cullens, but it's definitely more fragrant than it used to be._

 _Don't you think that's something I would have noticed?_ He growled, getting up on all fours. He was getting defensive now and I could see he was looking for a fight. I needed to find some way to calm him down, not wanting to fight and possibly injure my own son.

 _David, I think it's that you are so in love with her,_ I began gently, _that you didn't see or care up until now. It's just your brain, at this moment, that's trying to overwhelm your heart. I know you still love her. She is still your imprint. You just need to give her a chance. She's still the same girl. Her mind seems to be the same. And isn't that what you fell in love with?_

It looked like he started to calm down and sat back on his hind legs. But then a moment latter he jumped back up. Damn. Now what?

 _And how am I supposed to ignore the fact that she is going to try and kill half the reservation, in some sort of newborn feeding frenzy._

 _What feeding frenzy, David? She hasn't attacked Claire, or you, or your sister, or anyone else with human or half human blood, since she woke up. Why do you think she's gonna start now? Just because there was one instance where she drank blood, which was practically shoved in her face, doesn't mean she's going to go after someone._

 _Yeah, and it doesn't mean she's not either._ David huffed. _You don't know what's going to happen. This could just be the start. Maybe she hadn't realized how much she wanted or needed blood up until now. Once_ _she realizes her bloodlust there might be no stopping her. And then whose_ _job is it gonna be to deal with her? . . . MINE!_ he growled again.

Now I think I understood what the problem was, why he was so upset. He still loved Janet, and he knew it. But he couldn't allow himself to let her hurt anyone. He would rather he kill both of them first, than risk losing a single life. He was always so protective of humans.

 _You don't really want to kill her David, do you?_

 _No,_ he huffed and slumped back down in defeat, _but do you think I really am going to have a choice?_

 _There's always a choice . . . for you and her. Even if she is consumed with the drinking of human blood now, which you don't even know if she is, she still has a choice. She has her own mind. She may choose not to, just like the Cullens._

 _Maybe, and if she doesn't? If she can't?_ he questioned me.

 _I think that is something that we need to go back and figure out with Janet, and probably everyone else. Your mother, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles and everybody else. We will all help her. And Jared and the rest of the pack too._

 _But it's not something that you should decide right here, in the middle of the woods, when you are so raw and emotional. So don't make any rash decisions right now. It could affect you for the rest of your life, which is potentially the rest of eternity._

 _Dad do you think I really would want to live forever if I have to kill my own imprint?_

 _That's my point David. Let's not do anything rash. Please calm down and think things through first._

After a little bit more convincing, we made our way back to the house. A few wolves from Jared's Pack were wandering around outside. When David and I had both been in our wolf form one of the wolves must have overheard our little conversation. I guess that was expected, which was probably a good thing. I needed all the help I could get on this.

"Renesmee called and asked everyone to come home," Bella informed me as we walked through the front door.

"I figured."

"What is Jared's Pack doing here?" she asked me, apparently noticing the wolves in her front lawn for the first time.

I hadn't bothered to talk to any of them since I had phased back and they were all wolves. And even though they had been here, off and on, over the past couple of weeks, they still were not comfortable just walking into the house uninvited, and it didn't look like any of the Cullens had offered.

"We did," Edward informed me, "but they seem to prefer staying outside at the moment. They seem to feel that they might be needed in their wolf form and prefer not to be in the house, they don't want to break anything, but they are anticipating that David is going to . . ." Edward's voice had turned to a whisper, low enough that David would not be able to hear.

But I didn't need him to finish his sentence. I knew what he meant. And I told him so with my mind so he would stop. I didn't want an possibility, no matter how small, that David might hear.

"But I don't think it's going to be necessary," Edward continued anyway. "I heard what the two of you said in the woods and there was one part that you seem to have overlooked." Then he turned to my son. "David, I know the situation with Janet is very stressful for you . . ."

"For me?" he yelled. "This is nothing. What about Janet? What must she be going through now? Argh! I can't believe I left her like that. But I don't trust myself around her, and in truth she should not trust me because I don't see this ending well for either of us." He shook his head as he paced pack and forth around the living room.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to speak to you about. You seem to be forgetting one thing. Janet is NOT a vampire."

"What?"

"She's not a vampire, David. It's true that she did drink blood, but she was repulsed by what she did. And she does not seem to have the bloodlust or frenzy that Vampires go into when feeding. And now that she is consciously aware of it, I don't believe she's going to continue, if she can help it. There were two more packages of blood that Carlisle had acquired, yet she refused to drink them. She did need the blood so Carlisle set them up . . . err, the old fashioned way, to deliver one of them into her system. She is still upstairs in bed, receiving the remainder of her transfusion. I would suggest you go up there in a little while once you've calmed down, to speak to her. I know she would love to see you."

"Wait, so what, exactly, is she then," I questioned.

"Carlisle is still running his tests, but we will have to wait for him to get the results from the blood tests."

"I think I am going to go up," David said, smiling now.

 _Is he okay?_ I silently asked Edward. _This isn't some sort of trick is it?_

He almost imperceptible shook his head as David bounced up the stairs to Janet's room.

"I'll keep listening, but I believe he just wants to talk to her."

A few seconds later Nessie, Felicity and Carlisle came down stairs and joined the rest of us.

"Hello sweetheart," Nessie said as she gave me a peck on the cheek. "David asked if he could speak to her alone so we cleared out."

"Nessie you look dead on your feet. Come on lets go take a nap. You too Felicity. I am sure Edward can wake us up if anything happens." Edward nodded and we made our way upstairs.

Even with everything that was happening, now that Nessie and I were laying in bed, and my arms were around her, I felt myself begin to relax. I could feel our imprint bond – the pull, the love, the connection. All David had to do was listen to his and everything would work out. It just had too.

* * *

Sorry i'm a bit late posting this. I had Jury Duty and was actually put on the Jury!

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think. One one chapter left (and then the Epilogue)


	94. Test Results

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety-Four**

 **Test Results**

Jacob's Point of View

We were all sitting around in the living room. Just waiting. Okay, we weren't just sitting, staring at a blank wall, or anything.

David was currently upstairs with Janet, talking through everything that had happened, starting three weeks ago, when she was first bitten, and the reasons behind it - the necklace, Stefan and Vladimir's assumptions, and everything else through when she woke up yesterday, when David abruptly left.

They had started yesterday, as soon as I brought him home, but they both were so tired, before long they both had fallen asleep before really getting into things. Once they woke up this morning, Esme brought them some breakfast and then continued their conversation from last night.

We could all hear, since Esme had tactfully left the door open, how David was gently explaining everything to her. He also told her how no one, not even Carlisle, was sure exactly what she was yet, but that no matter what, he would always love her. She knew about the imprinting, and their bond, and understood how when he said "love" he meant how it was just a _friendship_ based love . . . right now, at least.

All morning long David and Janet talked . . . and talked . . . and talked, while Carlisle tested, tested, tested. don't get me wrong. I was glad that they were talking. Janet needed to know what had happened to her, and David needed to figure out what was going on with his feelings for her, but this waiting was killing me.

And it wasn't just me. While the two of them talked, and Carlisle tested, Bella read Wuthering Heights; again! Jasper and Alice played game after game of chess, Rose and Nessie giggled over something in a magazine, Felicity and Edward played the piano, while Esme watched – she was so impressed by my daughters playing ability, even after so little time (well everyone was, really). And Emmett and I mindlessly watched the TV that someone had turned on. There was a re-broadcast of a baseball game on, though I could not tell you who was playing or what inning it was if my life depended on it.

No one had seen Leah or Nahuel in a few days, but I caught their sent yesterday, while I was out looking for David, so I knew they were still in the area . . . somewhere, doing . . . yeah, never mind I don't even want to think about that. Felicity was right. Too much PDA.

Carlisle was still in his office all these hours, conducting his tests on Janet's blood.

Finally, at 10:43am he entered the living room.

"Edward, Rosalie? Would you mind stepping into my office for a moment? I would like you both to double check my results."

Double check? Carlisle? Judging by the worried look on his face, I had a feeling the results were definitely not what we were hoping for. I prayed that it wouldn't be the worst result - that she was still changing, and she would eventually become a full vampire.

Well, everybody else in the room probably wouldn't see that as such a bad thing well, possibly not Rosalie, and David surely would be upset by that news. He was the one I was most worried about right now. Him and Janet.

Then 18 minutes later, the three of them returned.

Come on, someone, give me a clue. Smiles. Frowns. Scowls. Growls. Something! But they all wore the same plastered on emotionless masks.

"Okay, we have the results of Janet's blood tests." Rosalie began.

"So what is it, Doc?" I started in. I know Rose and Edward had gone to med school, multiple times, over the decades, but I wanted to hear it from him. "Is she a vampire or not?"

"Not exactly. She is as I had first suspected, previously," he replied. "Every result, from every test I ran on her blood, the results were the same. Her cells seem to be caught in between vampire and human, and they are not making any progress one way or the other. And to add to that, it seems that her need for blood is not going to end. The vampire cells in her body appear to require it, but she also needs to drink and eat human food as well."

"So what are we gonna do? You can't exactly stay in Washington buying donated blood, from the hospital, for the rest of her life, which . . . wait, how long is that going to be exactly Carlisle?"

"That, at least, I do have good news for. She is continuing to age normally."

Well, that was some relief, I guess. But then again, if she had become immortal, David would continue to live forever, just like his mother and I. I guess this means that some day he will grow old and die with his imprint. Or would he? He was part vampire as well. Oh god! This was so confusing. What would happen to him if he stayed this age forever, and Janet grew older and died?

"We have some more good news." Edward spoke up, ignoring my worried thoughts, or possibly trying to take my mind off of them, for the time being, at least. I knew he heard them. "As far as we can tell she should be able to drink, or be transfused with any blood type. It does not have to be the A-negative blood type that Embry has, so that gives us a few more options, at least."

"What about animal blood? I guess it wouldn't work for a transfusion, but couldn't she drink it?" Nessie questioned.

"I'm afraid not." Charlise replied. "I've tested a number of animals local to the region, and none seem to contain enough of the nutrients that her body requires. I'm afraid there is no substitute for human blood in her case."

David seemed to cheer up at something. He had been upstairs with Janet, but had poked his head around the top of the stairwell as we were talking, I assume to hear everything that was going on with his imprint. Of course we would have gone up there and told him all of this anyway, but he probably couldn't wait any longer.

"So she could drink from me?" he now asked.

"Yes, I suppose so," Edward mused, scratching his head, "but her teeth are not as strong as ours. She would need help."

"I could do that for her. On my arm or something? And then she could, right? Like once a week or something? And that would be enough? She wouldn't go around trying to attack people?" He was frantic, trying to find a solution, blurting out his ideas. Everyone could tell the mess he had become from all of this, and his words reinforced that now. But his idea had potential.

"If she agrees to it, yes, that would be possible, I believe." Carlisle agreed.

Panic filled me now, as flashes of my own ordeal with Nessie and her bloodlust for me, went racing through my mind. I didn't want him to suffer the same fate that Nessie and I did.

"No, I believe it is going to be okay, Jacob." Edward tried to reassure me. "Janet is different than Nessie. She requires much less blood, she'd probably be fine, just taking three or four mouthfuls once a week. She wouldn't need to drain him like Renesmee did you. There should be no risk to David's life."

"What are you talking about." David questioned us. Oh, crap here we go.

Nessie quickly went over to our son and Edward quietly told me that she was showing him, with her gift, exactly what had happened with her bloodlust when she had finished aging. The worst of it. The parts I hadn't told him about, I had explained the basic details, but had glossed over the risk to my life part.

Thankfully he took it better than I had thought he was going to. I guess this situation with Janet was putting things into perspective for him.

"All right. You're sure she's not gonna need that much," he asked Carlisle. Even when she gets older? Bigger? Requires more to eat?"

"Nothing can be certain, but I don't believe so, and if you would like to err on the safer side, you can always have the Pack with you when she needs to feed, in case they need to intervene."

"This means that you're going to have to be with her constantly, David" Jasper spoke up. "Either she is going to have to move to La Push, or you're going to have to move to the Makah Reservation. And since she is only 14 years old that would require you to convince her entire family to move as well. Not the easiest of things."

"But . . ." he began, before Alice interrupted.

"I can't see her anymore, so she'll need to be under constant supervision, by you or another wolf, for a while at least, until you can be sure she won't attack anyone."

"Alice is right. And unfortunately we won't be able to help. While I'm not one for retreating, I don't think it's safe for us to stay here any longer," Jasper continued. "We've already been here too long. It's not safe."

"Well, unless you want a whole new Pack of wolves, that is. Could be fun, get some new blood in here to fight. The ones out there have been wolves too long, there too controlled now." Emmett chuckled.

"Don't worry. It's not like we are going to pack up and leave tomorrow. But I don't think we should stay much longer." The Doc agreed.

They were right, of course. While they had stayed almost entirely in the old Cullen house, that had had to leave on occasion to feed. I know they were trying to limit their exposure to any un-phased La Push teens, but no one was sure exactly how much was enough to set off the change. And who knows where Nahuel and Leah were doing . . . their activities.

"It might be wise to give her a test run though, before we go. She how she does around a few humans." Edward offered.

"What? Are you crazy? We can't risk . . ."

"Charlie is going to be stopping by soon anyway." Alice announced. "He'll be perfect to see how she does with him.

"He coming here? I didn't know . . ." Nessie looked excited to see her grandfather for a second before her face fell. "Wait. We can't risk his life like that."

"No, it's perfect. He already knows our secret and we would all be there, or nearby enough to run a controlled test, that even if Janet did attack we would intervene in plenty of time. We'll all be here, she won't be able to lay a finger on him."

"If all goes well we should also have her attempt to feed on David while Charlie, or possibly Sue, or some other human is in the room. See if his fresh blood sets anything off in her," Jasper added.

"Oh um Bella, we are going to have to finish this discussion later. Charlie's about to call," Alice chirped over to her.

"Why is he even bothering to call first? He knows he can stop in here anytime."

"It's not about that, but he will be coming tomorrow. This call is for something else." We could all see that Alice was trying to make no big deal out of whatever he was calling about, which could only mean one thing . . . trouble.

"Is this the about officer Dan again," Bella questioned her.

"Of course, but don't worry. Everything's been taking care of. Mr. Jenks is already in the process of getting him a _promotion_." Alice said while making little air quotes with her fingers. "He'll soon be transferred to Nebraska. Unfortunately, I can't see any other way of getting him out of here and off of Charlie's back, than making him the new deputy chief of police there."

"Oh, just a deputy chief of police, Alice?" Bella smirked.

"Well, I couldn't very well have it be believable, making him the actual chief of police. He is relatively new. I have to stay within reality on this. Just tell Charlie to hang in there, when he calls, and not to worry. Officer Dan will be gone in a few days. Jasper even threw Jenks a little extra money to have him arrange to get some guys to move all of officer Dan's stuff, just to get him out of here even faster. You're welcome by the way." she playfully growled.

"Thanks Alice. What would I ever do without you," Bella chuckled over to her, knowing that Alice wasn't really mad at her.

"You're welcome. Now answer your phone. Charlie is already stressed out enough as it is, there is no need to add to it." She smirked

Half a second later Bella's phone rang.

* * *

The next day, Janet passed her test with Charlie with flying colors. He wasn't too happy to be used as a guinea pig, but agreed, after we explained exactly what was going on, to him. It was only fare, since he was the one who would be risking his life and all. Okay there was really no chance if him actually dying at Janet's hands, or even getting hurt, in the slightest, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. And we wanted to prepare him if Janet did move to attack. She didn't seem to gain any additional strength in her partial transformation (besides the stronger bones), so her muscles were that of an average humans, no match for a wolf, full vampire, or even a half-vampire.

After Carlisle finished his blood tests yesterday, he spent the remainder of the day testing to see what Vampire traits Janet did inherit. It seems she was split pretty evenly down the middle, unlike Nessie who just had a weaker version of everything her parents did. Janet's vampire traits included the need to drink blood, her bones were hard as granite, her colder than normal body temperature and slower heart rate, (though those were not exactly the same as the Cullens it was close enough in my book, and then there was her hearing and vision. It seems that she had gained the ability to hear and see everything near or close to nearly as well as a Vampire, or wolf. And her speed, while not nearly as fast as the Cullens, was far faster than a normal humans, which we pretty much had known when she managed to get the blood bag out of the Doc's hands the other day.

While on the other hand her human side retained the ability to eat food, age, her skin was not impermeable, and her brain seemed to work similarly to what it had before – as far as Carlisle for tell, that is. No multi layers of thinking, no perfect recall, no . . . whatever else they could do. And she didn't seem to possess any special gifts, like Edward's mind reading or Bella's shield. That we knew of, that is.

It looked like if she did fine on Tuesday, she Charlie and Sue came back, while David attempted to feed her again – using his own blood, something she gawked at, at first, but (oddly) quickly grew accustomed to, then she was going to be allowed to go home.

It would be almost an entire month since her parents had seen her. I knew they must have been going through hell. Quil had done what he could. The entire Pack had. Claire was much better now that she had seen her sister, though not since we found out her thirst for human blood. Quil had kept her up to date on her recovery, but I know it was still hard on her, not being able to see her sister, or talk to her parents about it. They had still been kept in the dark, up until yesterday that is. Officer Dan had told them that we were keeping her here. Alice saw him go to them, but with the wolves, Quil mostly, she had found out too late for us to stop him.

Since she already had a connection to us, through David, and the Young's knew that he was related to me we had to come up with a plan. Blatant denial would not work. They actually believed, as everyone else did, the story Billy had come up with, the first time David came to La Push with us for Felicity's birth - that he was my half-brother, the result of an affair between Billy and some unknown woman and had been given up for adoption, but had found Billy after years of searching. After much discussion it was decided to come clean. The Youngs had two daughters who were imprinted on by wolves. They probably were going to notice something was up eventually.

Tomorrow we would be going to the Makah Reservation – Carlisle, Edward, Nessie, me, David and Janet. The rest of the Cullens would be staying home, not wanting to frighten Janet's parents, but Quil assure me he would already be there, and Charlie as well. He needed to explain his part in all of this, thanks to Officer Dan's meddling.

* * *

Okay, I did it again and as I was giving this chapter a final review new ideas came to me and i just kept writing and writing and writing. Seriously - next chapter will be the last (except for the epilogue that is).

Pleas review and let me know what you think.


	95. Welcome and Unwelcome

**Year Eight, Chapter Ninety-Five** **  
**

 **Welcome and UnWelcome**

Renesmee's Point of View

Felicity wasn't planning on coming with us when we brought Janet home, but as we were piling into the cars to head to the Makah Reservation, Janet refused to get in or let go of my daughters hand. It was understandable. Those two had become almost inseparable. I think Janet was just looking for someone her own age, or as close as there was in the house, to connect with. I felt bad for her. Not only for being bitten by Stefan, and the agonizing pain and changes to her that resulted, but she had finally reconnected with her sister, and then for Claire own safety, was not allowed to see her.

At first I thought Janet had really bonded with me when she asked for me to stay while Carlisle examined her, but that request turned out to be more pseudo mother/daughter, than sisters, or girlfriends, or . . . whatever, which again, I guess made sense, since I was David's mother; a fact that Janet was well aware. And my daughter, Felicity was one of the kindest, most loving caring, and nurturing people I knew. Of course this was due in some part to her gift. Her being able to sense the essence of a person, she immediately was drawn to loving people, and clearly Janet was one. My son had imprinted on a wonderful young lady.

Felicity seemed to go out of her way this past week and a half, ever since Janet woke up, to make her feel better . . . safer, more calm. Anything she could think of to take away some of the emotional, if not physical pain, she was grappling with.

"Don't worry Janet, I wouldn't dream of letting you go without me," my daughter smiled to her new friend.

I could see Janet visibly relax, a smidge, as she released the breath she had been holding, and climbed into the car after Felicity.

Just over an hour and a half later we arrived at Janet's parents house. And while they were happy to have their daughter returned to them, they were understandably, and justifiably upset about what had happened to her.

We tried and tried to explain things delicately. If that was even possible. Turns out . . . it really wasn't. And the fact that we explained EVERYTHING was more than a little overwhelming. It might have gone better if they had been from the La Push Res instead of Makah, then they would have grown up hearing the tribes legends at least. This was all completely new to them. And the fact that vampires existed in the world, and that there were werewolves in La Push, and both of their daughters were imprinted upon by them, that was a little too much.

We were there for over four hours, and I don't think Mrs. Young had gotten over the shock of everything she had learned. My grandfather actually went ahead and prescribed her some tranquilizers to calm her down, and advised Mr. Young to take her to her regular doctor in a week if her . . . err, _disposition_ had not improved.

And then there was Mr. Young. He had actually threatened legal action against both of my grandfathers, and the entire Cullen clan. Luckily it was nothing a little dazzling, on my part, couldn't handle, much to my father and Jacob's chagrin. But I had heard what had gone on downstairs with Officer Dan and the other cops, so what I did was nothing compared to that, and after a knowing look from me, they rightly held their tongues.

And of course Quil vouched for us; him having been at Claire's side for the past decade now, they trusted him and believed him when he said that we were innocent through all of this, and we would never do anything to harm their daughter. Which Janet confirmed as well.

She took everything, going on today, in stride. I think so that she was just so happy to be back home with her parents and sister that their current emotional state didn't bother her. She was doing tremendously, obliviously, well. She was probably going to break down soon, but she would have her parents and David by her when that happened.

David, on the other hand, was another matter. We could not convince the Young's to uproot their lives and move to La Push, it was a long shot to begin with, but that meant that David was going to have to move to the Makah Reservation. That was going to be an issue. One that he was willing to make, of course, but an issue none the less. Mostly in regards to Billy and the Pack.

Since Janet was home, everything had been explained and more or less accepted and the Young's were remaining in their home and refused to move it was time for us to go. David didn't want to but came with us with the understanding that he could return tomorrow.

* * *

Now that just about everything was taken care of we planned on flying back home within the next day or two, we just had a couple of things to wrap up. But then Jake got a phone call and it turned out that Seth and Carol, Seth's imprint, were moving back to La Push. They were just about to board the plan and would be here by nightfall. Was this going to postpone our leaving? We didn't really want to leave Washington, but everyone was worried about our remaining any longer and creating more wolves.

Carol, had finally finished school around the same time Jake and I did. Well she had earned her Ph.D. while we managed to graduate with just a bachelors degree, so far anyway. But now that she was done with school they no longer needed to live in the east coast, so had gathered up their things and moved home. We knew that they were planning on moving home at the end of the summer, but Seth mentioned, during his phone call, that Carol had received a job offer to start in a few weeks and so they began packing immediately.

* * *

"So what do you intend to do now that you're back?" Charlie asked Seth when we met him up for lunch at Charlie and Sue's place, the next day. Everyone was there, everyone who ate anyway, Charlie and Sue of course, Felicity, Seth (minus Carol, who was meeting with her new bosses), and Jake and me. My parents had also been invited, but politely declined, not eating themselves and all that. And David wanted to be here but was hanging out with Janet whose parents refused to let her out of their sights so soon after getting her back, while he was also trying to figure out a plan to move closer to her. In the meantime he had begun packing at least.

"Well first thing, Carol and I will need to find a place to live. I've managed to save a little money and am hoping to find something around here cheap, that I can fix up. Maybe find some construction jobs to do. I liked doing that in New Hampshire. And," he blushed, "we want to start trying to have kids right away. Carol is so focused on her career and plans on working full time so I'm going to get to be a stay at home dad . . . you know - eventually. I'm so excited!"

Carol was so smart and Seth just absolutely adored her, I think he would have fallen in love with her with or without the imprint, thought the age gap might have made it a bit harder for them. Carol was finally going to put her education to some good use and help the people of La Push, just like she wanted, when she first started college over a decade ago. But there were other things she had planned for her life as well. Children clearly being one of them.

"I'm really excited guys," Seth continued, ignoring the mostly shocked and some happy (me, Felicity, and Jake) looks everyone was giving him, "I can't wait to be a dad to as many pups as were able to have." Seth beamed over to us. "She . . . err, went off the pill a month ago," he barely got the words out as he blushed even deeper, "so hopefully it won't be long now."

Seth was going to be such a good father. But he raised an interesting point. If they wanted a big family as Seth implied, at her age they would need to get started right away.

"Well that's great kid," Charlie huffed and we all agreed, some more genuinely than others. I don't think his mother looked too happy.

We were about to start eating the blueberry pie that Sue had made for dessert when Leah and Nahuel arrived. This was the first time I had seen them since they first arrived here. I was glad that they made an appearance, but it would have been nice to know that they were coming. Or that they had the decency to arrive at the beginning of the meal – almost an hour ago. But they were here now and Sue looked delighted to see her daughter. Had she not gone to see her since she had been back?

They had heard Seth's news too, I guess. At least the tail end of it anyway but they had news of their own. Jennifer had got in contact with Nahuel and she was looking to come back for a little while to visit her brother and was headed to New Hampshire. So they were going to be taken off with the rest of us, while Seth and Carol remained here.

"You're not staying?" Sue questioned her daughter. "I've barely seen you. Why don't you stay a few weeks and then you can join your boyfriend later. I'm sure he would like some alone time with his sister to catch up."

"I do not think I could bare to be away from my precious angel any longer." Nahuel cooed to Sue. _Precious angel_? Ew! "It was torture being away from her when she came here at Jacob's orders."

"I didn't order her, it was her choice to come," Jake objected. "I wouldn't do that. She's free to do what she wants."

"So you've never ordered her to do something with those alpha powers of yours?"

"Leah is a big girl, she can make her own decisions."

I could see Jake's body begin to shake as he struggled to control himself. Oh no. I hope they were not going to fight again.

"Did, too," Leah huffed, under her breath, but every supernatural person in the room heard her perfectly.

Oh no! Why would she confirm, even by accident, the one time Jake ordered her to do something? He only ordered her phase, after she broke up with Nahuel, because she was so miserable without him, just so she could see that there was nothing going on between me and Nahuel, and would take him back. It was the reason they were together now.

"WHAT DID YOU MAKE HER DO?" Nahuel screamed.

This was getting ridiculous. Before it could get any more out of hand I grabbed his arm and used my gift to show him exactly what happened. Leah too so she could confirm it.

"That's all?" Nahuel growled over to her. She nodded and his anger died down, a smidge. "Err . . . um, okay, thanks," he then begrudgingly conceded to Jake with a huff. "But I am not leaving here without Leah. I can call Jennifer and have her come here instead. I guess there will be a few new wolves phasing after all." Was that a threat?

Jake sprang up from the table, knocking over his chair, and was about to yell at Nahuel or something when Felicity attempted to change the subject.

"Seth, are you and Carol planning on getting married?"

Sue, who had not exactly _eloped_ with my grandfather _,_ did have a quickie wedding at the courthouse. Now, though she saw her opportunity, Jake and Nahuel's standoff at least temporarily forgotten, and was pushing for a real wedding between her son and his imprint. It seemed important to her that at least one of her children were married properly.

"So I was thinking we could rent out the function hall at . . ." she began.

"I don't know, mom," Seth cut her off, while shoving another forkful of food into his mouth. Sue had been going on with wedding locations, flower colors and other suggestions for awhile now. Seth looked a little pale. "Carol is so focused on her career right now, that I think a big wedding would just take too much time. Don't get me wrong, I would love to marry her, I would do it in a heartbeat, but it's not just up to me. And I haven't even asked her, yet."

"Why not? You too have been together now for . . . how many years? Two, almost three. Now's the perfect time to propose. And she's your soulmate. It's not like either of you are going to find anyone else. Seth you are twenty-four now. It's time to start acting like the adult you are. Especially if you are planning on having children."

"Yeah, I know mom, I just don't know if marriage is something that Carol is interested in."

"You'll never know unless you ask," she smirked back to her son.

"What about you two," Charlie asked turning to Jake and I.

"No thanks, grandpa, we're good!" I definitively said, ending his ridiculous line of questioning before it even started, as I got up to clear the table. I was not going to be bullied or guilt tripped into marriage. I was so glad Jake and I were on the same page about this.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

Before we leave tomorrow I called an all Packs meeting on First beach. There were a lot of things we needed to figure out. I missed these bonfires. It had been years since I had attended one. There were a lot of things we had to talk about so early in the day we had the bonfire with all of our imprints, roasted hotdogs, talked and connected before the sun went down and we got down to business.

After a lot of discussion the solution to the multiple Packs problem seemed obvious. It was almost stupid in its simplicity. After a lot of back and forth the decision was made that would forever change the lives of everyone on the Makah Reservation. If they agreed that is.

David, Quil, and Embry had all imprinted on those from the Makah Reservation. So they would move, there to live there with them. Well Embry was there already, anyway.

David (who was already in the process) and Quil would move to the Makah Reservation to be closer to their imprints, while simultaneously forming their own Pack of three, which up until the current generation, was a normal Pack size. Without a constant Vampire presence in the area, this seemed more normal than anything else.

Jared agreed to stay on as Alpha in La Push, for a little while longer while training Collin to take over some day, but after what happened with Stephan and Vladimir, Jared no longer planned on retiring anytime soon. The job was too important. It seemed like they had all grown a little too comfortable, too complacent, over the years and needed to step back up to protect the Tribe.

The two alphas, David and Jared, would be able to communicate with each other between the La Push and Makah Reservations, ensuring that the entire area would be safe from Vampires in the future.

Embry had been married now for a little bit so the elder council there knew him and were able to get us in for a meeting. They previously hadn't known anything about wolves, but now that they were going to have three living on their Reservation, they needed to be brought into the loop. It was going to be a touchy topic to bring up. I had a feeling they weren't going to believe us at first and that we would have to give them a demonstration, i.e. - one of us was going to phase.

Thankfully, Sam, Billy, Sue, and Old Quil, whom they knew, and who was still somehow hanging on by a thread, had accompanied us to explain things and bring some level of authority and authenticity to our group when we went there a few days later. And Sue had thought ahead enough to grab the written history of the Tribe to show them, as well.

The Cullens, along with Leah and Nahuel, had returned to New Hampshire a couple of days ago, as planned. Nessie and Felicity had left as well. I hated being away from my Family but I felt I needed to see this through, and would fly back as soon as I was able. Hopefully it wouldn't take long.

The Makah elders ended up taking the news better than I thought, but of course, we did end up having to phase just to prove ourselves. No one had a heart attack like Sue was worried about, but we did have a couple of fainters. All in all, it went pretty well. And David was even appointed as an acting member of the tribal council since he was going to be the Makah Pack Alpha.

No one was sure what exactly we we're going to do, to explain to the rest of the Makah Reservations inhabitants why none of them would be aging any time soon. Their Res was smaller than the one in La Push and three new men, who towered over everyone else would definitely be noticed, but that was a matter for another day, I guess.

The only real question now was what was going to happen with my dad now that David was moving out. Nessie couldn't stay in La Push which meant I could not either. I thought maybe the nurse, that Edward had arranged, could change her schedule around and make it more of a full time gig. But even working 40 hours a week, taking care of Billy, that still left a lot of hours he would be home alone. The Pack and imprints already stopped in as much as they could, whenever the Nurse or David wasn't there but it wasn't enough, and now that David would be leaving, Billy needed more help.

I know he didn't like being dependent on others and thought he could still take care of himself, but the reality was that he couldn't, and his situation would only get worse as time went on. It was either full time around the clock care or put him into a nursing home and he would never agree to that. I think I needed to call Edward.

As I dialed his number I contemplated hanging up and calling Nessie instead, just to give myself an excuse to hear her voice on the phone before she handed it to her father. But that was silly. I had already called her this morning, like I promised and would call her again tonight before she went to sleep. And I would be home with her, her cuddled in my arms, in our bed together, in a few days.

 _"Hello Jacob."_ Edward said, answering the phone. _"Is everything going alright? Do the Makah elder have a problem with the wolves moving to their reservation?"_

"Hey Edward. No, that's not why I'm calling. That went smoothly. Well as smooth as could be expected. I'm just worried about Billy." I replied before relaying to him all of my concerns. I'm sure he had already picked them out of my brain before he and the rest of the Cullens left, but he had never said anything. So maybe he didn't.

" _I assume this means that you have not spoken with your father; or your son, for that matter."_ I could hear the smirk in his voice. I didn't think this was very funny. What was I missing?

"No, you know Billy. He's stubborn and prideful. He would object to anymore help. And I am not laying this on my son. Billy is my father; it is my responsibility to take care of him." Or find someone else to do it.

 _"Jacob, answer me this . . . have you spent any time around your father and his new nurse? Is he really so_ annoyed _about her presence there? Has he complained . . . at all? From what I have seen and heard I believe that he would welcome the opportunity of having Miss Tanner at_ the house more," he chuckled.

What? "Are you sure Eddie? Billy has always hated . . ."

 _"Jacob, relax. I didn't just pick this woman as his nurse at random. I guess it's time to let you in on a little secret Alice and I have been keeping. We didn't want to tell you or Billy, in order as to not unduly influence matters but Alice had a vision last year. Before I go on, let me ask you one more thing . . . do you like Miss Tanner? In general."_

"I guess. She seems very . . . professional. She knows what she is doing and seems to be taking good care of Billy. I mean, she's much more competent than the Health Care worker I hired."

 _"No, I meant as a person in general. What do you think of her?"_ What was he getting at?

"Um, sure. She seems nice enough, friendly . . ."

 _"Loving?"_

"Huh? Eddie what are you getting at?"

 _"Alice saw Billy and her getting married."_ he laughed through the phone again. Married? _"Early next autumn, if I were to guess by the falling leaves in Alice's vision. They are practically living together already. I am sure that if we just arrange for one other nurse to stop by intermittently, while she goes to work, Billy will be sufficiently looked after. Actually . . . I can guarantee it."_

Hmmm. Alice must be near him and had another vision for him to say that with such certainty.

 _"Jacob are you still there?"_

"Huh? Sure, sure. Sorry. I just wasn't expecting that. Wait how did Alice see this? She can't see wolves and La Push is always crawling with them."

 _"True, but she can see around your kind and I picked up on a stray thought I caught in his mind a few years ago, the last time we were all together and asked Alice to try and start looking. She feels horrible that she missed seeing his health decline last year. If she had we might have been able to put a stop to it before it ever got as bad as it did. But Billy was not as clear to her as he is now. It took her some time for her gift to develop enough were she could see him surrounded by so many wolves."_ Then his voice got real quit and I had to strain to hear. _"Please don't mention this to her though. She feels bad enough as it is."_

"Yeah, sure. I guess it all worked out for the best anyway." If his diabetes had never got so bad, Edward never would have hired her (well I guess that was more him hiring the person Alice saw in her vision) and they would not have met and fallen in love. Huh. My dad in love with someone other than my mom. Weird. But good. It has been almost 20 years she's been gone. He deserved to be happy. "Alice didn't happen to see who we hire to . . ."

 _"Of course I did,"_ I heard Alice chirp in the background. While Edward chuckled some more. _"I'll email you all of her info."_

 _"Alice has already hired the extra nursing help. She starts tomorrow,"_ Edward informed me.

"Oh well . . . thanks."

 _"You're welcome,"_ Alice sang again in the background. Crazy little pixie!

"Well I guess that takes care of everything then. David has found a new place with Quil on the Makah reservation and we can start moving them in on Sunday. I'll talk to Billy tonight and see about him and Miss Tanner . . ."

 _"Her first name is Jill, by the way."_

"Jill? So they'll be Billy and Jilly?" I sneered to myself, yet loud enough the Edward picked up on it and started chuckling too. "Right so I guess as soon as she and David and Quil are moved in to their new places I can come back home. You're sure Alice saw this happening so soon?"

 _"Are you betting against Alice?"_

"Right what was I thinking." I pretended to wonder out loud. If Alice had seen it I was going to go with it. "I'll call you when it's all done and I know when my flight leaves. And tell Nessie I miss her and will Skype with her tonight at the usual time."

 _"Of course, I will let her know as soon as she returns from hunting."_ I guess that explained why she had not ripped the phone out of Edwards hands by now.

After hanging up with Edward I prepared myself for a very awkward conversation with my father.

Thankfully the actual talk went better than I though. And after staying a few extra days, visiting with David, Quil and Embry, helping Miss Jill Tanner move into my old house with Billy, and then helping and David and Quil move as well, and hanging out one last time with Jared's Pack, I said goodbye to my old home and life in Washington to rejoin my Cullen family on the other side of the country.

* * *

Nessie was at the airport to pick me up and bring me home. I missed her so much. This past week without her was horrible. Not as bad as last time, but still pretty bad. The Skype and phone calls helped. But I still missed her. It was like my heart was missing without her by my side.

She didn't look any better. Actually she looked worried. That was strange. I mean I know I felt bad without her too, but now that I could see her with my own eyes and not through a computer screen I felt much better. But her facial expression only got worse the closer I got.

"What's wrong?" I asked now panicked.

"Something . . . happened while you were gone, and I'm not sure how you are going to take it."

"Is someone hurt?" Who could it be? Why didn't anybody mention anything over the phone? Maybe it was something recent.

"No, no one is hurt. It's actually a good thing . . . if you think about it." She replied before taking a deep breath. "But I can't tell you here," she said looking around. "Not in front of all these people."

That was not making me feel better. Whatever it was she was worried I would overreact and phase. Great! This was going to be worse than I thought.

We quickly got my bags and jumped into her car that we had built together. When we were about a mile away from home she pulled over. She obviously wanted to tell me away from her family but be close enough that Edward would be able to read my mind if something went wrong. This was NOT making me feel any better.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." She said getting out of the car. That made sense. If whatever she was going to say made me so upset that I phased I would destroy the thing, and that would stink. We both put hundreds of hours into this car. It was a work of art. But now I was more anxious than ever.

After we walked about a mile in the opposite direction of the house I had just about had it. I was shaking, trying to not phase just from the sheer suspense of it all. "Alright, Nessie. Just spit it out. Please. I can't take it anymore. What happened?"

"Our daughter imprinted," she mouthed, barely above a whisper, but I caught it anyway.

"What do you mean, Felicity imprinted?" I asked.

How is that even possible? I knew that while she wasn't able to phase into a wolf she had inherited some wolf characteristics. True, it was impossible to tell which ones exactly, since they were the same ones that she got from Nessie's Vampire side – the strength, speed, accelerated heeling, and heightened senses, among other things.

And who could she have imprinted on? All of the wolves, every single one of them imprinted on someone from the La Push or Makah Tribe. Well, except for me. But no one from the Tribe lived in New Hampshire. Did this happen back in Forks? And she never said anything?

"Well . . ." Nessie started to tell me, "she imprinted on Nahu. . ."

"NO," I screamed. Partially in disbelief, partially due to my anger. Not him. Anyone but him. How could this even happen? She's met him before, was this some kind of delayed imprinting? And what was going to happen to Leah. This couldn't happen to her again. Her broken heart barely survived last time, when Sam imprinted on Emily.

"Jake, relax. You didn't let me finish. Felicity did not imprint on Nahuel." she screamed. Oh, thank goodness, I sighed in relief. "Felicity imprinted on Nahuel's sister, Jennifer."

"Jennifer? . . . Nice. I like her," I smirked and Nessie relaxed. "But why were you so worried about my reaction?" It could be because Jennifer was a girl. Nessie knew I didn't care about something like that. In most Native American cultures _Two-Spirit_ individuals are revered. The news about my daughter being a lesbian wasn't exactly a shock to me.

"Well . . . it's Nahuel's sister. I know the two of you don't get along. Now it looks like you two are going to be stuck with each other, at least you will be in each other's lives, at least a little, for . . . well, forever."

"I think I already realized that nightmare as soon as Leah and Nahuel decided to become a couple," I chuckled.

* * *

"So what should we do now? We missed our graduation ceremony but we still earned our degrees." Nessie asked me as we awoke in bed together, after a well deserved good night's sleep.

I had been home now in New Hampshire, almost a month. While I didn't mind that Felicity had imprinted on Jennifer at first, I was not too happy to return home and find them already way further along in their _relationship_ than I deemed appropriate for a fifteen month old. So what if she looked like she was 23 years old? She was my baby and she would be treated accordingly. At least that was my thought. Apparently I was alone in my thinking though.

Everyone else saw how much Felicity and Jennifer loved each other already, and couldn't stand to be apart. Of course they had also had over a week to get use to it, before I even found out. And it wasn't like they had just jumped into bed together.

But they were making out on the couch when I had gotten home from the airport and I guess I had flipped out a little bit. But I was her father. It was my job to over react. At least now I had a better understanding of Edwards point of view regarding my relationship with Nessie.

Eventually I calmed down, They weren't doing anything wrong and it's not like Jennifer was going to hurt her, or take advantage of her or anything. I just didn't like where their hands were when I first saw them together. But it did take almost this entire last month for me to relax.

At least David was finally not giving me any issues or anything to worry about. He was settled in nicely at the Makah Res, taking his rightful place as Alpha, with Quil as his second and Embry his third, who didn't mind since he had a new baby and that obviously took up a lot of his time. And he was happy to be closer to Janet, who was also readjusting slowly but nicely to life at home, even with all of her . . . changes.

Billy said he and Jill were doing well and had picked a wedding date, for two months from now, on Sunday, August 3rd, 2014.

I guess that even though I had left La Push, it was not for good. II would always have a reason to return. Weddings, funerals, births. Who knows. Since I still had family there I would always be connected to that place, even if it wasn't my home anymore.

My home was wherever Nessie was. And even if I had never imprinted on her, if I had chosen to remain a wolf I would not be able to stay there. Just like the Cullens, I would need to move. People would notice that I never aged.

"We could stay at Dartmouth and get our Masters Degrees." I replied. "And then our PhD's. And then start all over again. And Again. And again. We do have forever," I smirked. "I mean it is not as bad as endlessly repeating high school like your parents do, but staying in college forever might get a little boring. It could end up almost as bad."

"I know. And I've been thinking about what David said the night of his birthday party, that we should do something to help people." Nessie said, now in a more serious tone.

She was right. I had been thinking the same thing myself, off and on, the past few months. "Oh no. I don't need to start wearing spandex. Do I?" I probably looked like I was going to be sick. I was just goofing around, though. Trying to lighten the mood. It was a little funny to think about dressing up as Wolverine or something. Though the yellow Lycra would show off my abs nicely, I chuckled to myself.

"No, no. Nothing like that." Nessie replied after both of us regaining our composure. She probably pictured something similar because we both had burst out laughing. "But maybe we could get jobs, or volunteer, or . . . do _something_ that will actually make a difference in people's lives."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I don't think our engineering degree's are going to help us much though."

"Don't be silly Nessie," Alice chirped, coming to join us now that we had made our way to the kitchen table for breakfast. "Have you ever heard of Habitats for Humanity? You could build houses for those in need. If you don't want to do that you could work in a soup kitchen, or become a cop, or volunteer with Doctors without Borders, or . . ."

"Alice what are you talking about? We couldn't do that. Neither Jake nor I are doctors."

"Not yet." She smirked.

What was that suppose to mean? I mean she couldn't see our futures but she was acting like she did. And a doctor? Could Nessie do that. I mean she was smart enough. But what about the blood? What if she lost control and drank a patient?

"Nessie just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't see at all. Are you forgetting that I can see around you, so I see the impact you have on others. And not just you. I think your son has inspired all of us. At least as much that no on plans on returning to high school for a long while. We'll be more limited in what we can do than the two of you because of the whole sunlight issue, but if Carlisle can do it so can the rest of us."

"You're all going to be doctors?" I questioned.

"Don't be ridiculous. Although Bella is toying with the idea. She does have the best control, but she is leaning more to becoming a lab technician, for this move anyway."

"You're moving again? I thought now that David was settled in La Push . . ." I didn't want to lose my family again.

"We all are, you and Nessie too, silly. You finished school, it's time to go. You didn't really think you could stay here forever did you?"

"No, I guess not. But what about grad school?"

"You can still do that, just not here. It would look too weird to the humans. Most of us left, if we all suddenly came back people would start asking questions, and that is never good when humans are concerned. It's just safer this way. I mean you two could stay, if you really wanted to, but we miss you and . . ."

"We want our family back together." Edward finished for her. I was so glad. I loved Nessie, but I knew she needed to be with the rest of her family too. I did too.

"Come on, we're having a family meeting at Carlisle and Esme's to decide where we are going to live next."

So with that we joined the rest of the Cullens, our family, around the Doc and Esme's dining room table to determine where we would spend the next part of our forever.

* * *

The End

* * *

Okay . . . not exactly. I guess it could be if you wanted to stop reading. But i do have a 10 part epilogue planned. I will post the first part next week.

Please review. Did you like the (sort of) ending?


	96. 5 Years Later, 2014-2019

**The Next 50 Years**

 **Part 1, 5 Years Later, 2014-2019**

 **Part2,** **10 Years Later, 2020-2024**

 **Part 3,** **15 Years Later, 2025-2029**

 **Part 4,** **20 Years Later, 2030-2034**

 **Part 5,** **25 Years Later, 2035-2039**

 **Part 6,** **30 Years Later, 2040-2044**

 **Part 7,** **35 Years Later, 2045-2049**

 **Part 8,** **40 Years Later, 2050-2054**

 **Part 9,** **45 Years Later, 2055-2059**

 **Part 10,** **50 Years Later, 2060-2064+**

* * *

 **Part One**

 **The Next 5 Years, 2014-2019 (A Recap)**

Jacob's Point of View

Since Carlisle was eternally, physically, only 23 and was able to pass as a 33 year old surgeon, I didn't see why the rest of our family never tried doing the same. Well not the doctor part, that would be insane . . . for a bunch of Vampires at least. But Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose and Bella were all around 18 or 19 years old when they were changed. It didn't seem like it would be too much of a stretch for them to try to pretend to be in their mid twenties. Edward was the only one who I could see would really have a problem pulling it off, only looking like the 17 years he was, and all. But he managed well enough. All he needed was some hair gel to tame his unruly locks and some more sophisticated clothes. Alice had done her usual thing and redressed him, and everyone else, to look the part. After starting new jobs and impressing everyone with their knowledge in their various fields no one questioned any of them. We were back living in France, not the same area the Cullens had moved to before, but just far enough away that no one would arouse suspicion.

It was my idea to move to France. I had spent the past few years struggling to learn the French language, and now that I had, I wanted to get some use out of it.

We were currently pretending to be recently graduated students out in the world, beginning our first jobs after everyone earned their masters degrees.

Jasper was working as a cold case detective. It was perfect for him. He seemed to enjoy his work and spent his time nose deep in some backroom, evidence locker, far away from humans, trying and mostly succeeding in solving crimes, with Alice as his _assistant_. At first I thought she was just going to use her gift to see who really had committed the crimes that Jasper was supposed to be investigating, but apparently she could only see the future and not the past. They had to _actually_ look through loads and loads of reports, wade through evidence, and on the rare occasion when one could be found that was still alive, to talk to witnesses. His gift instantly told him if people were being truthful or not. Jasper, being the history buff that he was, loved it and Alice was much happier, since she got to be with him all day, instead of stuck in high school, a year behind him, only connecting at lunch and whatnot.

David would be happy, maybe even proud. He wanted us, well the Cullens really, to do something with their lives other than repeat highschool year after year. Now after his exhaustive rant . . . err, motivational speech he gave years ago, they were. Well, technically, we all were.

Carlisle was continuing his work as a Doctor, this time as an ER Doc instead of a trauma surgeon, while Bella followed through on her plans and became a research scientist and tested non-blood "samples" in the same hospital's lab.

Esme was designing homes for Habitats for Humanities, which Rose, Emmett, and Edward helped build; after hours, of course, when everyone else had gone home. Most people don't realize that there is a ton of work that still can be done after the sun goes down. Plumbing, electrical work, drywall, painting, tiling; anything that does not make too much noise, can all go in after the normal volunteer staff goes home for the day. Not a lot of charities turn down free labor.

Nessie and I spent the first two years in France first obtaining our masters degrees, while everyone else went straight to work. But then, as soon as we graduated, we dove right in as well. Nessie still wanted to pursue a career in the medical profession . . . eventually, but wanted to wait a decade or two first. She didn't want to take any chances that her bloodlust would return in some new horrifying form. Neither I, nor anyone else in the family thought that was likely, but she just wanted to be safe and not risk any humans lives. For now we were working at a computer tech company investigating cyber crimes.

It was in no way as glamorous as they made it seem on TV shows. In reality it was as close to mind-numbingly-boring, sometimes (mostly) as you could get. And then after months and months of sorting through code, a break though would happen, which would lead to another, and hopefully another, which if we were luckily would lead to a name, or an account, or an address, and eventually an arrest would (hopefully) be made. That was what made all of the hundreds of hours before that point worth it. That and the fact that I got to spend every moment of my time at work sitting next to my angel, Nessie. Every time I would get bored, or frustrated, she would look over at me and either give me an encouraging smile or squeeze my hand, sending me images, reminding me of all the people we were trying to help, and nothing would seem so bad anymore. In fact I realized that I was in heaven.

* * *

One Sunday when none of us had work, I was out in the garage tinkering with my car with Rose, while Emmett was being his usual (un)helpful self. I decide now was the opportune time to ask Rose and Emmett a question that had been on my mind for a while now. Nessie was out shopping with Alice and Bella so it was the perfect time. It involved her birthday so I didn't want her to overhear. I had been working on Nessie's birthday present, on my own for the past few weeks, but I knew I was the only one who would be giving her anything this year, just like the last two. The family stopped celebrating her birthday altogether the year after she stopped aging and I didn't understand why. They never celebrated their own or mine after I turned 18, Nessie was the only one who continued to just like I did her, not that I cared about mine, though. Nessie said she didn't mind not celebrating her own with her family, but birthdays were importance, and the celebration of her birth was the most important thing to me out of all the holidays.

"Birthdays are a way to celebrate a year of aging, to recognize that someone has grown a year older" Emmett answered. "But we don't age so there's really not the point."

Oh I guess that made sense.

"Yeah we celebrate something much better, in this family . . . wedding anniversaries," Rose said, while pulling Emmett into romantic kiss.

I know she hadn't meant it, but her words stabbed me in the heart like a knife. As much as we loved each other, Nessie had no intention of marrying me. Even if we were finally together now, I would never leave her, or her me, no matter what. But I think marriage was something I would just always want, imprint or no imprint.

Partially through her kiss, shortly after the words were out of her mouth I think Rose realized her mistake, because she stops mid kiss with Emmett's and he let out a very quiet, "dude" to his wife, along with a disapproving shake of his head.

"I'm sorry Jake. I should not have said that. I didn't . . ."

"Sure, sure. It's fine. I know what you meant," I had said, trying to brush it off. I knew she wasn't intentionally trying to hurt me. Maybe she would have said something like that in the past, but not anymore. But it did still bother me. I would never get to celebrate my and Nessie's wedding anniversary. It's not like I wanted to be married to her just for the ceremony or to claim her as mine or some antiquated idea like that. I knew she loved me and would never love anybody else, just as I would her. It's just I wanted a special day to honor our love together like everybody else in the family got to.

There hadn't been anything else to say after that. Rose and Emmett both knew, as well as I did, that Nessie didn't want to get married, so there wasn't really anything I could do except continue to love her as much as I did already. Maybe we could start celebrating the anniversary of our first kiss or something, but that was so close to Christmas, I wouldn't want to tarnish one celebration for another; especially with Nessie's on and off feelings about that particular holiday.

* * *

Felicity and Jennifer, and Nahuel and Leah, had decided to remain at our houses in New Hampshire. Leah wanted to finish school and convinced my daughter and Jennifer to join her. It would have been a long drive from the Cullens houses back to the University of New Hampshire, that Leah had been enrolled in, but after some convincing, by myself and Edward, she was persuaded to _transfer_ to Dartmouth, and even (begrudgingly) agreed to let us pay her tuition. I think that was only because deep down inside she didn't think it would be possible for her to get in, but after only one call to Mr. Jenks, she was enrolled for the following semester, along with Felicity and Jennifer.

Nahuel refused to go, no surprise there, but spent his time working on _improvements_ to the two houses; the third, since it was no longer occupied or needed, was sold. He thought each one needed a conservatory, somewhere where he could grow the same plants that grew back in the Jungles of South America. Whatever. Seeing them made Jennifer happy, which in turn made Felicity happy, which was all I really cared about. That and the fact that she was safe, and loved, and getting an education. What more could a father want for his daughter?

I missed her, but she was a grown woman now, and I had learned from my mistakes with David. Trying to hold on to him too tightly, not giving him enough freedom, I would not do the same with my daughter. I needed to let my children live their own lives.

* * *

Everything was going great the first year at the Makah Reservation for my son, but when David's second birthday approached I began to worry. Would he develop the same bloodlust that Nessie had and try to attack his imprint, Janet? I had asked the wolves to keep an eye out for me and hadn't heard from them, so I guess, as the saying goes, no news is good news. In this case at least.

After celebrating Nessie's 8th birthday in France, though she didn't really count it as a birthday anymore, since she stopped aging the year before, and Alice fruitlessly attempted to throw Bella another birthday party, which she, of course, strongly objected to, our attention turned to David. It was his second, and technically, _last_ birthday, but we still all wanted to celebrate it, at least as much as we could. But he thought better of us going to the Makah Reservation. He didn't want the Cullens to "disrupt the local population" as he put it. He wasn't trying to be rude, he was Alpha now and took his responsibilities very seriously. I knew he wasn't concerned that his family would be a danger to the local humans, more that he was worried about more wolves turning in La Push.

He had a point, so in the end Nessie and I, Felicity and Jennifer, and even Nahuel and Leah, made the trip back to Washington for a small gathering, in between the Makah and La Push reservations. Not wanting the three half-Vampires in attendance to set off a new wave of phasing we agreed to only fly to Washington, stay for the birthday party, with as many of both Pack's members and their imprints as could attend, and then we left as quickly as we came. Billy and his new wife/former nurse, Jill, and Sue and Charlie also came. And the Cullens joined via Skype.

Even with all his protesting, I think David really enjoyed his party. Saying that I had talked to him and he seemed to be in agreement with the rest of the Cullens, that if he was not going to be aging anymore he said he did not require anymore birthday parties. I wasn't sure if this was because he really didn't want to celebrate his birth or because he didn't want any Vampires encroaching on the Reservation. Either way, he was going to live for a very long time and if he ever changed his mind I would be more than willing to through him a party.

But even as we were celebrating I was again overcome with worry about his possible impending bloodlust as he ended his growth. Quil and Embry reassured me that they had been keeping an eye on him, looking for any signs that he might attack Janet, but so far they still had seen nothing. Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all.

All this while that David had been living at the Makah Res with Quil, they had been sharing a house while David finished up undergrad college, worked, patrolled with Quil and Embry, and the three of them watched over their imprints.

And the fact that he was going to stop aging at his two year birthday was only a guess on our part. Maybe we were incorrect. Maybe we calculated his growth rate wrong. Or maybe he would never stop aging.

But then, a couple of months later, I got a call from Quil, the first signs of his bloodlust had begun. Fortunately having never tried human blood, he was not attracted to it even now. Janet was safe. He just became overcome with a strong craving for deer blood. Lots and lots of deer blood.

David ended up having to travel farther and farther, all over the western seaboard, and almost halfway into the interior of the country, in search of enough herds to satiate his thirst. Four months and hundreds of drained deer's later, he was back to normal.

By April, Felicity went through the same thing just after her second birthday, and just like her brother, only craved deer blood.

For her birthday all of the Cullens return to New Hampshire to celebrate. So did Billy and Jill, Charlie and Sue, and Seth and Carol. David even made the trip back for the celebration. I was so glad he came, and even managed to talk the Young's into letting him to bring his imprint, Janet. Since he had missed Felicity's first birthday party, it was good that he was here for her last.

* * *

Three years later, a year sooner than I had hoped, David's relationship with Janet turned romantic. Janet was by then 17, at least, while David still appeared 23, even though he had been alive, at that point, for only four years.

Up until that point they had a purely platonic relationship, then one day it all changed. A fact that he had hid from me for the past two years. He finally decided to come clean while he was a wolf and I was in my spirit form, checking in with him as I normally did, at least once a month. (I know he was an adult, but he was my son, and I worried.)

David showed me, in his mind, the memory of how it all started. It was a complete shock. We . . . okay, **_I_** had decided that it would be best if he waited until Janet turned 18, before he attempted to start anything with her, and only then, if he felt that she returned his feelings. I thought he had followed through with our agreement. But she was his imprint and one thing that every wolf knows is that what the imprint wants, the imprint gets, with very few exceptions.

He showed me how they were together in her room once afternoon. It was nice, safe and private, for the sole purpose of letting her feed from him as she still needed to do after her ordeal with Stephan and Vladimir. Her need for blood had not decreased at all over the years, but at least these weekly feedings were keeping her thirst in check, and allowed her to live a semi-normal life. But neither she, nor her family, wanted anyone to know about it. It was safest for all involved this way. The last thing we needed was for the Volturi to find out, hence it always took place behind the closed doors of her bedroom, with the shades drawn.

Only on that specific occasion Janet seemed to have other ideas. I saw in David's memory how it had begun normally enough. Nothing out of the ordinary. He came over on Friday afternoon, after Janet got home from school, he greeted Mrs. Young at the front door, same as always, and followed Janet into her bedroom.

Quil had mentioned, previously, how Claire hated the sight of blood, so he would always keep her occupied somewhere else like the beach or park, on those days for an hour or two. Mr. Young was still at work and Mrs. Young found the whole process revolting, yet understood it's necessity. But while she allowed it to take place in her home, didn't want to watch either and would always find something that needed to be cleaned at the opposite end of the house, or would suddenly need to run to the store.

That day I heard, or rather saw, in David's memory how she needed to step out and go to the convenience store, just down the street, for more milk.

So David and Janet ended up being alone in the house. Not an unusual occurrence, and one that normally wouldn't be a problem. But after feeding David recalled seeing a look in his imprints eyes that changed everything. _Okay David, you can stop right there. I really don't want or need to see anymore. You didn't start things. I get it. And I'm not mad at you._ I had told him in our minds

 _That's not why I was showing you dad. I wanted to let you know that I am going to ask her to marry me._

Oh!

David was long a grown man at this point and his imprint, Janet, was now all grown up as well. They had been together, as a couple for two years at that point. I could see it in his thoughts, he had opened up his entire mind to me, and I could see how in love there were. Of course they were, he had imprinted on her. But she was 19 now and he wanted to marry her.

I wish I could have been there, in person, when he told me. I wished I could have pulled him aside, to talk to him, man to man. I would have retrieved the memory box that my father had given me, back when I first went off to live with the Cullens. I never had gotten to use the one item in there that I think was the whole reason behind the box. But I knew David would put it to good use. It was my mother's engagement ring and _almost_ nothing would make me happier than if David used it to propose to Janet. Having Nessie wear it would make me the happiest man on earth, but that was something that I knew would never become a reality. That thought was a wrenched pang of my heart. Oh, how I wished someday that it would have found a home on Nessie's finger. But it never would be, but having David give it to Janet would be almost as good. Almost.

Not being there, with David in person, I did the only thing I could - I showed him, in our minds, an image of the ring. Being halfway around the world, it was the best I could do.

 _Would you like to use it? You never met your grandmother, but Sarah Black was a wonderful woman. It would make me so happy to see her ring on someone else's finger. It doesn't deserve to be hidden away in a box any longer._

Just as I had hoped David had gladly accepted the ring. I ended up mailing it to him the next day from France. And of course Janet agreed to marry him when he proposed the following week. When the two of us were phased together again the following month I learned that the wedding was planned for the following year. Nessie and I were so happy for him.

A couple of weeks later I learned that Seth and Carol, who had two kids already, had finally broken down from Sue's nag . . . err, impassioned requests, and had also agreed to tie the knot. So the four of them, who had remained friends even though Seth and Carol lived in La Push and David and Janet were in the Makah Res, decided to have a double wedding.

Alice was ecstatic and immediately called Sue, Carol, Janet, and her mother, Grace, to start planning as soon as I told the Cullen's the good news.

* * *

It was exactly 7 months, 3 days, 42 minutes, and 37 seconds (according to Alice) until the deadline the Volturi had given any half-Vampires that existed in the world to come forward and present themselves to them. While we were all sitting at home one morning before work Alice had a vision of a young man from some lost New Guinea tribe that had no contact with the outside modern world, wandered in to Volterra.

Apparently this "young" man had been living with his people for the past 200+ years and had gone completely unnoticed, to the Vampire world, this entire time. His tribe was hidden so deep in the jungle that no one, including Demetri, had even thought to go there.

His people, again according to Alice, considered him some sort of immortal god. They all partially worshipped, partially feared, him. But he was always there, year after year, decade after decade, century after century. Not that they kept track of the years like we did. They didn't even have a written language. But he was just always ever present, so none of his people thought much about it and no one in the outside world knew about him, or them for that matter. Demetri and Felix never even ventured into the jungle, back when they were first informing everybody about the Volturi leaders edict, regarding all half-Vampires turning themselves in. It was a miracle that he heard about the Volturi at all. It happened by chance, apparently.

A freak lightning storm had brought a plane down, close to where the lost tribe was living. The young man, while feared by many, was also, strangely, considered the protector of his people and so it fell upon him to investigate the plane crash. Of course, his people had known about planes, seeing them fly overhead, in the sky, all the time, but this was the first time any came close to them.

That was two years ago. Eventually, word of the tribe got out and the stories of the immortal god / man-child spread.

Of course, the Volturi had heard stories in the past of _immortals_ and _gods_ and other superstitious nonsense, nothing enough to arouse their suspicions. But someone apparently was curious; some Vampire, not a member of the Volturi at all, just a random nomad. And once she went looking she found him and thought it was her duty to inform him that he needed to present himself to the Volturi leaders. Alice said the nomad also thought bringing him in would garner favor for herself in the eyes of the Volturi, but having no special power it was unlikely to earn her what she really wanted - a place in the guard, which was apparently a real honor to Vampires.

Having never seen the outside world, or any other Vampires or half-Vampires, it must have all been very strange for him, but the nomad convinced him to go anyway.

Alice saw how Aro read the young man, grabbing his hands and sorted through all his past memories. He didn't have a gift, so apparently he was worthless to Aro, just as much as the nomad was, and he dismissed them, letting both go back to wherever they came from. The half-Vampire was free to go home. I don't think Aro, or the others, even wanted him in the city. Clearly he was just a worthless _hybrid,_ at least according to some of the snickers, Alice heard in her vision. I guess this could be seen as a good thing, for us anyway, or any future half-Vampires that may come forward after this . . . at least for ones without gifts.

I was worried at first, but since Aro kept his word we all relaxed. He was true to his word and just needed them to come forward and after reading their mind, probably looking for any crimes and/or gifts, if there were none he let them go. I wonder if it would have been the same conclusion if the boy turned out to be gifted. Probably not.

But then again, he was the first to come forward. If Aro went back on his word, with the first one, it would prevent any other half-Vampires from coming forward in the future. If any others existed, that is. Since Demetri couldn't sense or track them there really was no way to tell.

Anyway we were all relieved that things had ended peacefully. You never could be sure with the Volturi. And then there was Alice . . . she was ecstatic. She had been practicing her gift and after all these years she was finally starting to see Nessie's future, along with Nahuel's and Jennifer's. And of course this new half-Vampire. Wolves on the other hand were still a blank spot for her, as well as David and Felicity. But she was optimistic that it would just take her some time. And that was one thing she had plenty of.

* * *

This "part" (the next 25ish chapters) is intended to tie up all the loose ends in the story. If you noticed anything please mention it and I will try to resolve it here.

Please review, and as always, thanks for reading. :)


	97. 10 Years Later, 2020-2024

**Part Two**

 **2020-2024** **(A Recap)**

Jacob's Point of View

Just as everyone predicted, Alice had done her usual and planned an over the top double wedding for David and Janet, and Seth and Carol.

All of the Cullens wanted to attend the wedding, of course. David was their family, and so was Seth. So in order to limit any future wolf population explosions, we did pretty much a redo of his second birthday party, only with the Cullens briefly instate, this time.

Alice planned everything perfectly, even while doing so from 5,000 miles away. That little pixie was a genius party planner. If she couldn't see the future I would have thought that that was her gift.

She found the perfect venue on the Makah reservation, at a location as far north, away from La Push, as possible. While it wasn't much to look at pre-Alice, once she was done (via contractors, of course) it had been transformed in a way that the old Makah meeting house could now hold a proper wedding fit for a small country's King and Queen. I don't think anyone in the Makah tribe had ever seen anything so extravagant off the TV screen.

We only saw it once, the day before the ceremony, at Alice's insistence to make sure everything was done correctly. Then the Cullens took a private plane 2000 miles north west, to visit with their cousins in Denali. Nessie, Felicity, Jennifer, Leah (and Nahuel) would all be staying with them until the morning before the ceremony, then they would fly back down and we would all be leaving again right after.

As hard as it was to leave Nessie, I declined to go, I was the father of the groom and had things to do, so instead I stayed in Forks with Billy. It was just the one night and she had encouraged me to go, but it still hurt. Well it always hurt to be away from her, I loved her so much, but she was with her family and I knew she would be safe.

That night I tried to relax as I went down to First Beach for David and Seth's bachelor's party. It was a little strange being at my own son's bachelors party, but he and Seth had both imprinted, it wasn't like either of them were going to go to a strip club or anything like that. We just had the usual bonfire at the beach, eating, telling stories, kicking around a ball, things like that. It was fun reconnecting with the wolves, my dad, Charlie, and a couple other guys David and Seth knew from work and school.

They were all great, except one. David met a friend, _Bobby,_ while he was at college that I somehow missed ever seeing in his mind.

"What the hell are you doing here," I had growled. I thought we had transferred him to Caltech. David would fly to Humboldt State University for the two days of classes he had. He was going to school in Northern California, that was nowhere near The California Institute of Technology. It was something like 700 miles away. How did they meet each other?

"Jake, dude. Long time no see." he gulped back after a few seconds. I don't know if it was just the shock of seeing me or the fact that I hadn't aged in the decade since I knocked him out for what he said to my Nessie, or what, not that I really cared. Ten years was not long enough to subdue the anger I felt at Rob.

After some of the guys dragged me away before I could pounce and others shuffled him off the beach to . . . wherever, I found out what happened. At least the version he had told David. According to him, Rob (or Bobby as he was going by now) had been in a relationship with a girl that got upset with him when he broke up with her. She was so angry for being dumped that she went to the school board crying rape. While the charges were dropped he was so traumatized by the entire situation he could not concentrate on school and dropped out. A few years went by and eventually he re-enrolled at the same school that my son was going to.

This was all a giant load of crap, clearly, but there was enough truth, within the lies that his story was apparently believable to David, and he had never seen any reason to doubt him.

I guess after all this time Rob might have finally grown up, and learned how to treat woman, but I think it was more likely that he just got better at covering his back.

Thankfully the truth about Rob's character was easy enough to show David. I took David into the woods where we could both phase and I showed him what happened between Rob and Nessie. Needless to say he was no longer invited to the wedding.

I got the real story about Rob, later from Jasper, who had made a call to Jenks. It turns out Rob had been up to the same crap he pulled at Dartmouth, only this time instead of getting punched he got reported. One accusation didn't do much to his college career, but after the third the school board started to listen and eventually he was expelled. He had bounced around for a few years, applying to schools every now and then until he was finally accepted somewhere.

* * *

The day of David and Seth's wedding was wonderful until Emmett had to go ahead and say something stupid. Okay it wasn't exactly _stupid_ , but we could have all done without him pointing out how weird it was that my eight year old son and his _uncle_ , Seth, were getting married, together, on the same day to a 19 year old teenager and a 39 year old woman. At least Seth, who had stopped aging when he was only 15, but grew rapidly to look somewhere around a 25 year old man, had given up his wolf over 9 years ago and was starting to look it. I guess that was fine, I mean he didn't seem to mind, he was technically 33 years old now. It was just weird seeing him look older than me.

I was 35, but still appeared to be in my mid twenties. It didn't really hit me until the night before with Rob, but I guess this was something I was going to have to get use to, seeing all of my friends and family grow older and eventually . . .

Anyway, eight months after the wedding, David and Janet welcomed their son, William Masen Black into the world. It was surreal. Billy, Edward, and Bella were now great-grandparents, Charlie, Sue, Carlisle, and Esme were great-great-grandparents, I was a grandfather, and my fifteen year old Nessie was a grandmother . . . as crazy as all of that seemed.

We all instantly fell in love with little William. After he was born Nessie insisted that we start having family reunions, at least once a year. She wanted to see our children and grandson. And since William was not immortal like the rest of us; at least we didn't think so, our time with him was limited.

Janet had had a normal 9 month pregnancy carrying him. Carlisle, at Nessie's insistence went briefly to the Makah Res and examined our grandson soon after he was born. We wanted the Doc to give him a check up, just to make sure he was healthy, not that we didn't trust the doctors there, but we knew Carlisle would catch anything, no matter how small; we just wanted to make sure he was healthy.

We knew that him being born human was a possibility. A high one. As soon as we realized that Janet's pregnancy was progressing _normally_ it was the first thing that popped into almost everyone's minds. David was after all only a quarter Vampire. And Janet – while not exactly completely human anymore was still partially. She still aged normally. And while her bones were now hard like a vampires her skin and I guess internal organs (including her reproductive ones) were not.

And as Edward reminded me, "This is the way life is supposed to be. One is born, grows older, and eventually dies."

I knew that. I guess I just got spoiled with my kids, knowing that I would never lose them. Well I think, hope and pray I never would, the fact that they are immortal like the rest of us is still just a theory, but they have not aged in years, just like their mother. I guess time would tell. And there was always the possibility little William would phase into a wolf, a high one really. But if he imprinted . . . on a human . . . and chose to give up his wolf . . .

To that end Nessie thought, and I agreed, that we needed to see him, and David and Janet, at least once a year. Even if we were forced to live apart we could at least reconnect in person for his birthday or something. Skype and phone calls were not enough for us. This was our son and first grandchild.

Of course little Sepideh Dawn followed three years later. William loved his baby sister and I couldn't help but compare them to David and Felicity. The age gap was different, but the love was the same.

I know Janet wanted to spend the holidays with her family and we deserved . . . well hoped for, at least equal time. In the end it was agreed that every other year we would get to see them for Christmas and then the next year for William or Sepideh's birthday. And since we couldn't go to them, they would have to come to us, wherever we happen to be in the world, at that time. It's not like money was a problem. We could send them plane tickets to wherever we were.

Everyone would come, not just them, but all of the Cullens, Felicity and Jennifer, Leah and Nahuel, Billy and Jill, Charlie and Sue, Seth and Carol, and their kids (they were expecting their third). Some years Quil and Claire would even join us.

I understood after all these years living with the Cullens that, for Vampires, time passed differently when you were facing eternity. The Cullens would go years, if not decades, without seeing their friends. But our family was partially human. I grew up as human, this was my first go around at eternity, and the thought of forever hadn't exactly kicked in yet, at least not in the same way as it had for the Cullens. Maybe in a few more decades . . .

I mean I was not stupid. I knew time was passing, even if I, nor anyone around me, wasn't aging. I saw the seasons change, I saw children on our street grow, technology advanced. We moved too much to notice vast aging in people over the years, but I could see it in my friends. But I saw it in my dad most of all. Time was catching up with him. Unfortunately it wasn't something that could be fixed this time. Even though his diabetes was under control he was old now and getting older.

I don't think he was going to be with us much longer.

* * *

While Nessie and I we were living in France with the rest of the Cullens, Felicity and Jennifer, along with Nahuel and Leah, had stayed in New Hampshire. Every since we left Nahuel had continued to redo the houses, bringing some of the Amazon into the North while the others finished up their undergrad degrees at Dartmouth, and then they even stayed two more years to get their masters degrees. But Nahuel and Jennifer were itching to go back to their beloved Amazon. I couldn't blame them, it was their home. I sometimes thought about La Push as well, but I didn't have the same need to return. Now my home was with Nessie, so it didn't matter that much to me. But Nahuel and Jennifer had not imprinted, they had only fallen in love. As they year's drew on, they talked about it and the four of them eventually made plans to move after graduation.

I can't say I was actually happy about the move, but I was in France after all, for the next year or so, anyway. And it was not like I was going to be losing my daughter, or my beta, Leah. New Hampshire or Brazil it didn't make much of a difference. It was their lives and their decisions, and it's not like I was never going to see them again. They were only a plane trip away.

But that was two years ago. And they were all happy in the rainforest.

Much to my dismay, the Cullens and I had resettled in Scotland. That was interesting, I think Rose just was really looking forward to seeing all of us men in Kilts.

"There's no way I'm wearing one," I told her, over and over. But somehow she and Alice teamed up and all of us – Edward, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper and I ended up wearing them to some stupid black tie charity event.

"You can't say no. It's for charity," Alice had whined. "Think of the hungry children."

How could we say no, when she put it like that?

* * *

Felicity and her group were doing well in the Amazon. I managed to keep tabs on them, checking in with Leah while she was a wolf while I was in my spirit form once a month, just like I do with David.

I heard Leah mussing, one day, before she noticed I was there. She was thinking about a conversation she had with Felicity. They were thinking of possibly "playing human" as she called it, for a few decades or so, and adopting some babies with Nahuel and Jennifer. It seemed like it was just an idea for now, that they were tossing around. They were having too much fun on their own for the time being.

It had been a few years since they moved from New Hampshire and I believe they were currently somewhere in Paraguay. They had gone to live with David's Aunt Huilen and her mate for a couple of years before deciding to travel a bit. I know they went to visit the Amazon coven for a while. While they weren't exactly staying with them, I think they were in that general area.

Jennifer had successfully transitioned into the "vegetarian" diet like her brother, Nahuel and since that was all Jennifer ever ate now, much to Leah's happiness, Leah didn't really have to worry (much) about the loss of human life as she traveled with three partial Vampires. No one in the group had the problems with a loss of control like Jasper did, as long as they feed regularly on animals that is.

But I know it was hard on Felicity and Leah. Huilen and the Amazon coven were normal Vampires. They fed from humans. Nahuel and Jennifer were sticking to their adopted vegetarian diet, but it was hard on them as well, being around others that did not abstain as they did. But even though the other red eyed vamps were not shoving their dietary preferences it in their face it was realized soon after that they would not be able to live together. So they decided to travel; just a bit, around the continent, for now at least.

They weren't living exactly as nomads but they also weren't staying in hotels as they traveled either. We offered Felicity whatever money she needed but she refused saying that she was fine. Nessie did insist that she take one of the family's black AmEx cards just in case, which she reluctantly agreed to, if she ever needed anything. But they were all living off the grid, for a while now anyways, hunting as they went.

I think Leah was finally content with her existence and that of being a wolf. She was happy with Nahuel. Blissfully happy, as far as I could tell and excited that she was going to be able to spend eternity with him.

Leah and Jennifer had become good friends over the years, which was good. She needed some female friends.

I missed them, but was glad they were happy.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.


	98. 15 Years Later, 2025-2029

**Part Three**

 **2025-2029** **(A Recap)**

Renesmee's Point of View

Things had mostly been going well in my life for a while now. I was having a wonderful time with Jacob, and my parents, and the rest of my family.

Jake checks up on our kids at least once a month in his spirit form. I'm so jealous sometimes that he gets to connect with them that way. I know we talk at least once a week with David via Skype, but it's just not the same. They have their wolf connection that I will never have.

Felicity, Jennifer, Nahuel and Leah are in communication less often. They are still living and traveling the nomad lifestyle. So Felicity doesn't always have access to a computer or wifi or even a phone. I miss her so much but Jake tells me that he sees her through Leah and I trust him when he tells me that she is fine. And happy. Actually I believe the phrase he used last week was "ridiculously happy" so I guess as long as she was happy I would be happy for her too.

But I still missed her!

I guess all parents have to go through this at some point though; watching their children grow up and move away, moving on with their lives. Of course they normally had eighteen or more years to prepared themselves. I only got less than half as many, any now only saw them once a year.

That was hard too. Only seeing my grandchildren once a year. But Jake assured me that David and Janet's children were doing great. They just had their third child, a little boy they named Matthew Charles. He was so beautiful and William and Sepideh just absolutely adored their little brother.

The only real sour spot in our lives was Jake's father. Billy's health had rapidly decreased over the past couple of years so it was not that much of a surprise when Jake got a phone call that, in truth, we had been expecting for a while now.

We knew that this was coming, Alice had seen it months before his wife, Jill called. Jake started going back to La Push to visit Billy more and more often. Neither of us liked being away from one another, but he needed to see his father before the end, and it was too big of a risk for me to go with him.

The people of La Push, the ones who knew about me anyways, really didn't want another wolf explosion. There were enough of them, between the two tribes now that there wasn't really a danger from any nomad vampires that happen to wander into the area, or the entire state of Washington for that matter.

I know that it killed him to leave me, even for one or two weekends a month, but as Billy's time on earth grew shorter, Jake began going back to La Push more frequently and staying away longer. I missed him but couldn't be upset with his choice to go. He needed to spend as much time with his dad as he could, and I knew it was equally hard for him to leave Billy and come back to me each time.

After Billy passed during the summer of 2027, when he was just 69 years old, Jake was a shell of his former self.

For his father's funeral, I had braved the wrath of the tribe, willing to put up with the looks and glares I knew I would get from those who knew what I was. But it was only for a single day and I knew I needed to be there for my Jacob. He was just so distraught by the loss of his father.

At least he had seeing his sister, Rebecca and her husband, Solomon Finau, which he had not seen since their wedding over 20 years ago, to look forward to . . . sort of. I had never met her, or him, but Jake would talk to her on the phone from time to time. He had never opted to video chat with her, what with him no longer aging. He still looked 25 even though he was technically 37 years old, now.

And how were we going to explain David and Felicity? Even if Jake did look like his real age there was no way he would have two grown children.

Felicity, Jennifer, Leah and Nahuel all arrived yesterday, and were staying with David and Janet, until the last possible moment, and then would head down for the funeral as a group, before departing again.

In the end we decided to not mention that Rebecca had a Niece and Nephew (and three Grand-Niece and Nephews) that she knew nothing about. As for Jake's lack of aging we would only say something if Rebecca or Solomon brought it up, and had the same old plastic surgery excuse, Carlisle and Esme had used time and again, at the ready. Jake didn't care if it made his sister think he was vain if it kept the wolf secret.

As we were on the plane heading to the Sea-Tac Airport I realized that I should have done this sooner. I should have gone with Jacob on one (or more) of his visits to Billy, but he warned me repeatedly, over and over again, how it would have been bad. The other wolves didn't want me there. They didn't want their sons phasing into wolves; as much as they loved it themselves. Some of their own children were old enough now to phase, and none of them wanted that for them, it was a dangerous life to live. The wolves who had an imprinted, who hadn't gotten married, who hadn't had children of their own, who never stopped phasing themselves, they were still wolves. They were still protecting the tribe and were happy to do it. No one saw the need to create a new generation of wolves.

But when we arrived at the church I didn't see any hateful glares. No one growled at me or asked me to leave. All of the warnings that Jake had been giving me over the months seemed for not. I was a little confused but grateful. I was grateful that they must have realized how much Jake needed me there, but it turned out they never had a problem with my presence there in the first place. Not for this at least. It turned out, I guess, that it was Jake, always Jake, who didn't want me there. He didn't want me to see his father dying.

Apparently Jake thought he needed to protect me from the truth. He didn't want to have me suffer like he was. I wanted to be angry at Jacob. I want to scream and shout at him.

 _"How could you do this to me? I loved Billy almost as much as you did, he was like a second father to me, I should have been there in the end. I never got to say goodbye."_

But I didn't.

I never got the chance. Jacob kept the truth from me, trying to "protect me" from reality. True, I would never experience the loss of father like Jacob did, nor a mother for that matter. My parents were immortal, like Jake and I, but there were others in my life who would eventually die - my grandfather, Charlie, for one. And over the years . . . and decades, others in my life would pass away as well. All of the other wolves would give up their immortality to grow old with their imprints, at some point, eventually. And while we assumed out children were immortal, there was no such guarantee for my grandchildren. They did not show any signs that they would be. They aged normally, which meant that they would eventually grow old and die. Just like Billy.

Argh! I wanted to scream at Jacob. To tell him that what he did was wrong, by not letting me say goodbye in my own way. But I knew I couldn't, not yet anyway. He was still so upset and raw. He was so fragile, and even though I was angry, I saw how much he was hurting and just wanted to hug him . . . and hold him . . . and comfort him . . . and try to tell him that everything would be okay. And I did. And I think it helped . . . a little.

But at the same time I also knew we were going to have to talk about it. When he was ready.

And then I thought of my own father. How could he have done this? He must have heard Jacob's thoughts. He must have known what Jake said to me. The reason he gave me to keep me away. He must have known the truth as well. He knew Jake had lied to me. Which means Edward was in on it. I couldn't believe it. I had been alive for 20 years and they were still treating me like I was a child. Why?

"Alice had a vision," Edward eventually told me. I had been moody all week, ever since Jake and I had returned home, to Scotland, from the funeral.

Yes, we were still there. Yes we still got to see Jake and the rest of the men in the family dress up in kilts every once in a while, whenever Alice found some "charity event" that she said we all needed to attend. In reality it was really just Rose and myself wanting to see them dressed up in skirts. We really didn't need to go to the events to donate money after all. We just wanted to have some fun.

But right now I had more important things to think about.

What could Alice have seen that would justify keeping me away from Billy when he was dying?

"She didn't see anything."

Huh? "If she didn't see any. . ."

"Nessie, think about it for a minute. Alice can see you now. She has been able to see you for the past three years. But once she saw you going with Jacob to La Push to visit Billy you . . . you disappeared."

"Well, wouldn't that be normal? I would have been surrounded by wolves. She still can't see them."

"She saw Billy." he grimaced.

Oh!

"She saw you there . . . and then . . . she . . . didn't."

But what happened?

"We don't know. But I talked with Alice and Jacob and it was decided that it was safest if you just never went there."

"And you never thought to ask me? Let ME make that decision?" Annoyance plagued my voice.

"Of course we did. Alice looked into that possible scenario, but every future where you were told . . ." he paused and his faced scrunched, ever so slightly, "the results were always the same."

I felt so bad. I was angry at Jake and all he was trying to do was keep me safe. From what, I don't know. Alice never saw that part. But it scared her, and Edward, and Jacob enough that they kept it from me.

"But Jacob needed me," I had cried. "There had to be some way. Maybe I could have thought of something she didn't. And what was even suppose to have happened to me?"

He never could give me an answer, and by then it was too late anyway. In the end my relationship with Edward and Alice was strained. I knew it would be fine . . . eventually, but I needed some time to process everything. And I couldn't be mad at my Jacob. He was going through so much losing his father, I could not be angry at him for not wanting to even think about risking my life as well.

But something had to be done. We had been back in Scotland for two months now and Jake was still depressed and getting worse. It was more than a simple case of depression. I know that losing his father must have been hard, but I could not stand to see him hurting any longer. And nothing I tried to do to cheer him up seemed to work.

Everyone did everything they could think of to try to get his spirits lifted. He got counseling from our resident shrink, Jasper, party after useless party from Alice. Rose got him a new car for them to rebuild together, Esme was always cooking him these elaborate meals, which mostly remained untouched, Carlisle and Edward just tried talking to him for hours on end, and Bella just was "there for him", like she said he was for her when she was hurting, herself years ago.

Emmett even tried taking him out to a bar. He thought getting him drunk would help. He said it seemed to work for people on TV. I tried talking him out of it, but Emmett managed to sneak Jake out of the house anyway one night when most of the family was away hunting. Of course he didn't tell Jake where they were going, only that he had a surprise for him. It had been 15 years since the last time that Jake had drank any alcohol so it surprised me later that night when Emmett succeeded, so much so that he ended up having to carry an incredibly inebriated wolf back into the house.

"Why is he in his wolf form?" Bella was the first to ask what was on everyone's mind.

As soon as Emmett put Jake down, he tried to stand up on all fours but almost immediately fell over and passed out.

"Emmett?" I scowled. To which he just shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

How could he have thought this was going to be a good idea? Of course Emmett had missed the results of the last drinking debacle where I spent the entire night cleaning up vomit off the floor. At least that time Jake never phased. And now that he was unconscious I would not have to worry about him shifting into his spirit form and probably getting lost while disembodied.

I thought that would have been the end of it, that one repeat of his stupid overindulgent reckless drinking would be the end of it, but I was wrong. He convinced Emmett to go out with him to the bar again the next night. Emmett wasn't even capable of drinking, so I wasn't sure why he went, but at least someone was with Jake, looking after him.

But then the next night Jake went out again, this time alone since Emmett was off somewhere with Rose and everyone else refused to go and tried talking him out of it. And then he left again the next night, that time not even bothering to try and find someone to go with him, or even letting us know he was leaving. And then again the next night and the next. After more than a week I was getting tired of him stumbling back home at all hours of the night to pass out somewhere between the front door and our bedroom. Eventually he just started bringing bottles of hard liquor into the house and guzzling them down until he passed out.

Everyone had tried, no one more than me, but no one in the family seemed to be able to talk any sense into him. I tried being understanding, I tried getting angry. I even tried making him feel guilty, mentioning that I was his imprint and how was he going to protect me if he was intoxicated. But he countered that we lived with a family of incredibly strong and gifted Vampires. I was the safest, most protected person, well half-vampire, on the planet.

That night while Jake slept I talked with my family. Something had to change. I was not willing to see Jake destroy himself like this.

I knew he would be out for a few more hours, so the next morning, before he woke I began packing.

"Are you going somewhere?" Jake's voice startled me. "Wait . . . you're packing my clothes?" he asked before looking around and saw the rest of the boxes. I had almost finished before he came in. Ten more minutes and I would have been done.

"Jake, I know you are hurting but you can't keep getting drunk every night to escape dealing with the pain of losing your father. I think it's best if we take a break."

It was just so hard to see him like this. My Jacob looked so weak and . . . and lost. He was suppose to be an Alpha wolf, but I couldn't see it in him, anywhere right now. I had never seen him like this. It was scary, like he was losing himself, just like he had lost Billy.

Once again I thought about how much I couldn't really relate. I was never going to lose my father, or mother, or aunts, or uncles, or grandparents. Well, I guess I would eventually lose Charlie, but that was different, it wasn't my father. I hadn't grown up with him; we didn't have the same connection. Yes, I would be sad, but I don't think I would be as traumatized as Jake seemed to be right now.

"You're . . . you're kicking me out?" he choked in disbelief.

"More like sending you away." I clarified. I didn't mean to hurt him, but this needed to be done . . . for his own good – tough love, I think that was what they called it.

"Jake, you need to get better," I continued. "You can't keep living like this, something has to change, and I, and the rest of the family feel that you need to get out of here in order to do that. We're only enabling you letting you continue on as you are." I needed to take a deep breath. I needed to be strong . . . for Jake. "The decisions been made. You're going back to the States. But not to La Push. None of us think that that would be helpful, we've decided on North Carolina.

"Esme made some phone calls last night, everything's all set up. The house has been bought . . ."

"I'll change." He blurted out, cutting me off. "I'll stop drinking, I promise to do right now, I'm done."

"Good, I'm so glad to hear that," I said dryly. I didn't really believe him, I didn't think he could stop that easily, just by me asking him to or even sort-of being hard on him in this way. If that was true he would have stopped weeks ago, when I first told him that his drinking was getting out of hand.

Silence.

"Does this mean I can stay?" he asked me. I could see he was starting to tear up. Good. I needed him to see how important this was, that he needed to take this seriously, and not like it was some sort of vacation.

"No Jake. We need to actually see that you're not drinking anymore before coming back to live with everybody."

"Don't you still love me?"

"Of course I do. I love you more than anyone on the planet. You are my world, my life. The father of my children. You are my friend and lover. There is no one I love more than you. And I know that this is not your fault. I know how hard your father's death was for you. But instead of dealing with it you ran away. Not literally, but in the bottom of a bottle. Now you really need to dead with his death, and it's going to be harder, because you are also going to have to do it while you simultaneously try to stop drinking."

"Okay. But . . . how long" How will you know if I stop?" he questioned me?

"You're not going alone. Rose and Emmett are going with you . . . and me too, of course." I added with a slight smirk, opening the door to our now empty closet and then gesturing to the packed boxes that held my clothes too. "Only the four of us are moving. The rest of the family is staying here though. But we'll help you get through this, honey."

Moving was actually Rose's idea. She felt that since it was partially Emmett's fault what Jake was going through and the fact that she and Jake were closer than anyone else in the family, besides Bella and myself that is, that she should try and help as much as she could.

She suggested some place completely different from here. Someplace warm and sunny. I tried pointing out that that really wouldn't be possible with her and Emmett's glistening skin. But Rose stopped me, saying that she didn't really care. Jake needed a change, a dramatic one, and she would do whatever was needed to make it work. She suggested we set up a little garage somewhere where she could work on cars with Jake and me. She would stay out of the sun, in the garage; there didn't need to be windows in there. Nobody would see her and she would be happy and as long as she was with Emmett during the night. And he would be happy wherever she was.

Nevada was suggested, would could go live in the desert or maybe even toil around Vegas for a decade or two. I thought it sounded like a great idea and would be loads of fun, but Bella worried that it was just too close to La Push. I didn't see how. It seemed like it would be a completely different environment. A warm, sunny, sand fill desert versus a cold, cloudy, rainy forest. Alice clarified that my mother just didn't think he should be anywhere that was within a day's run of the State of Washington. And since it was Jake we needed to think about other options were suggested.

Jasper warned against going too far south, basically to stay away from the entire state of Texas and those that surrounded it. The vampires down there were apparently crazy, war hungry, savages.

That's how Esme came up with the suggestion for the four of us to move to South Carolina. It was perfect. That night while I slept she managed to locate and purchase a house for us to live in and within a week of arriving Rose found a location that she and Emmett transformed into a car garage. We were repairing customers vehicles two weeks later

The change was exactly what Jake needed. It took another couple of months, but before long he was back to his old self. He still missed his father. He loved Billy, but was no longer so depressed and had even stopped drinking so much a week after as we had gotten settled into the new house.

I missed seeing my family, but this was not the first time we had lived apart, and this time we had Rose and Emmett with us. We still kept in touch via video chats, phone calls, and emails, but we never really got back together in person until Kate and Garrett's wedding.

They had finally decided to make things official. I didn't see why, they had been living together for the past 23 years, up in Alaska with Eleazar, Carmen and Tanya. But it was what they wanted, and it was a good excuse to see my parents and the rest of the family for the week.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review.

And to the guest who was upset that the Volturi never made an appearance - dont worry they will. But you are going to have to wait a little bit longer. It was mentioned by Edward in New Moon that Aro probably wouldn't even think about Bella (and her being changed) for another 30 years. They have been alive for over 1500 years, so i'm just assuming that they perceive time differently. They would view decades like we do weeks, or even days. That being said, I didn't want to bring them back too soon. It just didn't seem realistic to me. Not without some other provocation at least. But look for them turning up in 2048. :)


	99. 20 Years Later, 2030-2034

**Part Four**

 **2030-2034** **(A Recap)**

Jacob's Point of View

Solomon and Rebecca had never ended up going back to Hawaii after Billy's funeral. They've actually been in Greece these past four years. Solomon got a job . . . something having to do with the next generation of surfboards. I don't think he was actually designing them, but testing out the new designs. To be honest I wasn't really sure, but they both seemed to be very happy there and that's all I cared about.

I think the change in atmosphere even did them some good. After all the years that they had been married, they were _finally_ expecting their first child.

I only had heard of one other person from La Push, Ellen . . . err Beartrainer, who had moved to Greece, as a teenager a number of years ago, I believe, well as much as I could remember, which . . . with my now crystallized, near photographic memory, I'm was pretty sure I was correct. While I didn't know her personally, I had heard my father mention that she had gotten a full scholarship to one of the colleges there. I think we were third cousins, once removed, or something like that. I don't know, I never bothered to ask, but everyone in La Push is related to everyone else, at least distantly; it's a small tribe.

Anyway, while she was there Ellen ended up meeting some guy, falling in love, and the entire reason Billy had mentioned her in the first place, was that they got married and she stayed there to live, instead of moving back home to the Res with her new husband.

My sister and her husband are not living in the same town as Ellen, but I passed along her contact information, just so that there'd be one familiar-ish face in the country. Naturally, I was worried for their safety, but I spoke to Carlisle and he assured me of not knowing any consistent or permanence vampire presence in the area. It was just too close to Italy, and the Volturi, for most vampires who were wary of them. And the ones who were not, they preferred to either live with the Volturi or keep in close contact, making frequent trips to visit them there.

One thing that I was really excited about was Nessie's birthday. On September 11, 2031 my angel, my love, my reason for being, turned 25. I had planned the whole evening. It was a milestone and I wanted to make it special.

I would have loved to have had something like a wedding anniversary to celebrate as well. I'd do anything to shower her with gifts, just to celebrate the beauty of her existence, but she still didn't want to get married and it's not like I would push, or even ask her if she changed her mind on the subject. I'm sure if she did she would let me know. But she knows how much I love her, we didn't need rings or a ceremony to prove it.

Anyway, the night of her birthday, after a small (by Alice's standards at least party with her family, I had reservations at the best restaurant in town, and had the head chef create an entire dinner menu revolving around all of Nessie' favorite foods, well she technically only really had one - strawberries. I even got them to make a special strawberry soufflés that I asked Esme to practically invent. I know strawberry soufflés already existed, but Nessie never found any she liked, and if anyone could create one she would, it would be Esme. That Vampire was a magician in the kitchen. It offered her a wonderful challenge, of course, she would do anything for her granddaughter and since Nessie absolutely loves strawberries, she gladly accepted. Since it is one of the only human foods that she liked, of course it needed to be included in every course of the meal. I had ordered a Strawberry-Balsamic Crostini Appetizer, a Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Feta Cheese, and a Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Strawberry Salsa for the entrée.

I even arranged for the restaurant to infuse some strawberries into the champagne that we would be drinking throughout the meal. I no longer had the same problem I did with alcohol, and drinking, as when I first arrived in North Carolina after Billy's death.

It was like the time when I went wolf after receiving Bella and Edward's wedding invitation. I just couldn't deal with the pain, so I did something drastic. Stupid. Reckless.

It felt so foolish of me now, how I dealt with my father's death. Trying to get over my problems by getting myself drunk was not a solution. And how could I have abandoned Nessie like that? I know the Cullens could protect her, hell she was more than capable of protecting herself, I knew that then just as I know it now. That was probably how it even made it possible for me to do in the first place. But she was my imprint, and my love, and my life and I am suppose to be more than just a protector. I was the one who was suppose to be there for her and I let her down.

Even if I was hurting she should have been the one to come first. Of course she never said that to me. Actually if anything she said the exact opposite. She was always so warm and loving, and comforting, weather I deserved it or not. In truth the only thing she had said that hurt was that she couldn't stand to see me doing what I was doing to myself. That she loved me too much. That was what made me stop. Once I sobered up I saw how much what I was doing was hurting her, and I never wanted to hurt her like that.

So now after all these years, well for the past couple anyway, I was able to just enjoy the actual flavor of the alcohol. I found that I liked the bubbles in the champagne, along with a couple other choice drinks – rum based cocktails mostly. But drinking to get drunk was no longer tempting for me.

And it felt like the whole ordeal - my temporary struggle with alcohol, had in some way actually brought me closer to Nessie. Not the being drunk part, clearly, but I now understood, at least I thought I did, the struggles she and her family endured with their thirst for human blood. I know it's not exactly the same but it was as close as I could get, I guess. They couldn't help but want to drink human blood, even though they also fought against it. It made me realize and appreciate how strong and amazing my Nessie was. I already knew that, but now it was just reinforced even more, and somehow my love for her grew. I didn't think I could love her anymore than I already did but each day I found that I loved her more and more.

* * *

In 2030, at the age of 66, Charlie had finally retired. I heard from Seth that he had spent the last five or six practically chained to his desk anyway. Sue had been bugging him to do it for the past few years but ever since Billy's death he found he needed the distraction. Now I think he was finally starting to accept the loss, and began to move on.

Charlie had never been good with emotions, or talking, or expressing himself in any way as far as I could see. But it was clear from what I heard from Seth's phone calls and in the minds of some of the wolves on the Res that he was hurting still.

I had heard the stories. He was a mess when Renée took Bella and first left him, all those years ago, when Bella was still a baby. It was his friendship with Billy and Harry Clearwater that got him through it. That and the fact that he threw himself into his work. When Harry died it was hard for him, but he still had Billy, and not too long after he started his relationship with Harry's widow, his now wife, Sue.

I know Billy had been bothered by this, at the time I thought that he might have just thought that it was too soon for Sue after her husband's death, but Charlie and Sue only became closer, on a friendship level for the first few years, anyway, it wasn't until later that their relationship turned romantic.

Looking back on it now, I think that Billy hoped he and Sue might have had something, instead of her and Charlie. It probably would have created more of a rift between the two friends . . . if Charlie wasn't so hung up on Sue that he would have noticed more. Of course he wasn't completely oblivious. He knew that there was something up with Billy, they didn't hang out as much for awhile, but when Billy saw how happy Sue made Charlie and vice versa he backed off, and eventually got over it, resuming his friendship with the two of them.

But now that Billy, his best, oldest and dearest friend and fishing partner was gone . . . hard was not strong enough a word to describe it. He was, in fact, not doing well at all. They were after all best friends, so Sue tried picking up some of the slack. She had become his de facto fishing buddy, which I don't think she minded, she actually kind of enjoyed it. But I still thought he needed some more guy friends, but it's not my life. So who am I to judge?

Sue just wanted them to settle into a nice quiet life, during their golden years. I hoped she got her wish. They both deserved it. I heard she signed him up for a bowling league. That should be interesting.

I'll have to continue to check in on Jill and make sure she is okay, too. The wolves have been giving me updates about her along with everyone else, but next time I am in the area I wanted to make a personal stop in to see her myself. She was my step-mother after all. And she was always very pleasant the few opportunities I had to hang out with her. And my father had loved her. She really was a good woman. Not as perfect or wonderful and Nessie, or my mother, but no one was.

* * *

Everything was going great for Nessie and me.

The garage Rose and I started was doing well. Not that anyone ever saw her. Everyone wanted to know who my mysterious partner, that did such a good job fixing up their engines, was. Rose kept her word and stayed out of the limelight, literally and figuratively. In reality she stayed in the windowless, sunless back and completely kept out of view, she could not risk anyone seeing her skin sparkle and it always seemed to be sunny here.

Nessie ran the front of the shop well, and would help us with the cars afterhours and during the day when we got really busy. She loved being under the hood of a car, almost as much as Rose and I did. And Emmett was more than happy to lend a hand . . . literally. He would just pick the cars up as Rose worked underneath them. It really saved us a bundle not having to purchase a second lift for the vehicles.

Yeah, just like I said everything was good with my life now. One could even say it was blissfully boring. We had a happy, easy going life. Our grandchildren, William, Sepideh, and Matthew were doing great! We saw them every year for the holidays, with David and Janet, along with the rest of the Cullens, and Felicity and her group who were now traveling as nomads somewhere in Asia – last I heard anyway.

The grandkids really liked seeing their vampire side of the family and ended up staying longer and longer each year. Currently we would all spend the entire two weeks of the kids school vacations together, sometimes stretching it to three, calling them out of school. Missing one week wasn't so bad.

Those two to three weeks, along with the fact that their father, our son, David was one quarter Vampire and, Janet was . . . some sort of half-vampire, probably was the reason that William phased when he was still so young. It was 2034 and he was only 13 years old.

It's not like it was unheard of to phase so young. Hell, David phased coming out of the womb. Not to forget Collin and Brady, who phased for the first time back when the Volturi were first coming to kill my Nessie and the Cullens had gathered all their friends as witnesses. As a result those two phased when they , themselves were only 12 years old.

None of us saw his phasing as a bad thing. And it wasn't exactly unexpected. He started growing like a weed and putting on muscle just like I had. When I saw him over Christmas, a couple months before he phased, I saw all the signs and let Dave know he needed to start preparing.

When it happened that April William was thrilled to finally be a wolf, just like his father. And Sepideh and Matthew couldn't wait until it happened to them. While there was no guarantee that it would, it seemed more than likely – for Matthew, at least.

Like I said, everything was is . . . until it wasn't.

Felicity and her group, (Felicity, and her mate, Jennifer, along with Leah and Nahuel) decided to go back with David to the Makah reservation after meaning all of us for Christmas that winter of 2033. I knew it would be dangerous having Jennifer and Nahuel so close to La Push and setting off another wolf explosion, since they planned to stay at least four or five months before moving on, but they promised not to venture south, only traveling north to hunt.

Going there was a mistake, but not for the reasons we feared. And now at least we knew why Alice's vision of Nessie disappeared a few years ago when she thought of going with me to visit Billy.

One of the La Push wolves was trying to end my family! Well, not one of them. Collin! And he had convinced one of the younger wolves to join him. I wasn't sure how he kept his plans from Jared, or any of the other wolves, but at the moment I didn't care.

Thanks to Edward we eventually, at least, found out why, he had never actually gotten over the death of his brother, Scott by Stephan and Vladimir.

He wanted revenge, and he held my family responsible. He had attacked Jennifer while she was out hunting in the forest one day. She was only going after a deer. It's wasn't like she was trying to kill one of the La Push residence or anything. She had been on the Cullen's vegetarian diet for almost a good three decades now and never slipped once.

While she never saw who attacked her, and was considerably hurt – she had a broken shin bone, bite marks on both arms and one leg, and deep cuts all over her body, but somehow she managed to get away.

Soon after that Alice had a vision, of sorts where felicity disappeared and the decision was made that all of us should head back there (Carlisle was already going back any way to treat her). But this was the second time someone in the family was missing from one of Alice's visions and we needed to get to the bottom of it. At that time we still didn't know it was Collin behind everything, but that was soon to change.

Once we all arrived at David's house, where Jennifer was recuperating, we all went out, in pairs, patrolling essentially. Before long Edward started hearing Collins thoughts and we found out his reasons behind everything he had done. His attack on Jennifer was not the first thing he had done. He had been stalking Janet for months. He never did anything directly to her. Edward said he was trying to figure out if she was innocent or deserved the same fate of the rest of my family. He was going to spare her life until one day David and she made the mistake of leaving a small gap in the curtains while she fed from him. He was discussed by what he saw and that was what solidified everything in his mind.

That was why he had not done anything until now. I guess we were lucky, in some small way. If he had not been so indecisive before this he could have taken out Janet or one of the kids before we even knew there was a problem.

And as for the wolf he had helping him? Well it turned out that Johnny was innocent. Collin had lied to him and told him he was on a secret mission from Jared to eliminate a threat. Collin made him believe that David was a traitor, a vampire disguised as a wolf, who was bent on killing the wolves from within. Since Collin was Jared's second he was the one making the patrol schedules and he would either have the two of them patrol together or he would order (a Beta's order would work the same as an Alpha's) Johnny not to think about his other mission while phased with another wolf, claiming there may be more traitors in the Pack.

Once he was filled in on the truth he was pissed at how he had been played, but didn't have a problem with our family, and technically had done nothing wrong, outside of the attack on Jennifer that he helped Collin carry out.

Collin was another matter. He blamed us for his brother's death and wanted revenge.

We had tried reasoning with him, to get things to end peacefully, but he wasn't leaving us a lot of options. He flat out refused to stop coming after us, and though he tried not to think about it, Jasper used his gift to make him very forthcoming with his thoughts, increasing his willingness to help, and Edward was so appalled by what he heard in his threatening thoughts that we had to hold him back from killing him right there. Well at least until he told us what he heard.

Collin decided that my grandchildren would be his next targets. Rationalizing that their easier deaths would be so destructive to our collective psyche that we would be too distraught and not pose as much of a risk.

He had also decided that as long as he lived, he would never stop phasing, and would continue until he had hunted every last one of us down. That there was nothing we could really do. For someone surrounded by a dozen vampires, half-vampires and wolves, he really was quite cocky. I worried that we had missed something. But Edward assured me that he didn't have anyone else helping him.

Maybe the loss of his brother had driven him insane or something.

I didn't want to think about it, but I hated what appeared to be our only options. I didn't want his parents to lose both of their sons. But what could we do? No one wanted to lock him up for all eternity and it's not like a normal human jail could hold him, but was that really the best option? Could we try really reasoning with him until he didn't see us as the enemy? How long would that take? Forever? Maybe.

And that was the better of the two options we came up with.

Because the other solution made all of us sick. Well most of us. Jasper and Rose were okay with it. And though he never said anything I think Edward was too.

The rest of us voted against killing him. It was entirely against the Cullen's way of life. They respected life too much. The good and the bad. But what could we do?

We couldn't continue letting him _live_ in La Push (or otherwise), so close to the Makah Reservation were David, Janet, and William (along with Felicity and little Matthew) were. All of them being part vampire, or had inherited the Vampire gene from Nessie – if there even was such a thing, which I guess there was. It was just not safe for my family and they came first.

We kept going back and forth between our two options until Bella came up with a _perfect_ alternative – if it would work. I didn't really think so but it was the best any of us could come up with. We had Jared give him an Alpha Order preventing him from ever attacking a Vampire, or even phasing for that matter, again. I didn't think it was something that would be possible to order, successfully, but he tried it anyway.

After it was done we were not going to take Collin at his word that he couldn't phase anymore, even with Edward reading his mind. We had to test him and Jasper, who was more than willing to use him as a punching bag, for hurting someone in his family that he cared about, volunteered. I didn't think he would, but Jasper seemed to almost enjoy attacking Collin, trying to force him to phase into his wolf form to defend himself, but in the end he wasn't able to. Jasper didn't actually try to kill him, but we needed to make him think that he would. In the end Collin suffered several broken bones, but his accelerated wolf healing was still intact, for now, and the Doc was able to fix him up enough that his bones would set properly.

Once Jared stopped phasing, his Alpha Order would probably be broken so it would have to be renewed by whoever became alpha next. But I wasn't worried. We, well they - the members of his pack shared a wolf mind. Information could be passed from one Pack member to the next for the rest of Collin's life, as long as he continued to harbor ill feelings towards my family and didn't drop this vendetta. At least once his wolf was dormant he would begin to resume aging normally so this wouldn't have to go on generation after generation. But I would be checking in yearly . . . monthly if needed to keep my family safe.

* * *

Bella and Edward had been harping on us every year, over Christmas, starting a few years back, that they missed their family being complete. They wanted their daughter back home.

But Nessie had always given some lame excuse for why were weren't moving back yet. This year she said that she was still worried about me, and didn't think it was the right time for us all to be living together again. I know it wasn't true, it was just like I said, an excuse. I was fine, I didn't have any more problems with alcohol or any other type of control issues. I think Nessie just enjoyed being out on her own, not that she was actually on her own. She had me, Rose and Emmett with her, but (to me at least) we were the fun ones in the group, and Nessie was enjoying her carefree life.

That was, she was, until this incident with Collin at the La Push / Makah Reservations. I think it got her thinking about being back with her family again and so after 7 years, we all once again planned to move back in together. We still hadn't decided where we would go through, so for now the Cullen's went back to Scotland and the four of us returned home to North Carolina, until the time were we all decided where to move to.

I didn't think that the Cullens, being vampires and all, made them notice the passage of time as much as Nessie and I did, but I guess seeing their great grandchildren / niece and nephews grow each Christmas brought it home to them, and made Nessie's absence more real.

Nessie talked it over with me, Rose, and Emmett, of course, before making the decision, but I could care less where we lived. Two leeches or eight. What did it matter to me? They were all family. And I just did miss Bella. Hell, she was still my best friend, even after all these years, if you didn't count Nessie, and maybe even Rose now, as weird as that seemed. And I missed Esme's cooking and motherly . . . everything really. And those conversations I had with Jasper; hell I missed all of them. I loved them just as much as Nessie. They were my family too. And besides I could fix cars anywhere. The only condition I had was no place where I had to wear another skirt.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think. :)


	100. 25 Years Later, 2035-2039

**Part Five**

 **2035-2039** **(A Recap)**

Renesmee's Point of View

I don't think I was ever going to get used to the heat. I mean the time Jake and I spent in South America, while trying to get pregnant was nice. But I had prepared myself to be in a warm tropical climate for a short period of time. I had never expected my family to chose to live somewhere so hot and sunny.

And Yes!, I realize that Rose and Emmett had come, with Jake and me, to North Carolina, where it was also warm and sunny. But they could never go out during the day – something Rose, especially, hated, but was willing to temporarily put up with for the two of us. Seven years was nothing to them. Well not exactly nothing, but not long enough to make her completely miserable. In reality she acknowledged that the time flew. And she was ecstatic, once we had reunited with the rest of the family, when the first time she raced her car against Edward and Jasper's, and all the improvements she had given hers over the years, made her victory almost too easy.

Also the warm weather in North Carolina was . . . well - warm. Where we were now was HOT. Scorchingly, ridiculously hot. Way too ridiculously hot. And it never seemed to end, during the day. I never thought it could get any hotter . . . and then it would, until the sun went down. And then the nights were freezing. As soon as my body adjusted to the temperature it would flip. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold.

My family didn't really mind the heat, or the cold; the temperature didn't really matter to them. And technically it didn't hurt me, either. In reality, I could stand outside in the middle of a blizzard in a tank top and be perfectly fine, I was half-vampire after all. But it was just the constant change from high to low that _annoyed_ me.

And Jake was having just as miserable a time. Every time he had to phase, with his thick fur coat, he would get so hot. He tried cutting his hair shorter than it already was, but one time when he gave himself a buzz cut, his wolfs fur was so short . . . he looked soooo ridiculous . . . well, obviously Emmett burst into hysterical laughter, but so did everyone else.

Luckily his hair grew back fast.

At first I was excited to visit Benjamin and Tia, when Carlisle's friend Amun invited us to stay with them for a _short_ period of time. But I should have known that their definition of "short" and mine would be no-where near the same.

The Amazons where practically helping us board a plane out of their rainforest after only a few weeks with them. We had been in Egypt for almost two years now.

"Time just is thought of differently when you start counting your age by how many millennia have past in your lifetime," Carlisle explained to me.

The one thing that I didn't have a problem with, but just imagined others in my family might feel constricted by, was the sunlight. Amun owned an entire compound that he and his coven lived in, that let him freely walk around during the daytime, out of doors. On the rare overcast day my family had free access to the city but if it was sunny, which most days it was, they couldn't leave his place. They needed to remain within the protection of the place's high walls.

Alice was most upset by this. She wanted to be able to shop more than she was currently able to. Even my mother was itching to get out and go shopping with her. Occasionally a bunch of the family would pile into a couple of our darkly tinted windowed cars and drive a few hours to somewhere Alice saw was overcast, or at least would be when they arrived, just so that they could go out in the daytime.

It was just about the same when we needed to hunt. We couldn't just run out the back door into the local forest. There was no local forest. Hunting trips had to be planned in advanced and everyone needed to make sure they were well fed at all times. Not that the family was interacting with a lot of humans, on a daily basis, or any for that matter, but we didn't need any temptations – Jasper especially.

I guess I was not the only one with these concerns, because soon a family meeting was called and we began discussing our next move.

"I've always wanted to go to Japan," Rose offered.

"My sister and her husband moved to Greece a few years ago and they seem to like it. What about there?" Jake suggested.

"Let's move to Russia. I bet they have a bunch of bears. I miss the taste of bear." Emmett chuckled.

No one could agree. Everyone had been throwing out locations for the past few hours. There were only a few things that wherever we ended up had to have accommodate:

1\. a nearby forest with an adequate food supply,

2\. continuous cloud cover, near constant fog, or something similar, so that my family could go out in the daytime,

3\. my and Jacob's desire to move somewhere that wasn't too hot this time,

4\. and Alice's adamant request, that she refused to back down from – a nearby city to shop in .

These things didn't seem like they would be hard to find in one location but times had changed. Well, technically it was the weather that had changed over time. Climate change was really messing with our food supply. The planet was continuing to warm, more and more every year. This in turn lead to more violent storms and more frequent natural disasters – floods, earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, all of which took a beating on wildlife populations. Not to mentions the melting arctic glaciers and rising sea levels.

No problem . . . easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Ha, ha, ha. No wonder we were getting nowhere and I was getting a headache.

I didn't want to be kept out of the loop and have them make a decision without me, but my head hurt and I could not keep my eyes open any longer.

"Why don't we finish this in the morning," Edward suddenly suggested. He must have heard my thoughts. But he probably didn't even need to since my eyes seemed to have closed all by themselves.

Jake and I ended up going to bed after telling our family, our top choice of where we would like to move to. They promised to take them into consideration as they continued their deliberations.

The next morning, we woke up to find out that our family had settled on Greenland; as long as we didn't strongly object that is. It wasn't either of our top choices, but neither one of us were against it, so I guess that was good.

I had actually suggested it early on, but I thought it was out of the running, for my family, since in the summer months the sun never fully went down. I guess it was fine for Jake and I, but that meant three months that they would essentially be locked up at home.

"No worries," Emmett hooted. "That's what vacations are for." It seemed he was going to get his Russian bears after all. At least for one summer anyway, and the next Rose would get to visit Japan with him.

And Esme made sure to mention that Isle Esme was available for anyone who wanted it.

"And after the last two years here, three months will be nothing," Bella assured me. "It's the two of you that I am worried about. You realize it will be dark almost all of the time during the winter, right?"

"Sure, sure. Lighten up Bells. I'm sure if the humans can deal, then we'll be just fine. And we can both see in the dark just as well . . . well almost as well, as you." Jake assured her.

At least there, there be plenty for us to eat in Greenland. A quick web search revealed that there were herds of reindeer, and plenty of walrus' too. There were also musk oxen and polar bears roaming around. Those should make an interesting dietary change. And there were also lots of other smaller animals if anyone wanted a challenge or got bored.

Jake gave me a halfway worried sideways glance when someone brought up the arctic wolves that lived in the area, but we both knew that that wasn't really going to be a problem for me anymore. And no one else in the family was going to be hunting them either. They all assured both Jake and my mother, who also I knew, had a problem with anybody hunting wolves, that they would be considered off limits.

* * *

Greenland turned out to be wonderful. And 1936 was full of happiness for everyone. Especially Rose and Emmett. Well it probably had nothing to do with our location and more to do with the year.

I was outside in Esme's greenhouse one day – the closest thing she could have to a garden here, when I fell asleep among the hydrangeas, while reading a book. I hadn't meant to, but I accidentally overheard something I shouldn't have. They must not have heard my heartbeat or breathing over the sound of the automatic hydration system. And I didn't want to risk moving and interrupting them, so I just stayed where I was.

It began innocently enough. It wasn't like it was one of their night time romps. If that was the case I would have leapt from my hiding space immediately. But for the time being I thought I was safe. As long as I kept quiet that is.

"Rosalie, you are my angel and my savior. You brought new meaning to my life, you've made me a better man." Emmett had begun almost as soon as he lead her into the greenhouse. "I know sometimes . . . okay most of the time, I act silly, but to be serious for a moment, it has been an honor to be married for you for the past 100 years. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to end up with someone as wonderful as you, but however it happened I am so glad you love me."

"Of course I love you . . ."

"I am so glad you do," he cut her off. "The moment I first saw you, you brought new meaning to my life. You made me a better man. You saved my life. I know I act like a goofball sometimes but you're the only one who really gets me, the only person in the entire world who understands me, you and only you truly understand that I am the man who loves you more than anyone possibly could, because I'm so lucky to have a perfect creature in my life." Then I snuck a peek and I know he saw me, but kept going, getting down on one knee. What was he doing?

"Rosalie Lillian Hale McCarty Cullen, I've loved you for the past 100 years and with any luck I will love you for the next 100,000. Will you do me the honor of marrying me, again?" Uncle Emmett asked, as he once again presented her with an engagement ring for the . . . I don't know how many umpteenth time.

If my Aunt Rose could cry I think she would have. I was surprised myself when I noticed a tear running down my own cheek. I never thought of marriage as something that was important to me. Thinking it was just a meaningless piece of paper, there were other things that tied two people together, but now I could see it was actually something more. Something I might have even wanted for myself someday.

* * *

It never should have happened. Charlie had gone his entire career without ever once firing his gun, then seven years after he retired he walked in on an armed robbery at the local convenience store. He managed to get off a shot but at 73 years of age he should not have even been caring a gun, let alone firing one. He ended up only gazing the thug in the shoulder. The would be robber was younger and much more accurate, unfortunate hitting Charlie square in the chest. And the guy ended up getting away before the cops got there or the ambulance for that matter, they did what they could but it was too late for Charlie. He died on the way to the hospital

I felt so bad for Sue. His death left her a widow, for the second time. All the wolves, back in La Push, were there for her. Over the years she had been like their den mother, in a way, almost as much as Emily was. I heard Seth had asked her if she wanted to move in with him and his family. That would be good. Being cooped up in a house all by herself wasn't healthy. While she was sad, and morning, I had a feeling she would be okay . . . eventually.

2037 was a hard year for me, too. And it wasn't just because Charlie was the first person that I was related to that had died. Losing Billy had been just as hard. I loved them both equally. And the only other person I thought, that would even be capable of dying anytime soon, that I was related to was Nana Renée. But I had never met her, and only briefly spoken to her on the phone once.

But in addition to losing my grandfather, I also lost my mother.

Bella, had gone into a rage once she learned of her father's death. She managed to make it through the wake and funeral, but then, as my grandfather was being buried, while all the cops on the Forks Police Force were occupied she broke into the Stations evidence locker and found the stores surveillance tape and the robbers blood sample that had been collected of the floor from his gunshot wound.

No one even tried talking her out of it. She wanted vengeance and would not be stopped until she got it.

With the knowledge of what he looked and smelled like he never stood a chance. Even though Bella wasn't a tracker she found him after little more than a month of hunting. The idiot had stayed in the area. Of course he didn't know he was going to be hunted down by a grief stricken Vampire.

I thought it would have been weird seeing her when she returned home with red eyes. I remember seeing her with them when I was a baby. But that was only because she was a newborn, at the time, and I understood. This would be different. But as she walked through the front door, into our home in Greenland, hand in hand, with my dad, her eyes were only a slightly darker shade of the golden color they normally were after she had hunted.

"You don't find him?" I questioned. I thought she vowed only to return when she had.

"No she did," my father had answered. "She just snapped his neck," he continued, answering my, and probably a few others unspoken question.

Oh! I guess that is good. She killed someone, but I couldn't really blame her. Jake hated the fact that she had taken a human life, but he understood, sort of. I guess it was over. Our lives could go on as they had before all this had happened.

If only we were so lucky.

But what else could there be?

I truly thought that would be it. Charlie was gone and his murder was avenged.

But I was wrong. Edward explained how my mother had gone almost catatonic as soon her mission was done. Once home she had gone directly to the library, after my father's explanation of what happened, and just staring at her copy of _Wuthering Heights_ for days and nights on end.

"She's been like this ever since . . .," Edward continued to tell me. "She'll snap out of it. Just give her some time." I think he was trying to comfort himself as much as he was me.

I know it was hard for my mother, but at least she couldn't drown her sorrows in a bottle of whiskey or anything. I know Vampires have a hard time with change. And I wasn't sure how long she was going to continue to be affected by this. Every day I hoped she would snap out of it, and every day I was disappointed.

I saw what the death of a family member did to Kate and Tanya when they lost Irena. She was their sister and even after all these years they are not much closer to moving on and getting over their loss. But they had been a family for over 1000 years.

Bella, while she had lost her biological father had only known him for a significantly smaller amount of time. I didn't want to seem unfeeling but I hoped this would not ruin her as much as it did them.

My father explained they every case was different. They cried, Bella froze, Marcus appeared bored by life after losing his mate, and Edward had of course lost the will to live when he thought my mother had died when she was still human. He wasn't sure how long, or what it would take to get her to come out of this.

Kate and Tanya had made some progress over the years. I knew how much Kate loved Garrett, but it took them decades for her to begin to process her sister's death enough to marry him; even with all of the love that they shared, it was as if her heart was still broken.

I was a worried for my mother. She needed an outlet for her pain. Of course Edward was there for her, trying to comfort her as best as he could. She was practically a statue now. I was well aware that that was how Vampires dealt with stress. They froze. But she couldn't remain frozen forever, she had to get out of her funk, wake up out of this . . . somehow.

I knew, going through the experience of Jake's grief over his father, that this was going to be a long process. It had been four months now and was probably going to take much longer before we got her back. I know she would never be exactly like she was before, but I would take her back anyway I could get her.

No one had attempted to find a new job or start school in the years that we had moved to Greenland. We had just enjoyed being all back together, somewhere where we could be outside and have fun. We had spent our days going to museums, and concerts, and participated in all of the local activities this place had to offer. The locals here seemed to have a very active outdoor life, they celebrated the dark, and the cold, something that we readily had gotten into.

My mother was near catatonic, most of the time, only leaving the house to hunt when my father dragged her outside. And even then he didn't seem to really be able to bring her out of her frozen state – practically shoving a dead or dying animal into her face.

We needed to do something drastic. Maybe even do something she would hate just to get her to snap out of it.

Edward enrolled the two of them in the local high school, while the rest of us went back to college.

I had been thinking of trying to go into medicine for awhile now. Not that I think I would be able to become a doctor like my grandfather, I don't think I could stand being around human blood, yet. But I was thinking of going into medical research, or something like that. Seeing all this death made me realize I wanted to help in some way. And now seemed like as good a time as any to start. And just like he promised, Jake enrolled in the pre-med program with me.

We were enjoying our classes but High School had been the wrong idea for my mother. It took her back to the fuzzy human memories, in her head, the time when Edward left her. She sank deeper into herself, probably mirroring the near catatonic state she had when she was human. It was just a guess on my part, since Edward couldn't read her mind, but Jake said that she looked similar, back then; well as close as a beautiful frozen Vampire could get to a grief stricken human, anyway.

They were enrolled at the local high school for three months before the decision was made to give up. If possible, I think she actually got worse. After that failure Edward decided to take my mother to Isle Esme at Carlisle and Esme's suggestion. Maybe a change in scenery would do good her some good. I sure hoped so. It worked for Jake.

They were gone for two months, and when they returned it looked like the island had done some good. She wasn't 100% but was remarkably better. I didn't think my father would risk bringing her back if she wasn't.

I wondered how he had done it, but didn't want to risk asking and losing some of her progress.

Five months later, someone who had never met my mother would probably not find anything wrong with her, or her behavior. The same was not true for us, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

* * *

"How's David?" I asked Jacob, a year later, after he phased back from his spirit self. He had just finished his monthly wolf talk with our son, letting him know that Bella was finally back to being Bella. She was still sad that her father had been murdered but was now grieving and processing his death in a healthy non-comatose way.

He was going to talk with Felicity, through Leah's wolf, tomorrow.

"I was actually speaking with William this time," he informed me. It was 2039 and William had just turned 18 years old a couple of months ago. It amazed me how time flew. "David wants to try and stop phasing for a while," Jake seemed to cringe as he spoke. "He wants to see if he can grow old with Janet, I don't know if it's going to be possible. He's part vampire and Felicity doesn't age. She's never phased."

"What is he going to do? If she keeps aging and he doesn't . . . he imprinted on her, she's gonna grow old and eventually die. What is he going to do without her?" I was starting to panic now, of course I had thought about this before, but now it was becoming even more of a reality as the decades drew on, not that Janet was anywhere near close to old age, she was only 39 but after Charlie's death I couldn't take another heartbroken family member.

"I don't know, sweetheart." Jake tried comforting me as he continued mumbling. "I don't know," he continued again and again, as he began rubbing my shoulders.

"I know everybody was against it years ago, when she was first bitten, but what about changing her?" I questioned. Would she want to become a Vampire if that meant she got to stay with David forever? Was that something that he would want? He loved her. Would he want her to stay with him if that was the only way?

"I don't know, but I will suggest it to them. I'll call David tonight. It's their decision, though, and they would both need to be in agreement on it."

It turns out that the answer was a definite "NO". Janet had no interest in becoming a Vampire and David didn't want her to become one either. Moreover he felt that if and when the time came that Janet died and he was still at the age he is now . . . that someone in the family, or Pack, would have to _help_ him join her.

He never said the words, that he needed one of us to help him end his life, but of course that was what he was implying, and it's not like we would be able to talk him out of it. It was exactly what I or anyone else in the family would do, if one of our mates was taken from us.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	101. 30 Years Later, 2040-2044

**Part Six**

 **2040-2044** **(A Recap)**

Renesmee's Point of View

After returning from the auto parts store, Jake let me out by the front door of the house so I could grab us a snack as he pulled his car into the garage. As soon as I walked through the front door I heard someone singing upstairs. That was strange. I thought everybody had gone hunting, so I climbed the stairs up to her room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard Alice's voice chimed.

As I opened the door, I saw the most bizarre, interesting, strangest sight in my life. My aunt was sitting in front of her vanity, applying a face full of makeup as she sang along to some song playing on the radio. In any other household this would be a normal sight for a young woman, but in a house full of vampires it was completely unheard of. Makeup, like dirt, didn't stick to our marble-like skin.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled to her. It was very strange to see. I mean, beyond the fact that everything that she had applied, was going to all fall off in a few minutes anyway, she was already gorgeous, and flawless, and just absolutely, perfectly beautiful; one of the gifts of being a vampire.

"Well there was nothing else to do right now, so I thought I'd have a little fun," she sang back to me, right in tune with the radio songs melody.

"I thought you were supposed to be out hunting with everybody else."

Then I saw her face fall.

"Yes, well, you know there's a shortage of wildlife in the area . . . so I thought I'd wait until next week and go then."

"But it's been over two weeks since your last hunted. Don't you need to go now?"

"There's no point," she said as she lined her eye with a purple eyeliner. "I mean, I could go but I wouldn't find anything," she explained, putting the pencil down and tapping the side of her head.

Oh my god, was it really getting that bad?

"Maybe you just need to look further. Get off of Greenland. Swim further east, onto the continent. I'm sure there's plenty of deer and other animals roaming around Europe somewhere."

"20 years ago maybe Ness, but not anymore. It's okay darling, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," she blew me off in her sweet chirpy way, that was completely Alice - never seeming to worry about the bad stuff. She always tried to look on the bright side, literally. If she said she was going to go hunting next week then she must have seen that she found something to fed from. She just knew that today would have been just a waste of her energy if she went with everyone else.

Things were really getting bad. _Stupid climate change!_ I muttered under my breath.

"Here why don't you come sit down. I'll put some makeup on you too. It's fun," she exclaimed as she switched places with me.

"Actually," I began, while climbing back out of the chair she had practically shoved me into, "I can't right now. Jake is waiting for me."

"Jacob, you don't mind if I borrow her, do you," Alice spoke, her voice never raised above a normal speaking voice. Even all the way down in the garage she knew Jake would hear her since she also knew that I had left the doors, in between her bedroom and there, open.

"As long as you give her back, oh and text me some pics of the results," we both heard him amusingly reply.

"There. Problem solved," Alice literally jumped for joy before she once again maneuvered me into her chair.

"Okay, okay." I gave in. "So how do you use this stuff?" I asked. I had never tried makeup before. It had just seemed like a big waste of time to spend on something that was just going to fall off before you even made it out of the house.

I wonder how she learned how to do this? My mother had mentioned that Alice had done her makeup for her wedding to my father, but I didn't think she had ever used it on herself. Maybe I was wrong and this was what Alice privately did for fun? Then again it might just be the same as my families cooking skills - instructional videos _saved_ the day once again.

"What would you like, my dear?" she asked while twirling, what I think was a blush brush, around like a medieval sword. "A 1930's glamour look, or a more natural 70's application? What about some 60's mod makeup, or maybe a timeless 1950's look? Oh wait. I know!" she exclaimed. "A 1980's glam rock look. After I finish your makeup we could try and see if your hair will dye. What about hot pink hair? And if that works we can gel it up into a faux-hawk, maybe cut it . . ."

"NO!" We both heard Jake gasp.

We lasted 2.73 whole seconds before Alice and I both burst out laughing. If Jake was in the room he would have been able to see how Alice was just saying all of that to see how far she could go before she got him to freak out. Cutting my hair would definitely do it. I think he liked my long curls as much as I did. And I knew, that he knew, that I would never, ever , willingly cut them . . . Alice though, was another matter entirely. She could give me a real mohawk before I even noticed she had a pair of scissors in her hand.

"Okay, let's get serious now," she said while attempting to stifle her laugh. "How about I just try out some bronzer, a smoky eye, and some light pink lip gloss?"

I nodded. I guess that would be okay. I always wondered what I would look like with a tan, but my skin could never really be affected by the sun in that way.

Having Alice apply makeup on me was fun. I liked the look of the eye makeup but after the third time she put bronzer on my neck . . . I saw the look in her eyes - the desire . . . the hunger . . . the thirst . . . she was fighting her instinct. She was winning. I knew I was in no danger but still . . .

I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. We were family and loved each other. And I didn't want to make things harder for her. So I decided it was time to join Jake in the garage. I know I didn't smell like food to her, but blood still flowed to beneath my skin, she looked so guilty (or possibly embarrassed) as I wiggled myself out of the chair once again, extricating myself from the . . . not exactly danger but the _uncomfortable_ situation that would develop if I stayed any longer.

I didn't even know if it would be capable of for her to bite and drink from me. It's something I've wondered about from time to time. Well, not me and my family exactly, I don't think they would ever actually hurt me. They never, ever gave me the slightest indication that they thought of me that way. Normally I don't think my blood would be tempting for them. Besides the fact that we were family, if not genetically, they had raised me, and loved me.

But occasionally I would think about Nahuel and his Aunt Huilen.

He had bitten her, literally seconds after he was born. He was a newborn baby, and then 3 days later, she was a newborn vampire. How did that work?

Had he been tempted by her blood? But he never killed her. He didn't drink her dry. He changed her.

And what about her? Newborns are not capable of rational thought; well, except for my mother – but she was an anomaly from what I've learned. And Nahuel had blood running through his veins, how was it that she didn't attack him as soon as her conversion was complete?

She must not have viewed him as a food source even then, so the fact that Alice was looking at me the way she was just now must have meant that her and the rest of my family was worse off than I thought.

Jake and I needed to talk.

* * *

Alice and Jasper tried. They really did. They lasted another two months before they made the decision to go off on their own for a little while. Jake and I were just too tempting. Not for Alice, I don't think. But we were really pushing Jaspers self control.

There were rumors of herds of camels somewhere in Africa that were just roaming around wild. I guess it would be fun for them, at least. The rest of us decided to tough it out for at least another year or two and see if things would improve. There were too many unknowns in the world right now. Alice couldn't see, or give us a clear answer.

A part of me wondered if we should have gone with them.

With the lack of blood to drink, Carlisle even had to take a leave of absence from the hospital for awhile. He didn't trust himself around so many bleeding and injured humans. He thought it better to abstain from treating them in the short term rather than accidentally lose control and butcher the entire emergency room.

None of us though he would ever do that, but he refused to take the chance.

"I can't take this much longer, I am so hungry!" Rose shrieked once again into Emmett's shoulder.

"I know darling, we will find you something to feed from soon." Emmett tried comforting her.

As they said this Jake wrapped his arm protectively around me.

Jake and I had moved into a cottage about two miles away from the main house a couple of years ago. It was just getting to be too much, none of us were getting enough blood nowadays.

It was more of a safety issue for Jake than anything else. I didn't think my own family really would attack us but we were warm bodies and their eyes were constantly black.

But the privacy was nice also. We didn't have to worry about being too loud when we got romantic. And I guess the same could be said for the rest of the family. They didn't have to monitor themselves around us either.

We were all having a harder and harder time lately finding enough animals to drink. It had been getting worse and worse over the past 20-25 years, but had been really been getting difficult the last four. Climate change had completely screwed up the local wildlife population.

I didn't understand what was going on. I mean I understood what was going on with the planet, clearly. But I didn't understand why we would have moved here if there wasn't enough food to sustain us. Wouldn't Alice have seen this?

It turned out that she had. But that was why we were here. As bad as it was here it was worse other places. We had just been here so long, and there were too many of us that we had exhausted the food supply. To be fair it had taken a few years, and we always tried not to feed from mothers, with young, so they could produce offspring the next year. But even being as conscientious as we were there were of course the environmental factors contributing to their decline.

There just weren't enough animals left in Greenland, or Iceland, or most of Europe for that matter, for us to feed on consistently anymore. As it was, my family were only hunting about once a month now. And even though I despised the taste, I was existing on a diet of mostly human food, only hunting once every few months when the thirst got to be too much.

I wonder how my kids were doing, I knew they didn't have to drink as much blood as me, but it was probably still hard for them as well. Jake and I checked in regularly with them and they assured us they were fine, but I still worried.

It was a rare night lately when we got together like this, but Bella and Edward missed me. I was their only daughter and I wanted to see my parents as well. I thought Jake might object, but I knew that being his imprint (sometimes) meant that what Nessie wants, Nessie gets. I try not to play that card too often but it had been two months since I had seen them, so we took the risk and were spending a quiet evening all together at the Cullen complex.

I didn't think it would be this bad though. Bella told us that they were supposed to have gone hunting a couple of days ago. I guess they didn't find anything. If there was anything to eat within 200 miles I was sure they would have found it in preparation of tonight.

"I know this might seem a little crazy," Jake's sarcastic voice began. What was he thinking? "But have you guys ever noticed that there's tons of food around here, I just saw a bunch of ranchers heading home, on our way over."

"Has the dog gone insane?" Rose quipped, mostly to herself. "If you hadn't noticed over the four decades you have known us, but we happen to be vegetarians . . . remember?"

"I'm not suggesting you eat the ranchers, Blondie." he sharked. It had been a while since they had reverted back to their old nicknames. I guess that hunger was getting to all of us. "But have you ever thought of becoming farmers yourselves?"

"Has he gone insane from hunger too?" Emmett partially chuckled, partially growled over to me. "I thought we were the only ones who were starving. We're not that type of vegetarians." He barked back to him, "We can't subside on lettuce like you."

Yikes, even Emmett's normally goofy mood was gone.

"Not that kind of farmer." Jake explained, rolling his eyes. "I was thinking more of a cattle farmer, hence my reference to the ranchers. You guys are seriously starting to lose it without a constant blood supply aren't you?"

"You want us to raise cattle . . . to drink. Edward questioned Jake.

"Why not? Blood is blood, right?"

I could see several members of my family look like they were beginning to ponder his suggestion. So was I. I missed blood. Human food was okay. It kept me alive, but it was dry, tasteless and in no way filling.

"What about the hunt? I don't think it would be the same. I mean, it might solve one problem, but then we probably be jumping out of our skin if we just walked outside and drink whenever we wanted it. I just wouldn't feel right, somehow," Bella was saying, I think more to herself than anyone else. But I could see her weighing her options in her head. Anything to fill her empty belly, and see me more often, I think.

I was amazed that none of them hadn't gone after the local human population already, but they never left the house anymore, except on hunting trips and then only when surrounded by other family members for support.

"So you do what those English guys did in the past, you know, with their fox hunts. You raise the cows, or sheep . . . or even bears," Jake added after looking at Emmett's confused face. "Whatever it is, and then . . . release them, wait a half hour, then go track them down. That doesn't seem too hard, all you have to do is feed them, right? And grain and stuff is something that you guys can buy. Seems simple enough?"

"The _dog_ just might have a good idea." Bella smirked over to Rose.

Three weeks later we began to raise boars and deer. Boars because one thing my family were, for some reason, always learning in school every time they repeated high school, was how close to human, pigs taste. I don't know who had tasted both pig and human meat, but we figured that if the meat tasted similar hopefully their blood would too. It turned out to be true, but chasing down a bunch of pigs to drink was just absurd to think about when we tried to picture it. Boars were a little bigger, offering us more of a meal and a fight to capture them, well a little anyway. And deer were always a good mainstay.

They locals thought our choice in livestock was a little strange, but no one commented . . . to us at least, or complained to whatever authority might try to stop us. Though with the state of the world right now, and our limited food supply we would probably just move, animals and all, to a more accepting location.

The first order of boars we received we're not as . . . sustainable, as we had hoped. Everybody in the family practically, well technically, DID attack the poor things as soon as the delivery driver was out of eyesight. They never made it long enough for us to breed them, to create the multiple generations that we would need to eventually feed from. At least we still had the deer coming in a few days and we could always order more boars, I guess.

When the same delivery driver dropped off the second order or boars as the first, he got a little inquisitive, as to what happened to the first group. Luckily some quick thinking and medical talk on Carlisle's part convinced him that there was some sort of virus that they all died from. He seems to believe us so we didn't have to worry about needing to move. Not yet anyway.

Jacob turned out to be very good at ranching or whatever it was we were doing. Wasn't "ranching" something you did with horses, or something? I guess it didn't matter.

Before too long the first litters of piglets had arrived, but it would still be awhile until they were old enough to hunt, while still keeping some to breed. The family tried improving our results in any way we could think of. Everybody watch dozens of YouTube videos on how to raise pigs, there wasn't really a how-to manual for boars that we could find. And Carlisle started researching the few medical journals he had on animals. The least we could do was keep them healthy, that is until we . . .

Once we had a steady blood supply to feed from, after taking care of the animals, we all resumed school and/or work again, the ones of us who were left anyway.

During the day Carlisle could be found at the hospital while the rest of us attended college. Jake and I were still working on our medical degrees. But we were nowhere close to graduating. And I didn't know enough to even attempt to help Carlisle, Edward, and Rose. At night they were using their combined knowledge, that came from their multiple degrees in medicine, to try to develop some sort of artificial blood, for us to drink.

It sounded crazy, but they wanted to at least try and see if they could develop something that we could live off of.

Of course artificial meat had been around for years. I think something as early as 2013, scientists has developed it, but it took a few years before it was cheap enough to produce for mass production and consumption. And organs had been grown in labs for a while now. While hospitals have had artificial blood that worked on human patients, for years now, it was, for some unknown reason simply incompatible with a vampires needs, apparently. Of course we had tried it, but it did nothing and Emmett, who had volunteered to drink it, ended up throwing it back up. That was a strange sight to see!

The reason why was the first thing my family members were trying to figure out, before even beginning to attempt to develop something more suitable for us.

So far though they were not having any luck.

* * *

Alice called the other day. We thought, when Esme saw her name on the caller ID, that she was calling to say that they were coming home. But they weren't. Not yet at least. She called to warn us. After what happened to Bella, after Charlie died, she had been on high alert, always checking in on Renée.

So this time it wasn't a sudden shock. It wasn't a surprise and Bella had time to prepare herself for when her mother passed away. It was the summer of 2043, four months after we learned of Sue (Clearwater) Swan's death. She was 79. Renée was 76.

But this time, I think mostly since my mother had already broken all ties with my mysterious grandmother, whom I had never met, it wasn't so bad for her. She didn't go comatose, or homicidal, again.

But, then again, her death was a natural one. Peaceful in a way. She passed away in her sleep one night, according to Alice, with her husband, Phil, by her side. She wasn't alone and she was loved. And knowing this, I think it made it easier for Bella to accept and move on.

Thank goodness, because I don't think any of us, especially my father, could handle another breakdown on my mother's part.

* * *

"Your back!" Bella jumped up and nearly crushed Alice, as she and Jasper walked through the front door, right back into our lives. It had been three years, eight months, six days, five hours, seven minutes and twenty-five point three seconds since any of us had seen them.

They never called to warn . . . well, let us know, that they were returning.

While my mother seemed happy her best friend was back, Alice didn't. Something was up.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward's eyes nearly bug out of his head. That's not good. What now? What did he hear?

"It's the Volturi. They are up to their old tricks. We need to go," he growled.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but i just couldn't help myself. ;)


	102. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (1st Section)

Just a quick note -

sorry this took me so long to post. I had some things going on and just finally found time to edit this part. Its long. so i am posting part seven in multiple sections - here is the first one. And since it is the (long awaited) Volturi encounter i went back to my normal format. Let me know what you think.

* * *

 **Part Seven - First Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

Nessie and I were in the middle of an intense chess game with Bella and Edward. It was the version Nessie had invented years ago to forgo Edward's cheating - switching boards and opponents after every move.

Suddenly Edward got up and went to the front door.

Were we expecting company?

"Your back!" Bella jumped up and nearly crushed Alice, as she and Jasper walked through the front door, right back into our lives. It had been three years, eight months, and six days, since any of us had seen them.

"It's the Volturi. They are up to their old tricks. We need to go," Edward growled.

"What?"

"No!"

"What's going on? "

"What do they want now? "

The rest of the Cullens had joined us in the living room and everyone started shouting at once, at Edward's revelation.

"It's not us. This time they're after Benjamin," Alice clarified. "They want him to join them, and unless we do something they are going to succeed."

"But Edward, you once told me that Benjamin had a pure heart, he had a clear direction of what was right and wrong. I could never imagine him joining the Volturi," Bella responded, looking as shocked as I felt.

I remembered Benjamin. He was the Vamp who could manipulate the elements. It was a very cool gift. And he was one of the few I actually got along with that fearful night, 30 something years ago, when the Volturi came to kill Nessie, simply for existing. I hated the Volturi now almost as much as I did then, the one difference was that they were not currently trying to take away the love of my life.

"So why is Benjamin going to join them, or why do they think he would?" Carlisle corrected himself.

"Think about it. It's the same reason that they think I would." Edward replied leading to shocked gasps from all around the room.

Why in the world would he ever switch teams and go over to the bad guys? _But you said you would never join them as long as your family was around,_ I thought over to him.

"Exactly" he responded back. "They took Tia from him."

Tia? Oh right. It took me a few seconds to remember that that was the name of his mate. I hadn't interacted with her all that much. To be fair she was more like a shadow, always just standing near him, not speaking much. But what she did say, I think, always seemed profound, or at least intelligent and reasonable in some way.

"They killed his mate?" Bella gasped. That was a shame, she wasn't that bad . . . for a red eyed leech, that is.

"No they haven't killed her," Alice clarified for everyone, "but she made a mistake and it gave them justification to take her with them, back to Italy."

"What did she do?" Rose asked.

"Nothing much, a simple mistake, really. She fed from a human in front of witnesses. It was unlike her, really," Alice said, probably replaying in her head, what she had seen in her vision for Edward. "I'm guessing by her reaction that she must have met her singer."

"And for that they kidnapped her?" Nessie asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Actually, in a way they were being lenient. Normally the punishment for that sort of thing is death. She really should have killed all of the witnesses and hidden the evidence, making it look like a terrorist attack, or a gang incident, or fire, or something. But she didn't, she let some of them live and the Volturi had to clean everything up themselves."

They killed an entire crowd of people? And she was in the wrong because she let them live? How screwed up was that? I know it made sense that Vampires couldn't let the knowledge of their existence get out but come on . . .

Wait a minute. This was one of Alice's visions. It was something in the future, it hadn't happened yet. We could still save all those people.

"So let's go there fast, before she can make this mistake," I said leaping off the couch, ready to mobilize. I'd call in the Packs to help if needed.

"It's too late, that has already happened, but the part we can change, if we hurry, is to prevent Benjamin from joining them. I'm afraid they already have Tia." Alice said, sadly shaking her head.

Emmett didn't seem to buy it. "But you saw this happen before it did, right? Why couldn't you get there and stop her? Weren't you in Africa? Weren't you close enough?"

"We tried. We ran as fast as we could, but we just missed them as they grabbed her, I don't know how."

"Why were the Volturi even there?" Esme wondered.

"It was just a few of the guards. They must have just been in the right place at the right time." Jasper shrugged. It didn't seem to make sense to him. It didn't to me either. After all I have been through in life I didn't really believe in coincidences.

"Or the wrong place at the wrong time," I half chuckled, half growled, under my breath, but, of course, everybody still heard me, some responding in kind.

Jasper continued talking ignoring my comment. "I don't think the guards had a plan to take Tia to get to Benjamin. They just saw the opportunity and took it."

"But the Volturi don't give second chances, it's what makes them so effective. Why no one dares stand against them or dares break the rules. " Bella muttered, out loud, to no one in particular. "Was this just some compassionate guard? Someone knew?"

"No, it was Felix, Jane, and Alec. They were definitely following Aro's orders to take her." Alice answered.

"So what's changed then?"

"You did." Edward smirked at Bella. "Well, we all did in a way. We changed them when we stood against them and won. They must be trying to do damage control, to improve their tarnished image, or something."

"Or they really want Benjamin and will break . . . or temporarily suspend their own rules to get him." Jasper scowled.

"What do we do now? If they get Benjamin to join them, they'll be unstoppable. Correction, even more unstoppable." Esme muttered.

"We stopped them," Bella argued, echoing Edwards words from a moment ago.

"Once, but in reality, as impressive as your gift turned out to be, Bella, it took a good chunk of the Vampire world, along with every wolf in existence, to do it." Jasper objected to her, as carefully as he could.

"So we mobilize everybody again. Call all of the witnesses back; they said, if the Volturi ever tried this again, then we would all stand together, right?" Rose asked.

"And this time we fight," Emmett added with an enthusiastic grin. I knew he was itching for a fight with those guys almost as much as I was.

"I'm not sure if it's going to be that easy." Carlisle replied. "Last time they agreed to help in order to rectify a wrong, but this time Tia actually did break the rules. I'm not sure if there is anything we can do. The others might not see it as we do, it might be harder to convince them to join us."

Nessie spoke up next. "But we can't let them get Benjamin. They'll be unstoppable, like Esme said, and I'm sure that Tia doesn't deserve whatever treatment she is going through, if she is even still alive."

"She is. They are keeping her alive so that they can lure Benjamin over to them. She's their bargaining chip," Edward seethed.

"But that's blackmail. The rest of the Vampire world would never condone that. It's like they are asking for a fight," Nessie replied to her father.

"That won't be their official reason for taking her," Alice explained. "Officially they are planning on saying that Aro believes her thoughts to be _repentative,_ and they don't want to destroy her. That Aro and the others believe that she is truly sorry for what she did, but they would like to monitor her for the next 100 years, or so, to make sure this kind of behavior never happens again. Of course in reality they know that wherever Tia goes, Benjamin will follow."

"That's insane," I responded.

"But effective," Bella replied acknowledging the truth in her sisters words. "I would do the same . . . if they took Edward. Wouldn't you be willing to live with the Volturi if it was the only way to be with Renesmee?"

I could see what she meant. It did have a sort of twisted logic to it, one that I would very easily agree to, if it meant it was the only way to be with my soulmate.

"So what do we do?" "When does this happen?" "When are they going to make their offer?" everyone began asking again, all at once.

"Tomorrow morning. I saw it happen already. He's going to say 'Yes' without even thinking about it. And I also saw that even if Jasper and I went directly there and told him the true reasoning behind their offer, which I'm sure he already knows, he would still accept. That's why we came here first to get you guys. I saw that if it was all of us, we might be able to convince him . . . if we also promised to figure out some way to get Tia back, that is." Alice explained.

How the hell were we supposed to do that?

* * *

We strategized the entire plane ride over, which consisted of a lot of _quiet_ whispers, too low for the other airplane passengers to hear. At least we flew First Class, so there were only two humans that could have potentially heard us, and the flight attendants, of course, but they didn't. We talked, and talked, and talked; going through every scenario that we could think of throughout the flight.

"NO!" Alice screamed when we were somewhere over the Mediterranean, before slapping her hand over her mouth and making some flimsy excuse, about forgetting to pack her favorite bag for this trip, to the flight attendant, who had rushed over to see what was wrong.

"What's happened Alice?" Jasper asked for all of us.

"Those bastards changed their minds and aren't waiting. They are about to talk with Benjamin right now. We are going to miss our opportunity to speak with him entirely."

This changed things. We needed to coordinate more, see if we could get any others help in this. I didn't know how many of the witnesses we would be able to get from last time, but the Packs from La Push and the Makah Reservations were both on standby. We didn't want to bring them in early, if somehow, Alice saw a peaceful while way out of this. And I half hoped there would be a peaceful way out of this.

No one really wanted a war, well . . . maybe Emmett it did and me, but it still worried me. I wasn't actually worried about myself, I was looking forward to this for what they tried to do to my Nessie all those years ago, but she would want to fight too, and that meant she could get hurt, and that was the last thing I wanted. I loved her so much, it hurt me to even see her sad that this was happening to her friend. The entire flight I held her as we had strategized, trying to offer her as much comfort as I could, and she did the same for me whenever I needed it.

Once we arrived in Egypt, we found out that Amun seemed uncertain but eventually decided that he did not want our help. He acknowledged that Tia had broken the law, and (even if he didn't believe it) he said out loud, to us anyway, that Aro, Caius, and Marcus were being benevolent by not ending her life. He didn't like _temporarily_ losing Benjamin, but he believed the Volturi when they said it would only be for 100 years or so, which was nothing to a multi millennium-old Vampire. He said he "did not want to cause trouble." I think he was just being a scaredy cat, but what could I do? I was only one vote out of 12, when you counted all of the Cullens, Amun and his mate, Kebi. Not like she ever talked, though. Well . . . barely. And when she did, she always just agreed with him anyway.

But Amun and Kebi not wanting to confront the Volturi changed things. Amun didn't want our help. Benjamin had willingly gone with the Volturi agents, according to Alice at least, and Tia was being given a second chance, it seemed.

Was this really our time to confront the Volturi? Was it even our fight? Should we be doing anything? There were so many questions; we decided to hold off and regroup.

I couldn't believe it. "So wait, you mean to tell me we're not gonna do anything? We're just gonna sit around until the Volturi have completely turned Benjamin over to the dark side, and they come and attack us?"

Alice tried to assure us that the Volturi leaders didn't have anything nefarious planned, at least not immediately anyway. As far as Alice could see Aro had decided to gain Benjamin's trust, over the next few decades, have him only use his gifts when absolutely necessary, to enforce judgment on the _truly guilty_. Whatever that meant. By the Volturi's own rules, wouldn't that have included his mate, Tia? Couldn't Benjamin see how hypocritical they were being, overlooking her guilt, to gain him as a weapon?

Of course he probably knew that, but he was going along with it anyway, for the sake of his mate. We couldn't blame him though. I would too. So would any of the Cullens.

"Yeah," Emmett said ignoring Alice and agreeing with me. "Sure Bella's shield works against Jane and Alec, but it's not going to do anything to stop Benjamin. He can open a fissure in the earth that swallows us whole, or shoot fireballs to blow us up, or whatever. How are we supposed to fight that?"

Carlisle shook his head at his son. "Alice said that the Volturi don't have any plans or desires to attack us in the future."

"Emmett and Jacob could be right, things could change. They could change their minds, or something could happen to provoke them," Jasper countered. He was looking at this purely from a military perspective, I could tell, while Carlisle and Esme and some of the others were mostly concerned about the loss of life, that a battle with the Volturi would surely result in.

"We can't take that chance. They would be unstoppable," Jasper reiterated. We avoided fighting the Volturi once, and most people did not relish the thought of it again. Most, not all, of course - Emmett was giddy at the prospect.

He was finally going to get the chance to flex those muscles of his, that's rarely got the opportunity to be put to their limits. Well, maybe. Actually, it still looked like those of us who wanted to fight were being outnumbered. But I could see Bella was being swayed over to our side.

Amun however was not. And in the end it seemed that the decision would be up to him, since Benjamin and Tia were part of his coven.

"Look, I'm sorry. But I refuse to take action against them. The Volturi are acting within the law."

"Without Amun and Kebi by our side, I doubt that any of our friends, that stood with us last time, would stand against the Volturi with us now. We will of course inform them of the latest events," Carlisle explained to everyone, "but I, among other things, including the loss of life on both sides, have no desire to go on an unprovoked suicide mission."

Just like Carlisle assumed, none of his so-called _friends_ would join us, and so our battle was put on hold for now. I just hoped it wasn't going to be put on hold for too long, until it was too late.

There was ONE of his friends who surprised me, saying he was on our side. Though he did not want to fight directly, Alistair was a tracker and was willing to help in his own way, from a safe distance, of course.

* * *

A few years later, in the fall of 2048, Arum and Kebi walked back into our lives.

"Amun, it's so good to see you. I trust everything is well?" I heard Carlisle say, from the comfort of the couch Nessie and I were curled up in, to his old friend as he welcomed Amun into the house.

We were all living in Yaroslavl, Russia, a little town 165 miles north of Moscow, now. It was strange, I didn't know the language very well but was learning quickly thanks to my newly enhanced wolf brain. At least the locals let us keep to ourselves. And there was plenty of grazing land for the bison and boars that we were raising as our main food supply, (well the Cullen's main food anyway, I still preferred mine cooked). At least here we at least got to go on the occasionally hunt when the local bear population was high. Nessie loved the hunt and I loved the gleam in her eyes she got when she really let loose and got to run at full speed.

And the weather suited us all just fine, none of us minding the cold, not that it really got that cold here anymore, 42° Fahrenheit was the lowest I've seen it go in the last two years.

"Greetings my old friend," Amun replied to the Doc as he walked in, "but I am afraid that nothing could be further from the truth," he huffed as his wife followed close behind him, as Carlisle showed them into the sitting room where Nessie and I were. Not that they sat. Neither did Carlisle.

Nessie and I had been in here for the past two hours watching the local hockey game on TV, while the Doc and Esme had been occupying themselves with some book or something in the corner. Truthfully, I had not really been paying attention to them. Even more truthfully, I wasn't paying that much attention to the hockey game either. And when the doorbell rang I had made no move to get up, but now that Amun and Kebi were here . . . well, I still made no move to get up, but did bring Nessie closer into my lap. There was just something about that Vampire that gave me the creeps, even after spending all that time living with him at his complex in Egypt, I still just didn't trust him. Maybe it was the way he treated his wife, maybe it was that he would not fight the Volturi for the freedom of his adopted son and his wife, or maybe it was just that he was a red eyed Vamp, and I really had no reason too, even if he was Carlisle's friend.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Esme asked him.

"It's the Volturi. You were right before. We need to get Benjamin and Tia out of there, by force."

Suddenly all of the Cullens were in the room with us, including Alice and Jasper whom had moved back in with us after the whole rescue attempt of Benjamin and Tia fell apart.

Jasper had decided to give raising livestock a second chance, this time being much more successful. Thank goodness, because I didn't like having to worry about Nessie's or my safety around him, not that we couldn't defend ourselves, but it just made everything calmer, more peaceful and pleasant. He seemed to have adapted to "farming" rather nicely this time around. Truthfully I think it had more than a little to do with his utter distaste for camels.

"What happened? What changed your mind?" Bella asked Amun.

"They won't let him see Benjamin," Edward informed all of us, after reading his mind. Why couldn't he let the man answer, or talk for himself?

I was about to shoot Eddie a disapproving look, but Amun beat me to it. Most of us were use to his constant butting in, but Amun wasn't, even after living with him for two years, I knew just as well as everyone how much it freaked Amun out to have Edward poking around in his head. It reminded him too much of Aro. He seemed as unnerved by Edward's intrusion as I thought he would be.

"All I wanted to do was check up on my coven," Amun started to explain, while glaring at Edward. Great! Those two fighting now was not going to help things. Thankfully Edward gave him a regretful look, in lieu of an actual apology. "I wanted to make sure everything was going all right, that Benjamin and Tia were being treated well, but they wouldn't even let me see Benjamin, I had no idea if he was even in Volterra, or not.

"I trusted them," he sighed. "I trusted that they were going to be respectful and that Aro and the others would not abuse Benjamin and Tia, or our . . . friendship. But the fact that they wouldn't even let me talk to them . . . I don't know. Something is wrong, I know it.

"I have been following Benjamin. I wanted to see what I could find out myself. I am not a tracker, but I've been around long enough to be able to find someone . . . given enough time. It took me several months before I located him. After having no luck outside of Italy, I went to Volterra. I had been watching the main doors, seeing if he would come in or out, but they never brought him through that way, so eventually I switched to the tunnels.

"It was more dangerous, more confined. There were less places for me to hide, but I managed to not be detected and witnessed them bringing him in one night. Our eyes locked for just a moment, but it was like he didn't even recognize me. I don't know what they've done to him, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

"Amun, I'm not sure of the correct way to go about telling you this . . ." Carlisle hesitantly began, once Amun finally stopped speaking. "I'm afraid we may have overstepped our bounds a bit, but when you refused to confront the Volturi three years ago, we did not back down, at least not completely, We've had someone watching Benjamin. No harm was intended, but we do know what he has been up to. And at the very least I can assure you that he is alright. It may be that his lack of response in Volterra was for your own protection.

"Do you remember Alistair? He was with us briefly years ago, back in Washington, when we first . . . met with the Volturi over Renesmee's existence? He left us before the encounter, but knew of what was going on and has a deep mistrust of them. He's been tracking Benjamin and we can tell you exactly what he's been up to. Alistair has been checking in regularly with us, letting us know exactly what has been transpiring."

"Alistair has been watching him?" Amun asked. "And is it as bad as I feared, Carlisle? Please tell me the truth. Has the Volturi twisted my Benjamin into their puppet? Has he become nothing more than Aro's killing machine?"

Over the years we had received updates from Alistair, and strangely enough the Volturi were indeed (currently) only using Benjamin for the most _noble_ of justifications - when a Vampire had truly stepped out of bounds and done something that exposed themselves to humans, or on the rare occasion begged for death.

It only happened once but was when some Vampire lost their mate in a random accident. The two of them had been in a war zone and got caught in the middle of an explosion. We never found out what they were doing there, but in my opinion they were just some dumb, cocky Vampires, who thought that they would be able to survive anything. She had, her mate was not so lucky, and now she wanted to join him in death and had begged the Volturi to end her life, which they let Benjamin bestow.

"Just the opposite. Aro, Caius and Marcus have simply been having him enforce justice, but only when absolutely necessary, and in many cases he's been using his gift in a most virtuous manner, at the Volturi leaders behest, helping our kind cover up any unfortunate _incidents_ when they happen to occur, every now and then, in order to spare the lives of Vampires who have accidentally lost control, but only briefly."

"Apparently they have been making the same offer, they gave Tia, to many - a century of oversight in exchange for not ending their lives. Of course only if it is just ONE mistake," Alice explained, filling in some of the additional details she had seen in her visions. "Which is much more lenient than the Volturi have ever been in the past."

"We are not sure if it's some new plot that the they are up to, but I like to think that they are truly trying to make amends." Esme added. Jasper just gave her a look that told me he thought she was being pretty naïve, but I had come to see Esme as someone who was too loving and motherly to ever see things any other way.

"Please tell me everything that you have learned," Amun requested as he finally sat down in one of the many chairs in the room, "in greater detail, if you please."

Carlisle acknowledged and acquiesced to his request, then began to give Amun a rundown of exactly what we had heard from Alistair, every place he had gone, every justified punishment he had delivered, every deal for _temporary_ oversight he had witnessed, and every cover up, to keep Vampires existence hidden from the human world, he had a hand in. Over the years Alistair's reports, together with Alice's visions had put us at ease, for the time being at least.

"I don't think you are right in your relief. Actually I think something is very, very wrong." Amun replied after hearing every account that we relayed to him. "Do you have a map?"

"Of course, there's one hanging in the library." Jasper informed him before leading the way in there.

Amun retrieved a pen off of a nearby table and began marking off not only locations of the areas around the world Alistair had followed Benjamin to, but also the routes we had told him that Benjamin had taken. The Volturi's pursuit of _justice_ had taken him all over the world, almost. As soon as Amun had marked everything on the map one thing became obvious. The Volturi had never ventured even close to Greece.

But didn't that make sense? Carlisle had assured me that Vampires don't like going to that country. It was too close to Italy, which is where the Volturi were located, so if there was no Vampires in Greece, why world the Volturi go there?

But it had to be more than that. Not only did the Volturi not need to go into the country to extol any justice, they stayed clear of it entirely, traveling all the way around it whenever they needed to travel from one nearby country to another, instead of cutting straight through the middle.

I know that Vampires are fast, almost as fast as wolves and it wouldn't cut out that much time from their travels, but one or two hours was still one or two hours, no matter how long you lived. Why take the long way around when you simply go straight through a country?

I don't know how none of us hadn't seen it before, but when Amun pointed out, it was fairly obvious.

When Benjamin had met with some Vampires in a small town outside of Istanbul on their way west to Albania, they hadn't bothered taking the quickest most direct route, straight through the northern part of Greece, but had gone around the entire country.

Even after having lived with the Cullens for over four decades, I was not a Vampire, and was still missing, what I considered, one vital piece of information. "Um . . . where, in Italy exactly, is Volterra?"

"It's located right here," Carlisle said pointing close to the top of the boot-shaped country.

"Oh, err . . . alright." I didn't see what the problem was. It was nowhere close to Greece. Vampires would have to travel hundreds of miles and cross the Mediterranean if they wanted to take the most direct way to Greece, if anyone was so inclined to travel that way.

But that just led to more questions. There were other countries that were closer to Volterra than Greece. Why would Vampires be completely avoiding that one country, but go to others . . . others closer to Volterra? There were Vampires in Albania, and Albania was much closer than Greece to Volterra.

What was going on in Greece? Suddenly, the issue with Benjamin didn't seem as bad. Or did it? Maybe the country just smelled bad or something. But there were no Vamps there right now and we had an actual situation that needed our attention in Italy.

While Amun was obsessing over Greece I started thinking more about what was going on with Aro's sudden benevolence. From what I remember in the field back in Washington it seemed like Aro was a man who never did anything unless it somehow benefited himself. What was he getting out of all of this?

What exactly was going on with all of the Vamps that Aro, Caius and Marcus were pardoning, giving a second chance for a 100 years of oversight? Ha! It was more like blackmailed loyalty.

That's what it was! They were amassing an army. Not of newborns, or witnesses, where their allegiance couldn't be completely trusted. These Vamps had been living with their Volturi leaders, they were seeing firsthand how they were extolling _justice_ – with (false) understanding and consideration, trying to reestablish the _good_ name of the Volturi, so that next time they chose to pick a fight, most likely with us, all of their "witnesses" would truly be on their side, not just as witnesses, but allies, ready to fight for them.

We would be outnumbered, and who knew how many would have gifts of their own. Some could possibly even be like Benjamin, and be able to get through Bella's shield. Aro and the others had been recruiting an army, right under our noses!

After I shared my theory with everyone, Rose looked over at Jasper and asked "How many? How many could they have possibly amassed, ready to fight against us?"

Jasper's brow scrunched just for a moment but I figured he was trying to calculate the numbers in his head. We only had reports from Alistair for the past three years, that he had been watching Benjamin, but how long had it been that Aro and the others had been up to this? It possibly had been going on for years . . . decades even. Benjamin (and to a lesser extent, Tia) was just one, in a long list, that the Volturi had acquired through this sort of trickery and deceit.

There are not that many Vampires in the world, not compared to humans, at least. They probably had only been able to acquire one or two, possibly as many as four, in a year, if the Vampire the Volturi pardoned had a mate that they requested to come with them. But it had been almost 40 years since that day back in Forks where we stood against those damn, bastard Vampire rulers. Had they been doing this sort of thing all along?

We will definitely be outnumbered if that was the case, even if every single witness from last time stood with us, and every wolf, past and present phased and came along. That was one thing, at least, even if we gave up our wolves, we were still always able to recall them, years, even decades later, if needed. But we would still be lacking far behind Jasper's 150 maximum estimate that the Volturi might have amassed.

"That number is probably high. Remember they would need to feed and house all of them, and keep them under control. Our kind does not do well in large groups," Jasper explained.

"But they would have had Marcus use his gift to check their loyalties and choose to keep only those they thought least likely to revolt against them." Edward argued. "They also have Chelsea tightening their bonds. And while I'm not sure exactly how effective she may be on so many, Corin's gift is similar to yours, Jasper. She cannot artificially calm everyone down like you, but can make their new members feel content with their situation. Normally she just uses it on Aro and Caius' wives, but she could probably easily encompass more under her gift."

"Great!" Bella huffed, before turning to Jasper. "So what do we do?" I know she and probably everyone else was relying on his military training and knowledge to get us out of this . . . somehow.

With his brow typically furrowed and after a minute to think, much longer than needed for a Vampire, in a normal circumstance, Jasper replied, "I believe that if we have any chance of surviving this we need to go on the offensive. Waiting for them to attack us is suicide."

Immediately everyone started talking over each other, strategizing on ways to attack the Volturi. Well almost everyone.

Carlisle of course hated violence. "Hold on Jasper. Could we just wait and step back a moment. We do not know that they are even considering us as a target. Alice have you seen them planning anything against us?"

"No, I didn't think so," the Doc continued, taking her blank stare as a non-confirmation.

Well that was good news. But my relief was short lived as soon as I saw Edward move to talk. "They could be playing with the holes in your visions, Alice. Aro has read my mind as well as yours. He knows as well as we do how your visions work. He would know how to get around them."

Edward looked sternly at his sister, the look in his eyes . . . yikes, it was one of the few times he actually looked like an evil bloodsucking Vampire. But I could understand his reasoning. She was after all the one person who might be able to see if and when we needed to be prepared to fight a massive army. "Alice, try again. Look years into the future if necessary." he requested, struggling to hold back his rage. But I think it was probably out of fear for his family – Bella and Nessie and not anger at her.

"But you know the further away I look, the more unsure the future is."

"Please." he said, this time really stressing to calm down his tone.

"Okay . . . but . . . I need time . . . I need to . . . I can't see . . . wolf blocks my . . ." she stuttered as she flew out the back door. Humph! But if time away from me was what she needed then that was fine. I would gladly give it to her.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.


	103. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (2nd Section)

**Part Seven - Second Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

Three hours after she left, Alice returned. Her forehead - a mass of wrinkles. It looked like she was in pain from a migraine or something. I've never seen her look as bad. I guess she had seen something though or else she wouldn't be back so soon. As if three hours was a short time for a vision.

"Alice what did you see?" Bella asked her best friend.

"It's still so unclear. I looked, and looked, and looked into the future. I think I went years, possibly decades, following every scenario I could think of. There's no concrete actual plan as far as I can tell; just little hints of things that the Volturi are considering," she huffed.

"What are they considering?" Amun asked.

"It changes from one moment to the next. It's . . . there's nothing . . . certain. There's nothing really to grasp onto. Sometimes I see the Volturi coming after one of us, or a few of us, here and there for different, unrelated things, but I don't see any full-blown war if that is what you are worried about. And some versions don't have any fighting at all and we're all living peacefully for the next few decades. Some things are happening in different possible futures that have nothing to do with the Volturi; some good, some bad. There's just nothing concrete yet," she huffed again.

"We know you're trying your best, my dear but this is gravely important. Is there any way you can go and look again. See further?" Carlisle asked.

"But that's what I'm telling you. I've seen as much as has been decided. There's just nothing decided. Maybe if I try again after something happens . . ."

"But now that Amun has realized the need to fight the Volturi, doesn't that change the future somehow?" Bella asked. "What if we all decided to go fight them . . . Jasper what do you think? Can you put a strategy together for us and settle on it so that Alice can get a clearer vision of what's going to happen?"

"With pleasure," he smirked. It seemed that those of us wanting to fight were growing in numbers.

"We need to be smart about this," Jasper began after a moment. "We're not going to want to fight against the entire army that the Volturi have assembled. There aren't enough us, and if we do fight, both sides are sure to be decimated.

"But if we think of this not as a head on attack, but more as guerilla warfare, we might stand a chance of coming out of this unscathed . . . or with as little casualties as possible," he concluded sadly, while looking directly at Alice. Of course she would be his first priority.

"So what do you suggest?" Carlisle asked. Not fighting was what he was hoping for, but minimal deaths would probably his second best choice.

"I suggest we take out a few key, high level Volturi members."

"You can't be suggesting we kill Aro, Caius, and Marcus? Can you?" he gasped. The Doc probably still thought of those Volturi nut jobs as his friends.

"No. Not at all. That would throw the Vampire world into chaos. As much as I don't like them, I realize that they serve a purpose and need to stay in power. I was thinking more along the lines of Jane and Alec. Possibly a few others, but definitely those two. While they are not a threat to us, thanks to Bella, the rest of the Vampire world still lives in fear of them and makes the Volturi much more powerful than they need to be, to enforce the law."

"Your right." Bella agreed. "My gift does pretty much neutralize them. But how are we going to get them alone? Alice, can you see where they're going to be?"

"Jane . . . yes, but Alec, we need to try and leave him unharmed," Alice warned. "I know it will be hard, because they are always together, but not impossible."

What did she see? What would happen if we killed him too? Whatever it was she didn't elaborate.

"Alright," Jasper nodded, then continued with his strategizing. "I was also thinking about us trying to take out Demetri and Renata, if she ever leaves Volterra."

"Hmmm," Alice seemed to being trying to see . . . something.

"Wait! Won't doing this just leave us open to a retaliation attack from the others?" Nessie asked her mother.

"Not if we don't go and broadcast that we're gonna go take out their favorite torture pet," I snidely remarked. The thought of any of the Volturi coming after us, and by "us" I was really only referring to Nessie, sent the wolf in me into protective Alpha mode. But it also made me want to reassure my imprint that everything would be alright, weather I knew it would be or not. Of course she knew that, though.

"No, they definitely would know it was us, that had ended Jane's life, Jacob. There would be no point in denying it. No one else would even be able to get close to her, and if for some reason they didn't figure it out, Aro would just have to touch any one of us to see it with his gift, and he has all of eternity to do that.

"We need to be clear that we are doing this intentionally and on purpose. And for the rest of the Vampire world to know. And once they're gone, we need to bring our demands to the Volturi leaders." Jasper clarified.

"And just what are our demands," Rose asked him.

"That as long as everyone is following the Law, they leave us, and our friends, in peace. That they stop blackmailing the Vampire world into following them, unquestionably. And that they revert back to the law keepers that they were originally supposed to be."

"And if they don't?" Emmett now asked.

"Then we threaten to end them. I don't want to fight, but I will. Without Jane, Demetri and Renata, even if they do have the numbers, we would take out many of them."

"And so would they for us, I don't see any of us surviving against all of those they have amassed." Amun countered him.

"It's a risk, I agree, but I think it's one we need to take. Alice do you think you will be able to see now what the outcome of this plan may be?"

"Argh," she just huffed before running out of the house again.

* * *

Another two and a half hours past when Edward flew to the front door. When he got there he flung it open with such force that I was surprised he hadn't ripped it off of its hinges, But there on the other side was Alice, just standing there . . . frozen in place.

Edwards eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. Judging by his reaction I guess that even if we did end up taking out Jane and the others, we weren't going to survive whatever happened after that.

"So they do a plan on attacking us," Edward finally seethed, probably seeing her vision for himself. I could hear the growling that he was trying to suppress.

"I don't know how I missed it before," Alice finally spoke, when Jasper slipped past Edward to grab her hand and lead her into the living room where the rest of us were waiting. "I saw mostly the same images as before, it's just that they finally got clarified. The Volturi's plan has been in place all along. It's just been so broken up into little snip-its; Aro, Caius and Marcus, each seemingly planning a separate part, probably deliberately to throw me off, that I hadn't put it all together before. But 'yes' the Volturi plan to attack us, not anytime soon, but I see that they will amass a giant army, even bigger than they have now, many with gifts of their own, to do so. I still can't see everything but part of their plan is to outnumber and separate us while simultaneously overwhelming Bella's shield."

"That settles that, then we are definitely going after Jane, without her we will probably have a fighting chance. And maybe if we eliminate her we can stop this war before it even starts." Jasper decided. It didn't look like he was going to stand being challenged on this . . . not that I had any intention of doing so, but it looked like Esme was having a hard time holding her tongue. Of course she knew that we needed to fight. Alice's vision left us little choice.

* * *

We wanted to wait a little longer, flesh out a better, more complete plan, According to Alice the Volturi were probably not planning on attacking us for another 20 years or so. But that would only allow them more time to build a larger army against us. And Alice saw them acquiring someone very powerful, very soon. We had to act now. This was the perfect time to prevent them from acquiring this new power and take out Jane at the same time. That would be good, but it also meant we would have to quickly come up with out next move soon afterwards. Apparently, not next week or next month, but NOW was the time we were going to make our stand . . . or sneak attack . . . or whatever it was Jasper had us doing.

We had just gotten off a plane in China. Alice said she saw Jane, Alec and Demetri here for their next of _recruitment_ attempt of this Vampire with a powerful gift. We were less than an hour into our run to meet up with Carlisle's friends and the Volturi's next target, when Alice got that look in her eye. She had been using her gift to see if she could pinpoint their exact location, so we wouldn't have to wander around the entire county trying to pick up their scent.

This time Alice said that she had clearly seen that the twins and the tracker would not be arriving for another twenty-seven hours. We wanted plenty of time beforehand so that there would be no way we would arrive too late - like we had with Benjamin.

All of us came to help; all of the Cullens, Nessie and I, and even Amun and Kebi. They wanted to put an end to what the Volturi were doing as much as we did and were determined to see this through.

"I found them!" Alice happily exclaimed. Seemingly proud that she was able to locate them so quickly. "Oh, um . . . maybe we should take a break, for an hour or two. Jake and Nessie probably need a rest. And I'm sure Jake is hungry."

"Alice, Jake can run for hours on end, barely getting tired physically. And I run longer than this all the time. We need to get to Yang and his mate, the sooner the better." Nessie chuckled slightly. I could tell she was trying not to sound mad but really knew that she was upset by her Aunts suggestion.

"That's not it darling," Edward tried to comfort his daughter. "Alice was just making an excuse. In truth she saw that they were in the middle of hunting. If we wait a couple of hours we won't have to witness them killing any humans."

Hmmm, good idea. And Alice was partially right, I could use a snack.

As much as I hated the idea of some of the Cullen's friends living off of human blood, I long ago came to accept it. The Cullens were my family and some of my family's friends lived a _lifestyle_ that was different than my own.

Okay . . . that was a load of crap. I still hated the idea of Vampires eating people. But I couldn't save the entire world. And killing any of Nessie's friends would only make her . . . err . . . unhappy, and that was the last thing I wanted. So I just had to suck it up and keep my mouth shut. And in reality, it was a rare occasion that it was shoved in my face. The Cullens tried as much as they could to shield me, and themselves, from such things.

"Oh how strange." she nearly shrieked after searching her vision to see if she could determine a more precise time as to when the Chinese Coven would be done _eating_. "Yang . . . I think he is about to run across his singer."

"That's highly unlikely," Edward shook his head in disbelief to what we all heard and whatever else he might have seen in Alice's vision. "Yang and Zhou survive on a diet of human blood. I doubt that either of them would ever pay that much attention to the scent of a single human enough to notice their singer, it's only those of us who feed from animal blood that would be so attuned to it."

"Edward's right," Carlisle agreed. "Having Tia recently find her own singer, someone so appealing to her was one thing, a rare occurrence to be sure, but now Yang too, this goes beyond unlikely. And within just a few years of each other? Very strange indeed. Alice, what else do you see? Is there something that could explain this?"

What did it even matter? As horrible and despicable as it was, they ate humans all the time. Was this _singer_ person someone special? Or maybe this was the start of a bigger problem. Were humans suddenly becoming more tasty to Vampires everywhere? Were the Cullens going to have a problem keeping to their vegetarian lifestyle soon?

Alice once again went into her trans like mode, I had lived with her long enough to know that she didn't need to run away from me now that she had already seen something. She could just go back into the vision.

"That's it!" she exclaimed after a few minutes. "It's a Vampire whose gift is that she is capable of finding someone's singer." Then Alice gasped in disbelief. "I think she is one of the Volturi's new recruits."

"What?" "Why?" "Why would they want to do that?" Everyone started asking, but it was Bella's question to Edward that really caught my attention.

"Does her gift work similarly to Marcus' where he can sense the bonds and ties between two people?"

"Possibly, but I cannot tell from Alice's vision and I cannot hear her thoughts. She either hasn't arrived in the area or we are not close enough to them yet, but if I were to guess I would assume so. She must be able to sense, or possibly even see in some way, which human's blood a Vampire is most attracted to."

Esme looked like she had another theory though. "Or her gift could work more like Demetri's. She could be able to sense and track not only a Vampire but their singer as well."

Plausible.

"Either way that would mean, if she is here, or will be soon, that the Volturi are probably using her to find a Vampire's singer and then throwing them in front of their path."

"Why?" I asked. Was the reason obvious to everyone else?

"Think about it. It must be advantageous in some way to those they want to 'recruit'," Jasper said, holding up his fingers to make air quotes on the last word.

"To do what? Make joining them more enticing? _Join the Volturi and get all the yummy singers you can eat_ ," I said, like a cheesy Kmart blue light special's ad, while doing a mockingly bad Dracula impression. I guess it could make sense, in a sick, twisted sort of way.

"Sick and twisted is what the Volturi specialize in Jacob." Edward agreed with my arrant thought. "Alice look again. See if you can find anything else that could help us make sense of this," he requested, and then we waited once again, but not for long.

"Her name is Madeline . . . that's strange." Alice suddenly looked confused by what she saw in her vision. "I see Felix talking to her. And Corin, too. It looks like they are somewhere close to where we are now. But what are Corin and Felix going to be doing there? Argh, I was afraid of this. This is what happens when I'm rushed, I miss things," Alice said then gave a long drawn out sigh, rather overly exasperatedly in my opinion.

I remembered Felix, the guy was the only other person, excluding Emmett and my Pack brothers, that I had ever seen who was as big as I was. But Corin? Who was she . . . wait, wasn't that the name of the female Volturi member who made everybody in Volterra feel all happy inside?

"Not happy, Jacob, more like . . . content," Edward responded to my thought again.

"That's it!" Amun shouted, while slamming his hand down on a nearby fallen tree, smashing it to bits and rocking the ground so much that my lunch I had taken out, toppled over everywhere. Great! "That's what's going on. That is why Tia did not bother cleaning up her mess. I taught her better than that." He was getting more and more enraged, with each sentence he spoke. "They did this to her. The Volturi, they used this new Vampire, Madeline, to force Tia to attack her singer in front of a crowd of witnesses and then had Corin make Tia feel like . . . like she was done . . . satisfied, that she didn't need to get rid of those witnesses. The Volturi forced the entire situation!" he was screaming now.

"If your right," Jasper cautiously spoke, "then the entire thing was completely orchestrated, well in advance. But we can't be certain that that was what happened back then. Alice can only see the future, not the past. And she did not see Corin or Madeline back then."

"Was she looking?" Amun seethed, but never waited for an answer. It seemed like he had already made up his mind that that was what must have happened. "I can't believe they are doing this," Amun gasped, calmer now but still upset. He began shaking his head in his hands, clearly still in disbelief at his own theory.

"We can argue about the exact circumstances surrounding what happened with Tia later. Right now we need to get to Yang before Alice's vision happens. The Volturi are after Zhou, and his power to confuse someone's memories! They could do a lot of harm if they get him on their side." Bella exclaimed. "And then we need to figure out a way to stop them, once and for all. They can't be allowed to deceive and force any more Vampires into joining them."

"Especially not ones with gifts." Emmett muttered.

"So the Volturi sent this new Vampire, Madeline, along with Corin and Felix? What happened to Jane, Alec, and Demetri?" Rose asked.

Alice looked for a moment. "They are still set to arrive tomorrow, just like I saw. It seems having Yang meet up with his singer today is going to be an accident. Corin, Madeline, and Felix were just suppose to be observing the Chinese Coven until the others arrived. I don't think Madeline has complete control over her gift. Eww," Alice shuttered, quickly breaking out of the vision.

"She just saw Jane using her pain _gift_ on Madeline, when she arrives tomorrow, for acting early," Edward explained to everyone, as he attempted to hid his own shutter. I had never experienced Jane's gift myself but judging to their reaction to just seeing it, it seemed like it must hurt like hell.

"But why are they even doing this? They can't be planning on using our own friends to attack us someday, can they?" Esme asked Alice.

She just shrugged. Damn-it! What good was it for her to be able to see the future if she couldn't see the things that we really needed.

"But . . . our friends?" Emmett scoffed. "They should know we're not gonna fight each other. And we have Bella. Zhou can't get through her shield any more than Jane or Alec can."

Rose just rolled her eyes at her husband. "Oh, so are you planning on never leaving Bella's side, for the rest of eternity? Because I might have an objection to that."

"Oh, yeah. Right Babe," he smirked before leaning in for a kiss, which she gave him, but worry about both their safety was clearly present in her eyes.

"All we want to do is live in peace. Why are the Volturi doing this? An entire army? This is beyond overkill." Rose dry sobbed into her husband's arms. I'm sure if she was capable of crying she would be.

But did they really need a reason? I mean, come on, they are the bad guys, right. Isn't that what bad guys do? Attack the innocent.

"It's probably because we humiliated them last time." Jasper interjected. "It was the first time the Volturi have been beaten in over a millennium. Aro probably can't let that go. I'm surprised he's waited this long, actually."

"So that's really it? They're doing all of this just to try to kill us all again." Nessie asked.

"It looks that way." Jasper, too coldly for my liking, replied to his niece.

Okay then. We need to do something. Now! "I don't know about you but we don't know what other freaky mind controlling, Zombie making, Vamps they have acquired and I sure as hell will defend myself, and Nessie, if it came to a fight. It's not like we're going to just stand around and let them slaughter us." I growled. "Are we?"

No one answered, but it was more rhetorical anyway.

"Wait a minute. I'm confused. Why are they targeting the friends or mates of the Vampires they want?" Emmett asked. "Why not just use this new singer finding minion, Madeline, to find one for the gifted Vampire instead?"

"Singers are extremely rare, Emmett. That she found any at all is fantastical. The fact that you came across two in your past just shows how picky you are _not_." Edward humorously explained to his brother, as Rose smacked him on the back of his head with a sad chuckle.

Well, that was good for a short break in the tension, but what were we gonna do?

"But this is it, right?" Emmett questioned again. "This is the excuse we need to go fight the Volturi head on. Now we can attack them and not be seen as the provoking bad guys. We'll be seeking justice, right?" he asked, looked around expectantly.

"I still abhor violence," Carlisle sighed. "But this is not the Volturi being the new reasonable conveyors of temperate justice. What they are doing is nothing more than entrapment, to blackmail and forcibly draft an army to fight for them."

"But we still can't just go and attack the Volturi. We need the entire Vampire world to understand what they are doing. We need to make this public, just like last time in Washington, in front of witnesses. Like back then, others need to know exactly what the Volturi are doing, as they were hoping to do to us back then, make an example of us, in front of everybody so that they could spread the word that justice had been served. We need to do the same, in front of witnesses, to expose their deceit, and get them to back off from attacking us," Edward exclaimed.

"But how?" Rose asked. "All we have is Alice's visions, Amun's theories, and Jasper's plan of attack. And most of what we are doing now is based on Amun's theory. And while I believe that it is the most likely explanation, that's still really all it is . . . a theory. For right now, anyway. We don't have any hard evidence, and it's not like we're going to get Aro, Caius or Marcus, or any of the guard to admit what they've done. How are we going to prove to anyone else what the Volturi have done or why?"

No one had an answer. The Cullens then did what Vampires did when stressed and turned to statues as they lacked a solution.

"We can discuss everything later, but right now we need to find Yang and Zhou," Jasper finally said, breaking the silence.

Jasper's new plan seemed simple enough. Somehow we needed to catch up with the coven before Madeline could rush the implementation of the Volturi's plan. To do that we needed to stop Yang from ever coming within ten or so miles of his singer in the first place. Then we somehow needed to get Corin, Madeline and Felix to leave without having them meet up with Jane, Alec, and Demetri. China was a large country so Demetri was most likely here to lead Jane and Alec to the others. We also needed to intercept and dispose of Jane, and possibly Demetri, without killing Alec.

See . . . simple.

HA! Yeah right.

We decided to break up into two groups. Bella obviously would have to be one of the ones going after Jane and Alec, so they wouldn't be able to use their pain and numbing _gifts_ on any of us. Which meant Edward was going with Bella, and where Bella and Edward we're going Nessie wanted to go, too, which meant the four of us were headed after the twins.

Amun wanted to go after Corin and Madeline because, as he saw it, they were two of the ones mainly responsible for the taking of his coven members. I assumed that he probably wanted to tear off their heads, but then again, Alice would have seen it before hand, or Edward would have heard him planning such a thing, but I would have thought one of them would have mentioned hearing something . . . that or he wasn't thinking about it . . . yet.

Anyway Carlisle wanted to stick with his old friend, so he and Esme joined Amun and Kebi. And Jasper and Alice went with them so that each group would have someone with an extra sensory mental gift. Which meant Rose and Emmett were with us.

Yang and Zhou apparently liked living in the middle of nowhere so we couldn't get a cell phone signal here but by splitting up Edward and Alice hopefully both of them would be able to see and hear enough of what was going on in the other group that's we would be able to coordinate everything well enough.

Of course Edward could only hear the others while we were within five miles of Alice's group. And that was bringing Jane and Alec a little too close to the other area of action in my opinion.

"Remember – try not to kill Alec," Alice stressed before taking off in the opposite direction as our group.

Alice had seen that Jane, Alec, and Demetri were just finishing up some non-related assignment _nearby_ , on the southern border of Mongolia. All we had to do was run North and intercept them.

Time for the fun to start.

 **To be continued . . .**


	104. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (3rd Section)

**Part Seven – Third Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

Everything worked out . . . almost. All of us survived the attack on Jane, Alec and Demetri. Emmett was hurt the worst on our side when his left hand was twisted off by Demetri, but was easily reattached. Jane, Alec and Demetri were not so lucky and contrary to Alice's instructions all killed. We tried . . . pleaded, really with Alec to just walk away after taking out Jane, but it was a long shot to begin with. Alec wouldn't stand for his sister's death. Alice must have known that when she warned us, again, before she left.

Once we regrouped with Alice and her group we learned that Corin, Madeline, and Felix saw the smoke from Jane, Alec and Demetri's burning bodies, realized half of the Cullens were missing, and grasped exactly what must have happened to their three colleagues. Figuring they were beat they managed to slip away. Bella's shield couldn't reach that far, and we found out that, thanks to Corin's gift, Alice's group were left feeling very _contented_ to allow their Volturi members to leave. At least those Volturi recognized that they were outnumbered and didn't try to fight our side. And they did have to retreat empty handed, having no new recruit and nothing to blackmail Zhou with.

One battle down. Now we just had to talk to the Volturi leaders and end this. But even if we just went with the intention of talking it could very easily turn into a battle.

"So how are we going to do this? Meet the Volturi in an open field, like last time?" I asked Alice and Jasper after we finally meet with Yang and Zhou an hour later. They had thanked us for what we did, but were not very personable and left us after having a brisk chat with Carlisle and Esme.

Whatever. Jane, Alec, and Demetri were gone. I wanted to know what our next move was. We had taken out three of the Volturi's biggest threats (even if one of them was a mistake) and I was feeling pumped.

"I say, we go walk right into the heart of Volterra, confront Aro, Caius, and Marcus and make our demands." Emmett chuckled while pounding one of his fists into his other palm. "Let's go storm the castle."

"There'll be no storming of anything, Emmett," Carlisle admonished his son.

"So what are we supposed to do now? Does Alice have a step-by-step breakdown of some vision she had of what's going to happen that will allow us to defeat the Volturi?" Nessie wondered.

"Not exactly, but we are going to have some help," Alice chuckled.

Jasper began naming a list of things we needed before we meet with the Volturi – well the surviving members anyway. "We need to somehow find out exactly how many of our kind they have _recruited_ , and what powers they have."

"Jasper you know that's not something that I'm going to be able to see with any certainty. But that's okay we have something better than my visions."

"Alice I don't think anything is better than your visions," Bella scoffed. I agreed. Why was Alice so excited that she was not able to see something so important to our future success?

"This time there is," Alice smiled smugly before turning to look expectantly at someone just as they stepped into the edge of the clearing we had gathered in to talk to the Chinese coven.

"Benjamin!" Amun gasped when he saw his coven member/son-of-sorts walk up to us, followed closely behind by Alistair.

"What are you two doing . . .? Rose asked them, but before she could finish Amun cut her off with a list of questions.

"Are you alright, my son. Have they treated you well? How is Tia?" he asked all in one breath, well one unnecessary breath.

Kebi, on the other hand looked annoyed that her lost son was here. Weird.

"They have treated us . . . fine, but it is good to see you again. But I must tell you that I can't live like this anymore. What I am doing . . . even when it is justified . . . and they keep me so busy I barely ever get to see Tia. We need to get out of there. I cannot live without her and they refuse to let her leave not only the city, but the main compound."

"Like I said," Rose began again, annoyed now that someone dared to interrupt her. As good of friends as we had become over the years it was not lost on me how she was just so self-centered some . . . okay, all the time, "What are you guys even doing here?"

"They were the unrelated business that Jane, Alec, and Demetri were on," Alice chirped, then her face fell, probably worried about what was going to happen since we killed Alec.

Everybody wanted to know exactly what Benjamin's business entailed, however he said it was a long story that he would be happy to explain later, but right now there was more important things to talk about.

Benjamin began giving us a breakdown of every single vampire the Volturi had "recruited" over the decades, along with each of their strengths, abilities, and even better, the magnitude of their gifts - whether they were weak or strong, if they could be used on one person or an entire group, if it was a mental or physical manifestation, everything that we would need to know.

None of them seemed especially interesting until he mentioned Aro's new Shield. Apparently Renata had been replaced by someone who could project and actual forcefield.

"I've never seen anyone's gift like Adrian's," Benjamin seem to be amazed, even as he was describing it. "It's like something out of a science fiction movie, similar to Bella's shield but almost tactile. Aro would have the two of us practice our gifts with each other; him throwing up his forcefield and I trying to penetrate it with rocks, fireballs, wind, lightning bolts, anything I could think of but alas nothing got through."

Yikes!

Luckily he was the only one with a power that seemed to have a physical manifestation, everything else, except a few mental powers would probably be stopped by Bella's shield.

Benjamin continued filling in the Cullens, and talking with Amun and Kebi for hours on end, so long so that Nessie and I ended up setting up the tent we had brought with us and went to sleep for the night. They were still talking when we woke up the next morning, and well into the next day. How many new recruits did the Volturi have? I guess Jaspers 150 estimate was not that far off.

The next morning we relocated to one of China's nicer hotels, where Benjamin could continue filling everyone in, in a more comfortable location. Alistair had disappeared but Edward said that he wasn't far.

Two days later we emerged from the hotel and were greeted just outside the main door by one of the new Volturi recruits, Kispen, who had been sent to request that Benjamin return to Volterra with her "Immediately". She found him quickly enough, so she must have been a fairly competent tracker, not nearly anywhere close to Felix's capabilities, but she must not be that bad.

Before leaving with Benjamin she handed Carlisle an envelope that was addressed to the Cullen Coven. Inside was a handwritten note from Aro.

We relocated, back into the hotel, away from human eyes, to an empty conference room, before reading the letter.

 _To: Doctor and Mrs. Carlisle Cullen,_

 _Major and Mrs. Jasper Whitlock,_

 _Mr. and Mrs. Emmett McCarty,_

 _Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen and Miss Renesmee Cullen,_

 _Your presence is requested, to discuss_

 _a matter of great urgency._

 _We look forward to seeing you ALL_

 _on the Fourteenth of June, 2049_

 _at precisely Five O'clock in the evening._

 _~ Aro_

 _p.s. Regarding the attendance of your guard dog –_

 _se proprio devi._

Well I certainly felt special. "your guard dog" . . . charming. Wait. June 14th? That was an entire month away.

"Hmmm, Aro listed our names as the ones we went by when we first became Vampires. How formal," Rose sneered.

That was what she was focusing on? I mean it's not like she didn't have a point. It was a little strange seeing everyone's names listed as they were, none of the Cullens had gone by those names in decades. I know I always referred to them as the Cullens, but that was just in my head. In public we went by whatever names we were currently pretending to be. I, myself, hadn't gone by Black in as long either, but weren't there more important things for Rose and the rest of us to focus on?

"Screw this!" Emmett scoffed. "I say we go now. They're not the ones making the rules anymore. It's time they learned that."

"Emmett, no. We need the Volturi to stay in charge. We can't be seen to openly subvert their authority. If all goes they way we want, then when this is all said and done we will get everyone, they have taken out, while still leaving the Volturi in place to keep order in the Vampire world. As much as I dislike it, they serve a purpose. You know that. Without them to keep order the Vampire world would fall into chaos. And then where would we be?" Jasper was almost scolding him now like some misbehaving child. "We can't have Vampires running free, with no one to keep them in check, not cleaning up after themselves, humans finding out about our existence, our kind feeding on entire towns with no one to stop them, creating army's of newborns again . . . or more unteachable, immortal children . . . or worse."

Worse? What was worse than all of that? It sounded pretty horrible to me.

"Jasper is right." Carlisle agreed. "We need someone to oversee our kind, to enforce the law."

"Well, why does it have to be them?" Emmett argued.

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Why not you? I don't see you turning into some power hungry psycho, like Aro."

"While I appreciate your confidence in me I do not believe I would have it in me to follow through on some of the more . . . unpleasant aspects of the Volturi's purpose."

"Isn't that what Aro, Caius and Marcus' henchmen were for, disposing of those of us who broke the law?"

"Yes, but I would be the one sentencing them to death and that is something I could not do. Aro, Caius and Marcus may not be perfect, they may have lost their way, but I hope that we can help them find it again, because I don't see anyone willing to take their place."

"Fine," he simply sulked and dropped the matter.

"I'm coming with you when you go." Amun then offered to Carlisle.

"Amun I know you want your coven back, Carlisle gently began to explain to his friend "but I don't think upsetting Aro like that is the right way to go about it."

Huh? Oh right. Amun's name wasn't on the invite list.

"But if it comes to a fight . . ."

"Then you would just die with us. There are too many of them for one, or two more" he added glancing at the still silent Kebi, "to make any difference on our side. I believe this is where our journey together ends for now."

Amazingly after a little bit more grumbling on Amun's part Carlisle managed to convince him and he left without another word, returning home with his mate, to wait for the return of the other half of his coven.

Carlisle just amazed me time and again.

"Why even wait a month? Why give the Volturi a chance to prepare and attack against us? Let's go attack them now," I suggested once they had gone. The Volturi obviously weren't prepared yet, lets strike them while they're not ready. "Maybe they are trying to lure us into a false sense of security and will attack us next week or something."

"I understand your way of thinking and it makes sense. But it also makes sense for us to wait, and go to them as requested. It gives us time to prepare to confront them and whatever they come up with. They know we'll be watching, they'll know Alice will see and I doubt they will try anything beforehand."

"Alice what do you see? Carlisle asked.

Alice moved to the edge of the room, as far away from me as she could get, closed her eyes, scrunched her brow, and then . . .

"No," Alice gasped. "I . . . did they . . . they changed their minds," she gasped again while shaking her head. "Killing Jane, Alec and Demetri . . . losing all three of them was too much. It's just like I feared. It made Aro reevaluate the Volturi's entire master plan. Aro is back to wanting Edward, Bella, and me to join him. But now he's going to try something . . . different. They are still deciding on the details but as of now the Volturi are going to continue on with their current strategy for obtaining new guard members with us . . . sort of. I think they're going to try and find some way to get Renesmee and Jasper to commit a crime and then use it as justification to force us to join them."

"And what about the rest of us?" Rose asked.

Alice seemed hesitant to answer but after a minute and some unnecessary deep breaths, she reluctantly seemed to begin to talk to Rose again. "I can't see exactly what happens. Jacob must be there. But when it's all over Edward, Bella, and I have joined the Volturi and I see five body sized ash piles." It didn't take a genius to figure out what she didn't say, that the five bodies were Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett and me.

Everyone looked grim.

"But now that we know this we can think of something to prevent it from happening," she said trying to raise everyone's hopes.

"They have forced countless of our kind to give up their lives to join them and now would kill our family, too. For what? 100 years of servitude? That doesn't make sense. They have been around for millennia. Multiple millennia. Why would they do all of this for so little time?" Bella asked.

"It wouldn't just be for 100 years. That's just the beginning of their plan. It seems to be a very multi layered plan." Alice said sympathetically. "I can see so much more now. They must have been at least thinking about this as an option for a while. Once they have us, they wouldn't let us go, and have many layers in place to assure that."

Nessie got up, out of the chair she was sitting in and ran. And ran. And ran.

"No, I won't do it!" Nessie started crying in my arms once I finally found her. She had run out of the hotel and into the nearby woods. When I caught up with her she had actually gone a good 18-19 miles before I had caught up with her. "Whatever it is they think they can force me to do, I won't. They will never be able to accuse me of some crime. I won't do it! Living with them forever is one thing, but spending an eternity without Jacob? No! I'd kill myself first." she screamed, leaping into my arms as she cried.

"Honey, didn't you hear Alice? This is good news. You'll be alive, you'll be fine. You'll have your parents and Alice and Jasper. Don't cry. Please don't cry, sweetheart." I pleaded.

"But you'll be . . ." her voice trailed off unable to say the word . . . Dead! Yeah, I would be, but she wouldn't. My angel would still be alive. That was the important thing. "I can't live without you."

"Of course you can. I imprinted on you, not the other way around. I know you think you did too, but that's not how imprinting works, sweetheart." I whispered to her. "You can go on. It may take some time, but eventually . . ."

"No Jake," she shouted, "Half-Vampires mate for eternity, just like Full-Vampires. If you die, I will too. I can't . . ."

"No one is dying," Edward cut her off, as he appeared behind us. "Alice saw what they planned, we have our own plan, a better one, and now that we know theirs we can take steps to prevent this from ever happening. We _will_ be the ones to come out victorious, so I do not want to hear any more talk of killing yourself honey. Do you understand?"

Wow, I had never seen Edward so determined.

Nessie just nodded, but was clearly still upset.

"Come on, it's been a long day. Why don't we get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning." I told her as I wrapped her tighter in my arms then began leading her back to the hotel.

"No! I won't be able to rest until we have a plan in place." She adamantly told me, but did not struggle as we headed back. When we got there everyone was still in the conference room and Nessie went right up to her uncle. Her eyes now showed the same determination as her father's just had. "Jasper I'm sure you've already started working on it, so let's hear you've come up with."

"The solution seems simple enough. We just need to avoid feeding from humans. Neither of us should ever be left alone for the next month. That means, Jacob and Alice, I'm sure it's not going to be too hard for you to not leave our sides" he smirked over to his wife, "but we should also double up just in case, so that's no mistakes can be made. We can't give the Volturi any reason to justify any misstep even in the slightest way."

"We should take it one step further. Once we return home you should just lock yourselves in the house. It's just a month. We have plenty of livestock raised that can be brought into the garage for you to feed from. And when the rest of us go out to hunt we should do it in two groups, always leaving half at home with you two. That will also make it safer for the rest of us, if the Volturi alter their plans again and decide to come after others of us." Esme suggested.

"Agreed," Jasper said, while Nessie just nodded her head.

"Now that that is settled we should talk more about Aro's _invitation_. You see what they're doing, don't you? When we do go to Volterra as requested, they're not giving us the opportunity to bring our own witnesses this time. They most likely saw that as one of their biggest problems last time. Now it'll just be us against all of them and they've already assembled all of their witnesses. There will be no stopping them this time. We were only successful last time because we got them to stop and listen. They're not giving us that opportunity this time." Jasper explained.

"They're going to have to, if they truly want Bella, Alice, and me to join them," Edward said. They're going to have to do something first, something that is going to force Renesmee and Jasper to act against the Law, because it is not going to happen beforehand."

"Unless they just want to talk," Esme said, before getting a strange look on her face. "I'm sorry, but this just does not make any sense. The Volturi invite us to visit them in a month, but Alice gets a vision that they are building a giant army to destroy all of us, then she gets a vision that they are going to trick Nessie and Jasper into breaking the law, to force Alice, Edward and Bella into joining them, and killing the rest of us. They can't all be right, even if they changed their minds about one plan after learning of their guards deaths. We are missing something."

Esme was right. We were all so focused on finding solutions to each individual threat that we were not seeing the larger picture.

"Aro knows how Alice's visions work. Maybe they decided on multiple plans to confuse her." Edward suggested.

"So which is the real plan? Kill all of us in 20-30 years or five of us within the next few weeks, or have a _pleasant_ chat in a month?" I wondered.

"Alice when you saw our burning bodies was it's in Volterra?" Carlisle asked her.

"The locations unclear. Sometimes it's an open field, sometimes it's in Volterra."

"Could this Madeline woman have already found our singers? Surely they're not going to try the same thing with us?"

"Maybe. That might be why they're not having us meet with them yet. Madeline might still be searching for them, and they could have given her a month as a deadline, then if she doesn't find them, they kill you all anyway, in Volterra, and forget about the pretense of lawbreaking," Alice shrugged.

Argh. This was a nightmare.

"So, do you still think it's a good idea to go walking right into Volterra?" Rose asked Edward. I was more than a little wary myself. Now it seemed like suicide.

And if it came to a fight, even if the Volturi wanted Nessie alive, if only to insure that Edward and Bella stayed, some of the gifts, the new Volturi members had, seemed like they could do some serious damage to our side, and the last thing I wanted was my Nessie getting hurt.

I briefly thought of asking her to not go and instead wait it out in La Push, but knew that she never would agree to that. She was never one to be benched or sidelined. It would kill her to think that she was not doing her part. I would just have to make sure that I kept her safe. Okay, I would try, but she was as much of a fighter as I was, and more than likely she would end up protecting me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward try unsuccessfully to hold back a snicker, even after everything, and decided to think about something else.

"Now more than ever," Edward replied to his sister after regaining his composure. "I would be willing to bet most of the new recruits don't want to be there. Being part of the Volturi's guard was once an honor, in the past they only took the very best. Most Vampires were rejected, now they seem to be taking everyone. Or at least that is the way it may look from the inside. I bet they are itching to leave . . . or at least they will be." he said nodding to Alice.

There silent conversations were annoying sometimes, but if she had come up with an idea and it was good enough that Edward was able to relax, then I'll get over it.

"Bella how long can you keep your shield up?" Alice asked, the sweet chime, that had hardened a moment ago, had returned to her voice and she seemed blissful now. Whatever their plan was, she seemed very confident in it, too. I wish they would get on with it and share it with the rest of us.

"Indefinitely, I think. Why?"

"Because when we go to Volterra we won't be going to meet the Volturi right away. We are going to need your shield first." Alice explained. "If you can shield Corin and Chelsea for a day or two so that their powers to make everyone feel comfortable and congenial together dwindles away then we will be able to convince them to leave with us. Now that Jane and Alec are not there to intimidate everyone and Demetri is dead, they don't have another tracker, at least not of his caliber, they won't be able to easily hunt everyone down . . ."

"But how do you expect me to do that? I think that if I walked into Volterra someone would notice."

"You won't have to. They mainly are in only a few locations. I am sure that Edward can help you find them. You met both of them before in Washington. Do you remember them?"

"I know what they look like, but I never touched them with my shield. If I had I would be able to . . . sense them . . . it's hard to explain, but when I shield someone, it's almost like each person has a unique flavor or something. But I don't know what they . . . taste like. You know what I mean," she said a bit embarrassed.

"I'll help you." Edward smirked at his wife. "I'll be able to hear their thoughts and can tell you when they are alone, and approximately where they are, so that you can just shield whomever is in a single room. It will be almost impossible to miss them. Then when everyone there is nice and grumpy it will be time for us to go in."

"And then we fight?" Emmett asked hopefully.

"No, then we talk. Everyone of the new members has had the same experience. They or their mate made a _mistake_ , and the Volturi leaders offered them 100 years of oversight in exchange for sparing their lives." Edward continued to explain.

"That's old news dude," Emmett scoffed. "We already knew that."

"Yes, and so do all of them - on an individual case. I doubt they all know it was the same story for all of them. And they don't know about Corin and Madeline's involvement in it. Benjamin said that some had seen them nearby at the time, but none are aware that it was almost the same exact story for everyone.

"I think, all we will need to do is reveal this fact to them and they will probably leave of their own accord. And without Jane and Alec I don't see the remaining Volturi being able to put up much of a fight to stop them or us from leaving."

"Aro is not going to stand looking week ... or being accused for doing something this deceitful . . . no matter how true it may be. His image, and that of the Volturi's, is too important to him." Carlisle said while shaking his head in frustration.

"That's why we are going to give him a scapegoat, or two," Edward smirked. "I heard Benjamin thinking about how Madeline only ever received orders from Jane."

"And Corin's been around long enough to probably catch on quickly and go along with the plan, but Madeline won't be so lucky." Alice added, as she got that vision look to her eyes, probably seeing the plan coming to fruition in her head. I was still lost, but she was smiling, which was good enough for me.

Jasper seemed to think for a moment. "You are going to have to somehow let Aro in on it for him to be seen to agree."

"That shouldn't be too hard. I'm sure he'll want to read one of our minds anyway. It doesn't matter who it is, I'll be able to read his thoughts and know instantly if he agrees to our plan or not. Really he should. We are offering him a way out."

"So we're not fighting?" Emmett sulked.

"Hopefully not." Carlisle replied, looking optimistic and dare I say . . . happy for the first time in months. "Alice, you seem like you think this is going to work. And the loss of life will be minimal . . . just Madeline? He asked Alice to which she simply nodded. Although he hadn't said anything while Edward, and Alice were discussing their plan he seemed to have followed along. I wish someone would explain it to me. I got some of the plan, but a few points went over my head.

"We'll explain on the way," Edward chuckled over to me as we all started gathering our things to head home and wait . . . I think.

At least my children were safe.

During all of this Felicity was hundreds of miles away, with Jennifer, Leah and Nahuel. Jennifer and Nahuel had expressed an interest in visiting the Half-Vampire from New Guinea, the only other hybrid known to exist. On the way they stopped by Australia and after meeting him, decided to go back and settle down there, having liked the area so much. They had been living quite peacefully there for the past seven years.

David, on the other hand, was pretending to be his own son, along with Matthew and William, and their sister Sepideh. I'm pretty sure they were currently in La Push, having his Pack switch Reservations with the other Pack (I'm not sure what to even call it anymore – Sam's former Pack? But he retired long ago, making Jared Alpha, when Jared finally retired he made Sam's son Alpha, and so on. The current Alpha, Johnny . . . something? had not been born, his parents hadn't even been born, when I first moved away from La Push with the Cullen's 42 years ago) They alternated reservations every 10 to 12 years or so, as to not arouse suspicion in the local population, since David, and a few other wolves would not age for years, decades even.

I was shocked when I first learned teens were still phasing back home, after all these years, but apparently La Push had turned into somewhat of a tourist attraction for Vampires around the world. So after all the heartbreak and sadness that Nessie and my family had been through, over the years, from our self imposed exile, to prevent future generations of wolves, it seems it was all for nothing. All over the world Vampires wanted to visit the location that the Cullens stood against the Volturi and lived to tell about it. They knew about the La Push wolves and were careful (mostly) not to wander too close to the Reservation, but they came close enough and stayed long enough that there was a constant new stream of teenage boys phasing over the decades. On the plus side La Push had never been left unprotected.

It hadn't happened right away. In truth we only heard about the first curious visitors, starting maybe 20 or so years ago. Most of the time, I had heard, that they just wanted to look around, but occasionally the wolves would get some crazy Vamp who thought it would be a good idea to try their luck against the Packs. Mostly they were alone, or traveled with only their mate, and two Vampires were no match for a Pack of wolves, even if the La Push and Makah Packs now only consisted of three wolves each. Wolves were faster than Vamps and were in constant communication with one another when needed and could team up in a heartbeat when there was a threat.

David was still trying to age with Janet and only phased when absolutely needed, yet he still had not aged a day since he turned two, or twenty-five, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Staying in one place, while technically not aging seemed to be a little easier for David to do than the Cullens; he was able to use grey hair dye to appear older when needed, and grow or cut his hair and beard to appear to age himself, among other things, before switching Reservations and starting out all over again.

But the problem still remained - Janet was still aging, David was not. It must be a little odd having your wife need to pretend to be your mother. It seemed a little strange but I guess it was working for them, for now at least.

Their children, my grandchildren were aging normally however . . . well Sepideh was, and William was once again, he had imprinted and gave up his wolf a few years ago to marry and grow old with his wife, Penny. Little Matthew, my youngest grandchild was twenty-four years old. He was currently the Packs Alpha, and wanted to stay a wolf. He had not imprinted on anyone and wanted to remain as he was until he did. It may never happen. Through rare nowadays, not every wolf imprints - just look at Leah.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Thanks for reading. I tried to clarify things a s much as i could but i had so many ideas and i'm not sure if they got too muddled. Was it confusing? or not. Please let me know if i need to rewrite any or all of this.

Please review and thank you to everyone who has read (and reviewed) and made it this far into the story with me.


	105. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (4th Section)

**Part Seven - Fourth Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

One month after receiving the _invitation_ from Aro we walked into Volterra.

While I was use to living with the Cullens for the past four decades, and had grown accustomed to their sweet scent. When I first phased, when I was still a teenager their scent burned my nose, but over the years I had grown accustomed to it, just as they had me. But living with the scent of eight Vampires was nothing compared to the onslaught of perfume exuded by all of the Vampires living in Volterra. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I thought that living with the Cullens all these years had prepared me for what I was about to face. However as soon as we entered the Volturi fortress I was immediately hit by the overwhelmingly sickeningly sweet smell that all those camps created, simply from being gathered in one closed location.

It hurt my nose, and gagged my throat but I had to be here. I would not let Nessie go in there without me. I needed to be there with her. All I could do was try to breathe through my mouth as I took one last breath of fresh air from the street, then grabbed Nessie's hand as we walked through the front door.

After "checking in" with some receptionist, we were ushered down a bunch of winding, endless corridors until we were led into what could only be described as a throne room. I was in shock, and a bit of disgust that the Volturi had a human receptionist. But I guess it made sense - a handy snack, right nearby if one of them happened to get hungry. I wonder how many dozen they went through in a year, hell even in a month? Leeches.

As soon as we walked through the door the entire room, which was rather large, quickly filled in with Vampires. There must have been over one hundred of them. These must have been the ones Corin and Madeline helped _recruit_. You could tell the difference because just like last time the real Volturi guard wore grey cloaks. These new members just had on their normal clothes. But there were a lot of them. And it looked like Bella's shield had worked. The feel good Vamps gifts had worn off sometime in the last two days, and all of the red eyes in the room looked pissed. I was starting to doubt the brilliance of Alice and Edwards plan.

"I'm sure you are wondering why we have asked you here my old friend," Aro began, knocking me out of my thoughts as he addressed Carlisle once the room had filled up and the doors were sealed. "But I'm afraid it has come to our attention that a serious crime has been committed and . . ."

"Aro we were only . . ." Carlisle try to preempt him, but he didn't get far before Aro stopped him. This was going nowhere fast.

"My dear friend, Carlisle, you are mistaken. This has nothing to do with you." Edward started growling. Why? Wasn't this good news? "The charges I'm referring to have not to do with you, or any others in your group, save one. I'm afraid I am only referring to the actions of Miss Renesmee Cullen."

What? What was he talking about? Renesmee and Jasper had stayed essentially under house arrest for the past month. They hadn't done anything that the Volturi could accuse them of. Certainly not drinking from a singer like Alice suggested they might try. What was going on? I knew Edward was completely aware by the way his eyes were bugging out of his head, but so far he wasn't saying anything. He had even stopped growling. Crap! When Vampires go catatonic, like he was, it was never a good sign.

"As I was saying," Aro began again, "it seems that young Renesmee here has killed someone, one of my friends, and completely without provocation."

"That's a lie!" Rose yelled, before recomposing herself, after Caius shot her a look that said she needed to keep quiet, or would be a pile of ash before she could even blink.

"Oh, is it?" Aro faked shock at Rose's outburst. "I assure you that it is not. We even have the man's family here too confirm that young Renesmee did indeed kill their father." Father? And with that someone stepped forward and threw two figures into the open area in the middle of the room. They were badly beaten, but we could clearly see that it was Nahuel and Jennifer. Oh my god! If they were here, then where was Felicity . . . and Leah? What have these Volturi bastards done?

Jennifer just crumbled to the floor, unmoving. For a second I thought we was dead but after straining my ears I heard a faint heartbeat and could tell that she was breathing, barely, just unconscious. Nahuel was doing better, but not by much. He collapsed too, but was awake. Somehow he managed to lift his bloodied and swollen head to look at us. I was amazed he could even do that given the state he was in, but he attempted to mouth what I think was an "I'm sorry" to Nessie and me.

Carlisle immediately moved to help them but a loud growl from one of the Volturi Guard, Santiago, I think, stopped him immediately.

"What did you do them?" Nessie screamed.

"Us? Why we've done nothing, to be sure. " Aro gasped, again feigning mock shock at the accusation.

"Perhaps they ate something that didn't agree with them," Caius snidely added, before chuckling to himself.

Like I said before – leeches, and with an even more depraved sense of humor than I originally thought.

But when were they even taken? I just was in my spirit form, talking to Leah and checking in on my daughter, just over . . . what, two weeks ago, three at most? How could the Volturi have grabbed them in so little time?

Suddenly Alice's vision came back into my head, she said that she saw five burning piles of smoke. What if she got it wrong? What if it wasn't Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett, and me that she saw. What if it was Nessie, Felicity, Jennifer, Nahuel and Leah. That was Five. But Nahuel and was not with us that day. Who was? Nessie, me, Leah and . . . Seth; and Jennifer was the one who led my Pack back to us. That was also five. Did they have the others hidden here somewhere? But wouldn't I have heard something if the Volturi went to La Push? Seth hadn't been a wolf in decades and there were too many Vamps overwhelming my nose, I couldn't smell anything but Vamp. I hoped to at least get of Leah's wolf scent, all I smelt was leeches. But that didn't mean anything. I was getting more and more panicked, and Edward was not helping. I'm sure he read in someone's mind exactly what was going on, but he hadn't said a word.

"So young one, we'll ask you again," Caius spat at Nessie, "do you make it a habit of killing those that have been pardoned by the Volturi?"

They were really accusing her of killing Joham?

"That happened almost 40 years ago," Nessie stammered. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Nahuel and Jennifer. I was sure she was thinking more of the safety of our daughter than her own life right now.

"My dear, _Justice_ knows no time limit." Aro smirked. If I ever get my hands on him I am going to rip that smile off of his face . . . literally. "We let you live once because it was argued that you would not be a danger to our kind. I can see now that that was an error. Letting the half-breeds live was clearly a mistake. A mistake I now intend to rectify, NOW."

What! No this can't be happening. We need to do something. I know Alice can't see wolves and if Leah was here I guess she would have blocked Alice's visions, but Edward was with Bella the past two days, while she was shielding Corin and Madeline. Didn't Edward pick any of this up in Aro's, or any of the others, minds?

"His new shield seems to be more than just a forcefield against _physical_ assault," Edward finally whispered over to me, so low I barely heard it.

Oh, great! So now what? I wasn't just going to stand by and watch the love of my life be slaughtered.

"I assume we are all in agreement?" Aro said to Caius and Marcus, clearly just for show, in front of all of the Volturi is new _recruits_.

"But . . . but he kidnapped me and Jacob," Nessie started stammering, finally taking her eyes off of our friends bloodied bodies, but breaking down crying herself, right where she stood.

They were going to kill her, and according to Alice, four others. If we didn't do something that was.

Five. Five burnt bodies. Revealing their identities was still what I was consumed with thinking about. If I could figure out who they were maybe that was the key to saving everyone. Who could they be? Was I right in one of my guess' before? Caius accused Nessie of being a threat to Vampires. Her and all hybrids. Who had Alice seen and who did the Volturi consider a hybrid . . . Nessie, Nahuel, Jennifer, Felicity and David? That was five, but that didn't include the lost tribal half-Vampire from New Guinea.

How was I going to figure this out? I was running out of time and in the end maybe it didn't really matter. I just needed to save Nessie, and my children if they were here. Which I wasn't sure if they were or not.

I wrapped Nessie in my arms, partially to protect, partially to comfort. Everything was going to be okay; we were going to find some way out of this. We just had to, because there was no way anyone was going to touch her and if for some reason I failed, then there was no way I was leaving this place without her. Or my children for that matter.

I knew Edward probably heard everything I was just thinking. I needed answers. _Edward!_ I screamed in my head at him, _Where the hell are Felicity and Leah?_ he not know or was he not answering me? I tried again. _Are they here? Are they even still alive?_ Edward gave the slightest nod of his head. Damn, but at least they were alive. _Do they have David and Seth, too?_ A slight shake in the negative. Well that was one good thing.

As I was asking Edward, the crowd of Volturi _witnesses_ around us had started grumbling. As I looked around I saw that they seemed very disturbed by the site of Nessie breaking down and crying like she was. I recognized a few of them, Mary and Randall, they were some of the nomads that witnessed for us during our last Volturi encounter. They knew and loved Nessie.

Was this it? Was this what was going to save us? Nessie's ability to make almost everyone fall in love with her? Well everyone except the Volturi, apparently. But had Bella's shield weakening the bonds that have been artificially put up by Corin and Madeline enough that we would have a chance?

"Shall we get on with it," Aro asked, sensing for himself the change in the atmosphere, seemingly wanting to hurry things along. Was he afraid he was losing the crowd? Alice said he loved and audience.

I couldn't let this happen. Think . . . think . . .think.

Wait! Alice had said that she saw five burning bodies, but she couldn't see who they were. If Seth and David were not here that meant that the bodies had to be the hybrids – Half-Vampire and Half-Human - Nessie, Jennifer, Nahuel, and the New-Guinea tribesman. That was four, had another come forward? Or were they going to go after him later (or was he already dead) and since they snatched them already, would the Volturi would kill Leah and Felicity just for the hell of it? Damn-it! Think.

No, as fast as I was running through all of the possibilities in my head there was no more time to think. Maybe the _who_ didn't really matter. I may not be able to save the others, but I could at least save Nessie.

"It was me!," I shouted. "I was the one who killed Joham, not Renesmee. Kill me, instead."

"What? Jake no," Nessie screamed, but I ignored her. Couldn't she see I was trying to save her life.

"And why would Joham's own offspring lie about who murdered their father?" Caius sneered.

"Because . . . err, Nahuel is mad that she never loved him the way that he loved her, he's just getting his revenge." I lied.

The hint of a smile spread across his face. "And now they will both die together."

No!

"Didn't you just hear me? Nessie had nothing to do with it, it was my fault, kill me, let her go!"

"As is we would listen to anything an animal had to say," he scoffed, before turning away from me.

Damn it!

He must have given some signal because suddenly Nessie was yanked out of my arms by Felix and some other Volturi goon. They had grabbed each of her arms and were holding them, perpendicular to her body. They seriously weren't planning on yanking her arms off, were they?

 _NO! Somebody do something._ _Edward she's your daughter_ , I screamed in my head. What was going on? Why wasn't he doing anything? Why was he and the rest of the Cullens just standing there?

Forget them!

I moved to leap at the leaches who were about to murder my reason for existing but was stopped by Edward who threw his arm out before I could even move forward an inch. Then Jasper and Emmett grabbed me. As much as I tried I could not break free. I was about to phase but Jasper sent a wave of calm through me. I was still angry, and terrified for Nessie, but his power took the edge off just enough that I wasn't able to phase. He must have directed everything he had towards me to stop me like that. I wanted . . . no needed to phase, I was stronger as a wolf. Didn't they see that I needed to save Nessie? But as the calm continued to overtake me I saw that he was right. We were outnumbered ten to one. My phasing wouldn't save her and would get all of us killed. This needed to be solved with words, not muscle. But how?

"Let us be done with this," Marcus said, sounding rather bored that he had just ordered someone's death.

The Volturi henchmen had Nessie, Emmett and Jasper were restraining me, and Marcus had given the order. If this was to be our last moments together I wanted her to see me, see me looking at her with all of the love in the world, to know that I did everything I could, I stopped fighting Jasper and Emmett and stared at my angel, then she screamed and my eyes betrayed me and automatically slammed closed. After a second there was a gasp from the Cullens, then nothing but silence.

That was it. My angel was gone, and soon with nothing left to live for, and the knowledge that I wasn't strong enough and had failed to save her, I would soon be dead too. I hoped.

But something was wrong. It was too quiet. The Cullens were just standing there. If they hadn't done anything before, I thought they would have done something after watching their daughter/granddaughter/niece get ripped apart. But they made no movement. When I finally allowed myself to look back at the now mangled and dismembered body of my love, I saw that she was still standing in between the two Vampires arms. She was alive! Thanks goodness.

But why hadn't she been ripped apart? Not that I was complaining, but . . . why? Oh, wait a minute. I recognize that blank stare in the Volturi henchmen's faces. Nessie's fingers were ever so lightly touching their arms, she had locked them into one of her vision trances and judging by their minor actions it looked like she had them . . . licking ice cream?

At least she bought herself some time.

"Aro," Edward finally yelled, puncturing all of the Volturi leaders mask-like yet still somewhat confused veneers. "Why don't you let my daughter show you what really happened," he basically challenged Aro.

I'm sure Aro was more than a bit curious, and possibly even afraid of what Nessie had done to his two strongest guards.

I was loathed to let Nessie get anywhere near that monster, but it was out of my control. Aro nodded and Nessie let the two henchmen out of her vision and they brought her before Aro.

I needed to take a few breaths to calm down. Jasper must have dropped his gift and my emotions were back on full tilt. Anger, rage, and worry, then down to calm . . . well calmer, then back up again. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. Passing out due to lack of oxygen would not be helpful right now.

Really this was a good thing. Aro needed to finally see the plan that we had in place and it looked like Edward thought Nessie was the best one to deliver it right now, despite the state she was in.

Nessie had already been a wreck this past month thinking she was going to lose me, and everything that had happened today must have pushed her over the edge, it had for me. But it didn't matter what her mental state was for Aro's gift, it would allow him to read her entire mind, including the details of our plan. Of course this would also let him see all of the intimate moments between Nessie and myself that . . . okay I was just not going to think about that right now, or else Jasper would have to try and stop me from phasing again.

I didn't want to take my eyes off of Nessie a second time, but I risked looking at Aro just briefly. Thank goodness I did, otherwise I would have missed his eyes grow wide, just for a fraction of second, as he must have seen what we had done, what we had planned. Then it got even better. I saw Edward give the signal that Aro was going to go along with our plan and let all of us go.

Time to blame everything on Jane.

"Well . . . it seems that we have conflicting accounts." Aro stammered a bit, after he finished seeing every one of Nessie's memories, though he was trying to hide it, he knew he'd been caught in a lie, or would be, in front of his new _recruits_. Well almost, but judging by the calm look on his face, Edward had a plan.

"It's a shame, Aro, that you didn't let one of our friends tell you the truth. All you would have had to have done is touch one of them, either Nahuel or Jennifer here, or my granddaughter Felicity, or her friend Leah, any of them could have shown you the truth. But instead you believed Jane's lies. But she has been with you a long time, it's understandable you would not question her.

"But you must see now the truth, that she's had it out for my daughter? How she's orchestrated all of this, from the very beginning? These two," he said pointing to Nahuel and Jennifer, would have said anything after being tortured by Jane, as I'm sure anyone else here would have done," Edward continued while looking around the room of the Volturi members, both old and new. Of course none of what Edward said was true but the new recruits didn't know that and Aro would need to go along with it to save face.

"Yes I see you are right, Edward. It's seems that my faith in Jane was misplaced. It would have been good to know how long she and her brother have been deceiving me, but at least now, thanks to you and your family they are no more. They can harm no others." Aro agreed.

I guess that was one hurdle down. Nessie was safe and Edward had effectively insured that there be no retaliation on their part for our killing of Jane, Alec and Demetri . . . I hoped

"Now if you may, can you please retrieve my granddaughter and her other companion. I would like to know that they are okay."

"Of course," Aro cooed, rather creepily. "Let Renesmee return to her family ad release these two," he signaled to Santiago. "And bring our other _guest_ to rejoin her family. Oh and get the dog too." He added as an afterthought. A growl escaped not only my lips but to my surprise several of the Cullens as well hearing them refer to Leah in that way.

Nessie ran over to me as Emmett moved to pick up Nahuel and Jasper grabbed Jennifer, before Carlisle finally was able to quickly assess both of them. A few seconds later Felicity and Leah were brought out. When they saw us Felicity came right over, gave me and Nessie a brief hug before going to Jennifer. When she saw her mate she broke down in tears.

Leah also immediately ran to Nahuel, never being one to cry, she did however looked pissed seeing the state he was in. It looked like he wanted Emmett to put him down, but as soon as Nahuel's feet hit the ground he collapsed again. Leah gasped. I wonder how long it had been since they had seen each other?

Felicity and Leah looked better than the other two, but not by much. They were both bloodied, cover with bruises and cuts, Felicity was limping and Leah was holding her left arm funny, it was probably broken. At least they were able to walk out here on their own. Jennifer was still unconscious.

Caius looked like he was going to have a fit that Aro had let them go, but then Aro brought him and Marcus into their little huddle, just like they did last time back in Washington and he must have explained our plan that he saw in Nessie's mind and suddenly did what I could only describe as sulk like a small child who was told they couldn't have candy for breakfast, well that and gave a single growl that he quickly stifled.

After a few minutes they emerged from their huddle and Aro began to speak again. A hint of a smile even touched his lips. What was he so happy about?

"My friends, I am so glad that this has all been worked out. Now that the true culprits behind Joham's unfortunate demise have been uncovered, and justice has prevailed I see no reason to keep you hear any longer. I am sure you must want to be heading home . . . "

Edward of course would have known what he was thinking though because he started speaking, going back to our original plan of revealing the Volturi's recruitment tactics to the majority of people in the room.

"I am afraid that Jane and Alec's deception goes further than just setting up my daughter, Aro." Edward cut him off. We still needed to get him to release everyone that Corin and Madeline had set up in order to force them to join the Volturi. "And many of your new guards are not so innocent themselves. We are aware of how they came to be here. Should we enlighten everybody else?" he cryptically continued. I guess he's still wanted to follow through with leaving Aro, Caius, and Marcus as the leaders of the Volturi, just getting out all of their new recruits.

"We recently came to learn that it was _Jane_ who came up with a plan to use your own guard members, Madeline and Corin for her own benefit. Corin would force innocent Law abiding Vampires to feed from singers Madeline found, in front of humans; breaking the law, and ensuring their own demise." Edward offered our contrived theory that illustrated how she was power hungry (that was not so hard for anyone to believe) and was trying to grab control from Aro, Caius and Marcus.

Edward offered just enough evidence, yet was vague enough that the new recruits believed the truth, that they had been tricked into joining the Volturi, yet believed him that it was Jane's doing, not Aro's.

* * *

We were victorious in the end, well as victorious as we could be, the Volturi leaders were still in power, two member of my family were unconscious and two others were not looking so good, but we were all still alive and we had successfully blamed the mass _recruitment_ facade on Jane and Alec. The new recruits were none the wiser.

Just like we assumed Corin caught on quickly and went along with our story, Madeline not so much but was quickly destroyed by Felix before she could _slander_ Aro's image with the truth.

Aro, Caius and Marcus were believed to be in the clear, and to save face, acknowledged that the new members had been sentenced to a 100 year observation period unfairly and they let everyone go, to return to their lives as normal, with (of course) the warning/threat that the Volturi would still be watching to make sure that no future slip ups ever happened.

At least now they no longer had the excuse of Madeline and Corin for them, we all knew it was an empty threat, especially now that there two best guards and tracker were gone. I'm sure some of the new recruits would fill in some of the vacancies. We had already met Demetri's replacement, and apparently this whole debacle had gathered them a better shield for Aro than Renata. Who knows how many more they would legitimately choose to keep, after all of this, it figured that they would still end up better off in the end.

Benjamin had been nowhere to be found in all of this; I'm assuming Aro probably had him out on some assignment somewhere so that he wouldn't be here, if he did choose to help us. But was he even telling us the truth or was he just feeding us lies that we wanted to hear, just so that we would help him get Tia out. It didn't matter in the end, I guess. She was free, or would be soon. She would be leaving, with everyone else, to return to Egypt, hopefully where Benjamin would find her, eventually.

We couldn't stay and find out, though. We had more pressing matters to attend to.

Aro acknowledge that the majority of the witnesses would be able to leave . . . soon, but he wanted to read all of them first. He said it was to be 100% sure that they were innocent of their crimes and their actions were solely due to Jane's facilitation of Corin and Madeline's manipulation. In reality I was assuming he was looking for which ones he thought had a gift he could exploit and that would also be willing to stay, of their own free will. There was nothing more that we could do for them.

We needed to leave. Aro had _dismissed_ us and we needed to sooner rather than later. Nahuel and Jennifer needed a hospital. Or at least medical supplies so Carlisle could treat them.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Okay, what did you think? Was this confusing? Boring? Amazing? (Ha - i wish)

Please review and let me know.


	106. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (5th Section)

**Part Seven - Fifth Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

We got out of the walled city of Volterra as quickly as possible, and made our way to the closest hotel, one city north of there. Given the state that Nahuel and Jennifer were in we couldn't go to a hospital or even travel too far; we had to get out of the immediate vicinity of the Volturi, but find a secure location close by that the Doc would be able to look at them right away. We still didn't know how serious their injuries were. They obviously must have been suffering from more than the few cuts and scrapes we could see, or else they would have healed by now and the two of them would have awakened.

Felicity's injuries were superficial, and as bad as they looked in Volterra they had healed on their own during the 30 mile north, car ride to Pontedera, Italy

It did disturb me, though, to think that no one, none of the witnesses were particularly alarmed at the horrible treatment my family and friends had endured. Jennifer and Nahuel were unconscious, and Felicity and Leah were bruised and battered. Could the witnesses not see that? Or did they just did not care? Well I'm sure they really didn't care about Leah, she was a wolf, but the other three were part vampire. Maybe it was just their heartbeat and smell. They didn't see it that way.

They got upset when Nessie cried . . . but that was different. She drew everyone in and most people instantly fell in love with her. I know when she was first born Edward had theorized that it was part of her gift. I didn't care one way or another, that is, until today. Just having the Volturi recruits seeing Nessie cry probably contributed to what saved us. She made everyone fall in love with her. Well everyone except the Volturi, it seems.

But then again I had been living with the Cullens for so long I almost forgot that most, if not all red eyed Vamps were evil leeches who practically only cared about themselves. Almost.

I guess it didn't really matter in the end. We were safe-ish, for now. But what was going on with Leah? Her injuries should have healed almost instantly, what with her being a wolf and all. I know a broken bone would take a day or two to set, but all of her other injuries really should have been gone by now.

And it looked like Carlisle was growing more and more concerned about Nahuel and Jennifer's conditions. Nahuel had passed out again and Jennifer was still unconscious.

Once in the hotel and Carlisle examined them, he looked grim. He did what he could, but I could tell he was worried. We all were. His face had the same troubled expression when Bella was pregnant with Nessie, before we figured out she was thirsty. He looked hopeless and lost. Rose was assisting him, trying to asses them both but even with the centuries of medical training between the two of them they both looked stumped.

In the meantime Edward was attempting to care for Leah, but she was being her usual err . . . difficult self. She wouldn't let him anywhere near her, not even to reset her arm. She had planted herself by Nahuel's bed and refused to move.

Nessie, Felicity and Bella were also huddled together by Jennifer's bed, while Esme, Emmett, Jasper and Alice having nothing to do gathered together – more like stood by, like statues at the other end of the room.

There was nothing really for me to do either, but think . . . and fume . . . and seethe.

How could they? How could they all have just stood there while the Volturi goons were about to tear my reason for existing to shreds?

I had collapsed into a chair in the far corner of the room. I didn't want to be any closer to any of the Cullens right now than I had to. But the more I thought about it the angrier I got. I could feel Jasper trying to calm me down, but all he accomplished was ensuring I didn't phase right in the middle of the room. I was still pissed.

Eventually, without even realizing it, I began growling . . . softly at first, but it grew louder as the minutes wore on.

"Jake, what's wrong?" Nessie asked, leaving her mother and daughter and appearing instantly at my side.

I loved her, but right now I was angry. Not at her, but most everyone else in the room. I got up and brushed past Nessie to confront them.

"You all just stood there, as those _leeches_ were about to kill Nessie." I hadn't used the "L" word in decades. If I was insulting my family now, so be it. "How could you just _stand_ there and do nothing? And you two," I looked directly at Emmett and Jasper, now, "how could you stop me from trying to save her?" On some level I knew that they had to or we'd all be dead, but I didn't care. Better dead than live without her, as far as I was concerned. We got lucky, that Nessie was so quick of a thinker that she thought to trap the two Volturi that held her, in one of her visions. If she hadn't done that, there would be no way Jasper's gift would have been able to stop me from phasing and trying to take out as many as I could of the Volturi leeches before they destroyed me as well. Better I be dead than to live even one minute without her.

"Jake," Nessie came up to me again, getting right up, into my face, grabbing my hands and breaking my eye contact with Edward, I blamed him above all others. It was his daughter for crying out loud. "I know you were very . . . preoccupied during that time, but my family was not just standing there doing nothing. If you could have seen what I did . . . the looks on their faces . . . well they were just as . . . _tormented_ as yours."

Great, so they felt bad that she was about to die. They still didn't do anything. But then Nessie, still holding my hands, used her gift to show me what I had missed . . . the entirety of the events that really had happened, not only what I did, how I behaved, and struggled against Jasper and Emmett, but everything else that had happened during that time, everything else that I had missed.

Through Nessie's gift I saw that not only were Jasper and Emmett holding me, but Carlisle was embracing Esme, who would have been crying if she could have. Bella was struggling to constrain Edward, while it looked like Alice was trying to use her gift to see what was going to happen. All of them looked like they wanted to act, not just me and Edward, but the Volturi guard - the actual ones, in the gray hooded capes, had moved to surround all of us. There were so many of them. Even without the new recruits we were outnumbered. Behind each one of us were two of them, ready at a moment's notice to ripped off our heads, if we so much as moved a fraction of an inch towards Nessie.

Now that I saw the truth, there would have been no way for me to phase and save her. I wouldn't have even had time to phase. The guards were that close . . . to everybody. We would have been killed instantly, without even a chance to attack.

"Oh . . . I . . . um . . ." way to put my foot in my mouth. "Err . . . I'm sorry . . . it's just when it comes to Nessie . . ."

"Don't worry about it Jacob. We understand." Edward forgave me, I hope everyone else did too. They were my family, and Nessie's. What was I thinking?

Without another word everyone went back to what they were doing, or not doing, and I could feel another wave of calm come through me, along with a feeling of . . . bliss?

"Thanks Jasper, but I don't think I really deserve that. But I'm sure Leah, Felicity and the others would appreciate some warm and fuzzies right now instead." Although he didn't say anything, he just nodded and turned back into a statue with the rest of them. Did he follow my suggestion?

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edwards head nod a fraction of a centimeter. Great,

Carlisle had dressed Nahuel and Jennifer's wounds, and cleaned then up, but it had been hours now, since we left Volterra, and they didn't look any better. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be much the Doc could do. But did he need to do any more? Nahuel and Jennifer were half-vampires after all. They didn't have any broken bones and I assume the Doc figured any other internal injuries would heal on their own, in time. But they just didn't look right. Their color was off and they seemed to be getting weaker as the hours went by, not better.

"Leah, I'm sorry, I know you are upset right now, but we need to set your arm. For some reason your accelerated healing has not kicked in, but this will still heal eventually, and I don't want it to set wrong. After I have reset it I think we need to look into why you are not healing as normal," the Doc said. He had given Leah an hour to cool down after Edwards failed attempt to treat her, so that she could reconnect with Nahuel, even if he was unconscious, but eventually Carlisle had to intervene.

"I'm fine," she brushed him off. But this was Carlisle we were talking about. He wasn't about to let her stay in pain, while he did nothing. He didn't even have to say anything. He just gave her a look. "Fine. You can set the arm, but that's it. There's nothing wrong with me," she stubbornly growled.

I know Leah wasn't a huge fan of Vampires in general but I hadn't seen her be so rude to the Doc in decades. I guess the whole Volturi experience had soured her on them, too. But, just like me, I was sure she would get over it soon enough, probably as soon as Nahuel recovered. But Carlisle had brought up a good question. Why wasn't she healing? And why didn't she seem concerned about it?

While the Doc had been waiting to set her arm he checked over Nahuel and Jennifer once again. And then moved on to Felicity. She was fine . . . still, thank goodness. Nahuel and Jennifer, on the other hand, were looking worse and worse. We were all worried about their injuries. Their breathing seemed labored and while their heartbeats were still steady neither of them had regained consciousness. What was going on?

Over the hours Nahuel and Jennifer's conditions continued to decline. Carlisle didn't understand it. He obtained some blood from the local hospital, but without them being conscious to drink it he was left attempting to give it to them intravenously. He got the IV's in, but it wasn't as good as them drinking the stuff.

"Nahuel," Leah whispered into his ear. "You need to wake up." She looked even more worried about him than Carlisle. Of course she would, she was the one who was in love with him. I still could not figure out there relationship, but it worked for them. "You need to come back to me, I need you now more than ever," she said and then she crept even impossibly closer to him, her lips grazing his ear, probably hoping the room full of supernatural creatures wouldn't hear what she was going to say next, but of course we all did. If anything was going to wake him that would have been it. It nearly floored me, as it was, and it wasn't even about me.

Then like a miracle, Nahuel's eyes fluttered open, just a crack, enough for him to be able to see out of, I guess, and after wandering a bit eventually came to rest on Leah's face. A hint of a smile crept onto his lips before he once again closed his eyes. Everyone heard it, or I guess it was that we no longer heard . . . there was nothing coming from him anymore. His heart wasn't beating and his breathing stopped. He was gone.

"Noooooo," Leah cried out, before breaking down and just collapsing on top of him.

Carlisle quickly, but gently moved her aside while he and Edward began CPR.

At least this explained why she wasn't healing though. How long it had been since she had actually phased last? I guess she wouldn't want to risk the pregnancy.

"How could this have happened?" Bella asked Carlisle after all of his attempts were unsuccessful to revive Nahuel. I wondered the same thing. Ness had literally been ripped in half when she gave birth to both of our children and she survived. Nahuel just had some scrapes and bruises, even if the Volturi had thrown him through a few of their stone walls, I don't see how that could have hurt him enough to kill him. Something else must have happened. Nahuel was gone and if Carlisle didn't figure out why, and quickly, his sister, Jennifer, would be next.

"I'm not sure," the Doc replied. "His wounds were not that severe. There must be something we are missing."

Felicity hadn't left Jennifer's side anymore than Leah had with Nahuel. I don't know how either of them would survive without their mates.

"Leah, Felicity, did you see what happened to either of them?" Edward asked.

"What? Now you care? Nahuel just died and you did nothing. NOTHING!" Leah screamed. "Now you want to do something? Now that you think something is going to happen to your grand-daughters mate, now you care?"

I know that Leah was distraught, but she couldn't really think that anyone here could have let Nahuel die, on purpose, could she?

Yes of course she could. This was my fault. I planted these ideas in her head with my outburst earlier. Damn-it.

"No one thinks like that." Who was Edward talking to? Leah or me? Maybe both of us.

"I am so sorry I was unable to save Nahuel. I know losing your mate must be horrible. I can't begin to understand what you are going through. If I lost Esme . . ." Carlisle began, but was unable to continue. I'm sure even the thought of life without Esme was too much for him to even think about, ;et along say. "But right now, Jennifer is still alive, but only barely, and we need to try and save her. So please, if you can think of anything, anything at all, that could be helpful, please let me know. Did you see anything that happened that could explain this?"

"No they kept us separated almost the entire time," Felicity replied, at least I think that was what she said. I could barely understand her through her sobs. "They really didn't care for Leah's scent so she was thrown in a room by herself almost right from the beginning, and then I was alone in another one next to her, so I really didn't see anything either."

"Think back, before you got separated, was there anything that happened? Did either of them sustain any head trauma? Did the Volturi guards yield some sort of specialized weapons on them? Were they given anything to eat or drink that seemed unusual?"

"You're asking about food? How is that helpful?" Leah shrieked. What could Carlisle be thinking? That they might have been poisoned?

Oh no! I thought back to what Caius said in Volterra . . . something about something " _Jennifer and Nahuel ate that didn't agree with them_ ". That must have been it! At the time I thought he was just being obnoxious, trying to come up with a possible explanation for the brutal condition of his so-called _guests,_ but now I guess the truth was that the Volturi had given them some sort of poison. "Edward did you hear anything in his thoughts?"

"No," Edward shrugged, "either it really could have been something they ate, a diseased animal or some other natural sort of food poisoning, or Caius, and the others, were behind it but guarding their thoughts. But that's not saying much. The Volturi leaders are always guarding their thoughts, so it's hard to tell."

"Poison?" Esme gasped. "But wouldn't they have said something when they let us go? Warned us of what they did, so Carlisle could treat them?"

"Not likely. They just made a show of letting us go; pardoning Nessie for her _crimes_." Jasper growled.  
"They had no feelings, positive or negative, whether Nahuel and Jennifer lived or died."

"Actually I think some, or all of them would probably be happier if we were gone." Nessie sighed. "They only care about power, especially Aro, and Nahuel and Jennifer don't have any special gifts. I'm the only _half-breed_ that does and they still wanted to kill me. As far as the Volturi are concerned Nahuel and Jennifer were as useless as humans, probably even less so because they have no desire to feed from them . . . us."

"That's a good thing," I whispered to Nessie. I knew she felt bad, and was in the middle of a stress relieving rant, but there were also bright sides to everything she said that she was missing.

"Yeah but at most we were a curiosity, but one that they have obviously already grown tired of."

"Stop it! I will not have you speaking like that," Bella snapped at her daughter. This was the first time I have ever heard her be even the slightest bit angry at Nessie. "You are wonderfully special, and never forget that. So is Jennifer, so was Nahuel. Don't ever let anyone, especially the Volturi, make you think otherwise. I never want to ever hear you talk like that again. Do you understand me." Nessie looked shocked, but nodded. "Good, now back to the actual problem at hand. We have no way of knowing if they ingested a poison, accidentally or if it was administered intentionally by the Volturi. We don't even know if it was even a poison at all. Carlisle, is there any other way to explain Nahuel and Jennifer's conditions?"

"Possibly, but I am at a loss of what that could be. Poison is my best educated guess." Carlisle sighed, "I already check both of them for puncture wounds, but found none. However if a toxin was introduced into their system, the entry point might have closed up by now. Of course there are many ways to administer a poison. Then again, it could be a naturally occurring virus or bacteria, possibly something native to the area that only affects Half-Vampires." **What!** "It's just a theory, Jacob," Carlisle said, seeing the alarm on my face. "And most likely just one possibility to rule out. I'm going to have to take samples of both of their blood, and both of yours as well, purely as a precaution," he said addressing Felicity and Leah.

"Nessie's too, Doc." I added. If this could affect Nessie I wanted to know ASAP.

"Of course," he said agreeing with me. "I'm going to have to work quickly." He continued, glancing at Jennifer. "I don't have my lab here but . . ."

"I'm on it," Rose said, already dialing some number on her phone, then she started speaking in Italian to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"What if it wasn't poison or a virus? What if it was one of the new Volturi members? What if this is the result of someone's gift?" Alice asked. "I didn't see anything . . ."

"Benjamin never mentioned anyone with such a gift." Jasper cut in.

"I hope that isn't the case, because if someone of our kind is capable of doing this, I doubt that there will be anything I can do for Jennifer," Carlisle replied.

Great! So now we were hoping they were poisoned?

"I didn't hear any thoughts of either poison or that this was the intentional working of a Vampires gift, while we were in Volterra," Edward said.

"They could have just been not thinking about it when we were there." Bella countered.

"It's all set," Rose said a moment later. "The local hospital, is expecting you."

Carlisle grabbed the five blood samples he had taken from them and left with Esme. At first Leah was not about to let him extract Nahuel's blood, but when he pointed out the need to learn everything he could, for the safety of her baby, in case she was also infected, she relented.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Please review.


	107. 35 Years Later, 2045-2049 (6th Section)

**Part Seven - Sixth Section**

 **2045-2049**

Jacob's Point of View

Less than two hours after they left, Carlisle and Esme returned with a large medical cooler full of IV bags.

"It _is_ a toxin. But like I mentioned before there is no way to tell if they were intentionally poisoned or not, however this should rid the toxin from her system," the Doc explained as he hooked a transparent bag, filled with some sort of yellow colored medicine, up to Jennifer. I don't know what was in it, but hopefully whatever it was, it was going to work quickly because it didn't like she was going to last much longer.

As it was, I don't think Felicity thought she was going to, she was just openly weeping over Jennifer's body now. Her cries had gotten softer and softer over the past hour, like she knew it was almost the end. That her mate would be dead soon, just like her brother.

After Carlisle hooked up the IV bag to Jennifer he grabbed another and, to my horror, started inserting a needle into Felicity's arm, and then one in Nessie's.

"It's just a precaution, Carlisle couldn't find anything wrong in either of their bloods. Their bags just contains some . . . supplements . . . just in case." Edward explained, his voice dropping at the end.

Carlisle then went over to Leah, she held out her arm, expecting to receive an IV as well, but the bag he grabbed for her was not filled with the same fluid that he had given Jennifer, or even the greenish tinted stuff in Nessie and Felicity's bags. Everybody knew what was in her bag, it was crimson red and appealing to all of the Vampires in the room. But for some reason I still don't think she got it, perhaps she was in shock over Nahuel's death. But whatever it was I had a feeling she was going to freak out when it dawned on her.

"It's actually for you to drink," Carlisle hesitantly informed her.

"Why would I . . ." she began. But then Leah's eyes widened, in horror, as the realization of exactly what being pregnant with a quarter vampire baby actually entailed. "No! No way am I drinking human . . ."

"It's not human blood. It is actually mouflon blood, a local type of sheep," Esme explained. "It's the best I could do on short notice. Renesmee craved deer blood when she was pregnant, unable to tolerate human or even carnivore blood. I assumed your pregnancy would be the same."

"Oh," Leah said, looking partially relieved, partially still repulsed, and even slightly embarrassed. No one, not even Leah would intentionally want to hurt Esme's feelings, she was just too nice, too motherly.

After a few deep breaths she hesitantly took a sip. Bella had tried to do the same thing for Leah that Edward had once done for her, but there were no opaque cups lying around in this hotel room, so she settled on wrapping the IV bag in a hand towel, so Leah wouldn't have to look, much less think about what she was doing. Drinking blood came even less naturally for wolves than it did humans.

Since she didn't spit it out, it looked like Carlisle thought it was a good time to began asking her about her pregnancy. "Leah, do you know how far along you are?"

"I just found out the day before we were taken," she informed him, between sips.

How was it even possible that Leah got pregnant? She always thought that she was barren - a generic dead end, as she had once put it. She had been with Nahuel now for decades, and forever ago, when she had her past relationship with Sam she'd never gotten pregnant with him (not that I knew if they had even been trying back then) and nothing had resulted from any of the relationships she had between the two, although I don't know if there were any, or not. That part of her mind was one I never wanted to go snooping in. But she never mentioned that her and Nahuel were even trying to get pregnant. The last time we spoke, while I was in my spirit form, she obviously hadn't given up her wolf, so that must not have been a factor in allowing her to get pregnant like we all assumed.

"How did it happened, how did you find a way to conceive?" Rose asked her, echoing my thoughts. Of course her motives were probably a little more self serving.

"I stopped phasing a couple months ago. We wanted to try at least once," Leah said, before the tears started to well up in her eyes, again. Crying was very uncharacteristic for Leah. She never even cried when her own father Harry died. Of course she was full of guilt at the time, him having a heart attack resulting from her phasing right in front of him for the first time. That mixed with all of the wolf anger she naturally had, added to the jealousy and she felt towards Sam and Emily . . . no she definitely was not a crier. It must be the pregnancy hormones. This was going to be interesting.

But the timing still didn't make sense for me. "You stopped phasing? But didn't we just speak . . . two or three weeks ago?"

"Has living with vampires completely made you lose track of time?" She grunted out to me, between sobs. "I guess I have to admit, that it has with me, a little bit, having the decades go by and not aging, but Jake we haven't phased together for months now."

Months? I really had lost sense of all track of time living with the Cullens, apparently.

"Don't worry too much about it," Edward whispered over to me. "It's happened to all of us, at one point or another, especially with the life we are living now, as ranchers, not going to a nine-to-five job, or school daily, it's easy for time to fly by like it did for you."

"I know this is hard . . ." Carlisle continued, "but I need to ask you . . . how long were you . . . um, _with_ the Volturi . . . before we arrived?" he finally managed to get out. He asked the question that we all really wanted the answer to but had been afraid to ask until now.

"Just a little over three days, I think" she said, taking another sip from the blood bag. It looked like she was having less trouble ingesting it the more she drank. It looked like after the initial revulsion, she had the same reaction Bella did, the need for her baby's nutrition outweighed her own disgust. After not too long she started slurping down the blood faster and faster and soon the bag was empty.

"Would you like some more?" Bella asked her, probably remembering her own pregnancy.

"Uh . . . yeah," Leah said more eager, now than revolted, as she was just minutes before, for the life-giving fluid.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Carlisle tried to reassure her. It's just your body craving what it needs."

"I went through the same thing when I was human with Renesmee, if you remember," Bella added. Of course Leah was there for that. While she didn't particularly like it at the time, she was now in the same boat . . . almost. Of course this would be much closer to Nessie's pregnancies than Bella's. Bella was almost killed, but then again, giving birth to David and Felicity almost killed Nessie, too, just in a completely different way.

I knew Leah was strong, but she wasn't a half-Vampire, like Nessie was, and she couldn't . . . she didn't have her accelerated wolf healing properties, right now. How are we going to get this baby out without it ripping its way through her if it was a boy, or one of us having to chew her stomach open, if it was a girl? Actually, since Leah was a wolf, I guess the baby could be a wolf either way, or at least had a higher chance to be.

Leah wasn't in the room for any of Nessie's births, She didn't know what was about to happen to her in less than a week's time. Did she even know it was only going to be a week?

"We need to get home as soon as possible," Edward said, looking back and forth between Leah and Jennifer, probably thinking the same thing I was or just reading it in my mind. By the time we got home and got everything ready for the delivery she was probably going to be ready to burst anyway. But right now Jennifer was still too sick and probably unable to be moved.

This was going to be tricky.

Two hours and three more bags of mouflon blood later it looked like Leah had gained some weight around her middle and we could already see the beginnings of a baby bump. By tomorrow it would probably look like she was about four months along. If her stomach was any way to judge, she was going to need a lot more blood and soon. Of course I hadn't forgotten about the large cooler Carlisle and Esme had brought into the room with them. But now it was half empty.

"If we can figure out precisely when Leah got pregnant, I think a C-section might be the best way to go." Carlisle was discussing delivery strategies with Edward, but almost everyone else in the room was closely listening in. Mostly. Leah seemed too consumed with her grief over the loss of Nahuel and amazed at the current condition of her stomach. And Felicity was (rightfully) fretting over Jennifer, but thanks to whatever Carlisle was giving her, was starting to look better . . . finally. "But it might not be possible. I am not sure if Rose or Bella will be able to use their nails . . ."

Nessie rolled her eyes, the exact opposite reaction to all of the panicked emotions everyone else in the room was displaying. I didn't need to have Jasper's gift to see that everybody else was . . . I would say overreacting, but _blind panic_ and _distress_ seems pretty appropriate to me right now.

"Guys, it's not going to be that bad," Nessie finally said – to no one in particular.

How could she think that? How could she say that? And in front of Leah? To give her false hope like that. Bella pulling through her delivery of Nessie was only possible because of all the Venom Edward pumped into her. That same Venom would kill a wolf.

Damn-it!

I pulled Nessie over to the corner of the room, and just hoped Leah was still too distracted, or now that she wasn't phasing she also didn't have her super wolf hearing, because I didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. She probably knew what I was going to say anyway. She didn't need the reminder.

"Nessie, if Leah has either of the deliveries you did, then there's no way she can possibly survive, she's not a wolf anymore. She can't heal as fast as she could when she was phasing," I whispered. Leah didn't look up so I don't think she heard. She was still slurping down her sixth blood bag of the day. "Can't you see . . . she hasn't even healed completely from a scrape she got a week ago and Carlisle thinks her broken arm is going to take weeks to heal. She's not going to make it through the delivery."

"Jake, listen to me," Nessie shook her head, "your wrong. Leah doesn't have vampire skin. Carlisle is going to be able to very easily get a scalpel through her stomach to remove the baby. It will hurt, but she'll be fine."

"There's still the embryonic sac to get through," the Doc said, interjecting himself into the conversation. At least he was whispering along with us. "Most likely it will be as hard as Vampire skin."

"So for that we can have my, or Bella's, or Rose's nails to slice through it. It'll be okay. Don't worry so much. Look at Leah. You're freaking her out."

We were? A quick look over in her direction confirmed it. Crap, I guess her hearing wasn't as bad . . . or as back to human, as I assumed it was. We were all so worried about what would happen when the baby came out, we forgot to even take into consideration the mothers emotions or even letting her know exactly what was going on. Everybody took a deep, and mostly unnecessary breath, and then Carlisle went over and filled Leah in on exactly what she should expect over the next few days. I think the fact that it was only going to be a week, at most was a thing that's upset her more than anything else, in the end.

We needed to leave as soon as possible. Carlisle said that if Jennifer kept improving at the current rate she was that we would be able to move her first thing in the morning. But first there was something we had to do. So that night, under the cover of darkness, Nahuel's body was snuck outside and a small bonfire was lit, in the nearby woods. At Leah's request we had an impromptu Quileute funeral ceremony, sort of. I officiated it, mostly piecing together things I'd heard from other services that I had witnessed over the years. It wasn't very formal, but was the best we could do under the circumstances. I think it gave Leah some closure and in the end she just requested the ashes, so we gathered up as much as we could for her, before we left for home.

The next morning Carlisle said that Jennifer's vitals were better, just like he predicted and that he was not worried about moving her, as long as she stayed hooked up to the IV. She was still unconscious and Felicity was still worried about her, but we needed to get out of Italy. If there were any complications with Leah's delivery, or Jennifer's condition worsened, Carlisle wanted to be home, were he had his lab, and all of his medical equipment. Carlisle assured Felicity, over and over again that Jennifer could be moved without endangering her life. And we needed to leave sooner, rather than later, if we waited too long it could be dangerous for the baby to put a very pregnant Leah on a plane.

Jasper had made a call to some contact and managed to arranged for a private Med flight for us, so we could fly from Italy back to our current home in Russia. The private plane was fully equipped with whatever medical equipment Carlisle would need for Jennifer and Leah.

It has been just over 48 hours between leaving Volterra and taking off in the Medical plane. Despite how bad Jennifer's condition still was, Nahuel's death, Leah's battered and pregnant body, and Nessie's current overtaxed and shaky emotional state, at least our daughter, Felicity, was completely healed from her experience with our _lovely_ Volturi rulers. Well physically, she was fine, mentally she wasn't doing much better than Nessie, actually I don't think any of us were. Someone better remind me again why we didn't kill them.

* * *

One week later Jennifer was fully recovered and Leah had successfully given birth. Nessie's prediction of how uncomplicated a C-section would be turned out to be true and Leah delivered a healthy baby girl - a lot faster than she would have liked, but now at least she would have a little piece of Nahuel with her forever.

"What would you like to name her?" I asked Leah, while holding her daughter, as Carlisle stitched her back together. I was truly honored that Leah had asked me to stay in the room during the entire ordeal with her delivery.

"Angelina," she said. "She truly looks like a little angel, don't you think. Just like her father."

"Um . . . yeah," I hesitantly agreed. Angel was not the word I would use to describe Nahuel, but I know she loved him and all, but Angel? I'm guessing the pregnancy hormones in Leah must be pretty high right now to say that, so I wasn't about to argue and it wasn't my kid. She could name her daughter whatever she wanted.

Leah's calculations for when she had gotten pregnant were either a little off or she had gone into labor early, so she had started having contractions just after Nessie and I were preparing to go to bed that night. Carlisle thought we had another day and was not planning to perform her cesarean until tomorrow morning.

Even as quickly as he moved it still took Carlisle a few minutes to set everything up but he was a pro after all and thirty minutes later it was all over. But it was still a few more hours before I was able to leave Leah's side. Leah didn't want to be left alone with a new baby and even after all these years did not feel comfortable being alone with the Cullens, but eventually Jennifer and Felicity relieved Nessie and me, so we could get some sleep.

It had been a long day and I was so exhausted. I could not wait to go to sleep. Just after Nessie and I climbed into bed and were about to go to sleep Edward appeared at our bedroom had been a long day and i was so exhausted. I could not wait to go to sleep. Just after Nessie and I climbed into bed and were about to go to sleep Edward appeared at our bedroom doorway.

"Jacob, I need to talk to you."

Things were just starting to settle back down. What did he want now? _Couldn't this wait until morning?_

 _"_ I didn't want to put this off any longer."

 _Fine_! I was about to tell Nessie that I would be right back, but as I looked over to her I saw that she was already asleep. So I gave her a kiss on the forehead and followed Edward to the study.

"So what was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"

"Now that we know Leah and the baby are fine I wanted to talk to you alone, without Nessie. She's been through enough and what I have to say may turn out to be nothing anyway, so I didn't want to alarm her." I know Edward was trying to calm me down, but everything he said was having the opposite effect.

 _Just spit it out._ I mentally shouted at him.

"Fine, but keep in mind that it's probably nothing."

"Sure, sure. I heard you the first time. Now what is it that may be nothing?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but as we were leaving Volterra I think I heard something."

Volterra! _You're not sure . . . you think . . . what the hell Eddie?_

"It was Caius; he, Aro and Marcus were guarding their thoughts very carefully, they always are, but as we were leaving, Caius happened to look over at you and for a brief second his thoughts shifted to Greece."

Greece? Suddenly my thoughts filled with dread. My sister, Rebecca, and her family were in Greece!

"Yes, that is why I thought to bring it up."

I had to fight hard to suppress the growl that was building up inside of me, I wanted to say this out loud, to shout it, not just have Eddie read it in my mind. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU MENTION THIS EARLIER? MY FAMILY COULD BE IN DANGER!" It had been over a week since our _meeting_ with the Volturi, anything could have happened to them in that time. What the hell?

* * *

Okay so i am ending this on a bit of a cliff hanger but this is the end of Part 7. Part 8 will be up sometime next week picking up pretty much exactly where i left off, just in Nessie's point of view.

Please review and let me know what you think. thanks for reading.


	108. 40 Years Later, 2050-2054 (1st Section)

**Part Eight – First Section**

 **2050-2054**

Renesmee's Point of View

". . . MENTION THIS EARLIER? MY FAMILY COULD BE IN DANGER!" Huh? What . . . was that Jake yelling?

Not ready to open my eyes, I felt around the bed, searching him out, but found myself alone. Damn-it! Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 10:32. Either I had slept for over 12 hours or, judging by the lack of sunlight coming from the window and the more likely option based on my still exhausted body, I had only been asleep for about 17 minutes. What was wrong now?

Getting up, I quickly made my way to the source of the noise, on the other side of the house, in the library, and found Jake seething, and Edward desperately trying to calm him down. Of course they picked the one room that was not fully soundproofed to have a screaming match in the middle of the night. Esme didn't think it would be necessary. ' _We are all adults, which of us would be so uncivilized as to_ _raise their voice, in a library'_ , being her reasoning. Because we are a family of supernatural creatures who face life and death situations on a far to regular basis, apparently, and this was our home and NOT a public library, being the answer.

"Calm down Jacob. I would never let anything happen to them." Edward tried to unsuccessfully calm down Jake. Great so I had heard right. Someone was trying to kill me . . . again.

"No Renesmee, no one is after you, not this time, I promise." my father addressed me, making Jake throw his head over in my direction. I guess he had been so wrapped up in the argument that he had not realized I had entered the room. Not only me though, everyone else in the family was here as well, save Alice and Jasper who had gone to South America to inform Huilen of her Nephew's unfortunate demise, and Leah and baby Angelina, who were still sleeping (I hoped).

Leah had finally gotten her daughter to sleep an hour ago and they would both probably be down for another hour or two, until it was time for Angelina's next elk blood feeding, elk being the only type we found she liked.

"So if not me then who?" I asked glancing at each member of the family. Who of us had this latest new threat chosen to attack?

"This is what I was trying to explain to Jacob. I didn't hear a threat in Caius' mind. Only a flash of Greece. It could have been merely a coincidence that he thought of it as he was looking at you."

"But Rebecca, and her husband, and my nephew . . . they are all there! You should have said something as soon as you heard him. We don't even know if Reb. . ."

"Jacob, give me a little credit. I called them last week. They are fine. I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but you had other, more pressing things to deal with," my father argued.

Of course he was right. Jake and I had to deal with the ramifications of the whole Volturi incident. While we were not directly affected, per say, it was not exactly like we had gotten out of the situation scot-free. Our daughters mate, Jennifer, had almost died. And Jennifer's brother, Nahuel, had died, leaving Leah, Jake's Beta, pregnant and alone. The entire group had been kidnapped and tortured. And it was still unclear if Jennifer and Nahuel's poisoning had been intentional or not. And that did not even begin to address the emotional trauma everyone is still just beginning to try to cope with.

I agreed with my father. Adding on something else for Jake to worry about at this time would be too much for him to deal with, especially if my father knew that Rebecca and her family were safe. But then why did he bring it up in the first place?

"What about Greece?" Bella asked Alice. "Do you see anything?"

Alice did her normal seemingly zoned out, losing eye focus, thing where she was looking at the future, but when she came back, she said that she didn't see anything going on there. "Greece is still a Vampire free zone, no _permanent_ inhabitants, no Volturi, not even the occasional nomad," she proclaimed.

Then why was Caius even thinking about it? And why were there no Vampires there? Not even to pass through?

But I didn't want to make I big deal about it right now. Jake's family was fine. Alice didn't see anything and we had other things to deal with.

"You know what Jake? I have an idea. Let's get away in a month or two. As soon as we know that Jennifer and Leah are doing better. Emotionally. We can't bring back Nahuel, and we need to be there for them, right now. But later we should take some time for us. Let's go to Greece. You can see your sister and her family, see for yourself that they are fine. And we can have a nice little vacation ourselves and distress."

"And until then why don't you call Rebecca yourself. That would probably make you feel a lot better," Esme added in, holding up the phone for Jake.

* * *

Three months later we were driving down to Greece. Leah had practically thrown us out of the house. I guess she was sick of us trying to make her feel better. We had called Seth just to fill him in on everything that was going on with his sister, against her objections of course. She didn't want him worrying about her, but as soon as Seth heard he packed his family up, well his kids were grown by now and living on their own, but he and his wife/imprint Carol insisted on coming for an extended visit.

They had seen each other off and on over the years, but Seth had stopped phasing more than 30 years ago, 37 to be exact, now that I thought about it, and . . . well, he was just a teenager when he started phasing and looked 25, just like Jake, when I first met him. It was the Seth that I was use to, but now he looked more like the 57 year old that he was. It was so strange seeing someone who was once young, just like Jake, but now looked old. His eyes now had wrinkles ingrained around them, that I heard were referred to as "crow's feet", and the laugh lines around his mouth were deeply set; then there were the grays that were creeping into his once jet black hair . . . it was something I wasn't used to in my family. His appearance was a shock. Of course once I got past the superficial I saw that he was still the pure, sweet, innocent, loving boy I once knew, only now he was not a boy anymore, he was a man, who was expecting his first granddaughter in the next few months.

Leah's daughter, Angelina, was following the same rapid growth pattern that both Felicity and David did. At three months old she currently resembled a 13 year old and had the teenage hormones to match. Either that or she just naturally took after her mother, attitude wise. Just like Felicity, she has not phased . . . at least not yet. But if she was ever going to, it would probably happen within the next two or three months. That being said, I didn't think now was the best time to leave, but Leah insisted, swearing she could handle her daughter herself, if anything did happen.

So that is how Jake and I ended up driving down to Greece. I know Jake needed to get away. I wanted a little vacation too, and driving would make it easier for us to make a u-turn and head home if we got a call and needed to return right away. Jake and I alternated driving, staying at or just below the speed limit for the first leg of our trip. If we went straight through, altering driving and not needing to stop to sleep, the journey would have taken us no more than two days. But, as eager as Jake was to see his family, he was concerned about Leah, and what she would do if Angelina phased. So after the first week of driving we had only made it from our home in Yaroslavl, Russia to the northern tip of Ukraine. At that point it would have been faster to ditch the car and fly home so from then on we hightailed it south, making it to Bulgaria in less than 14 hours.

We were about to head into Greece when we saw a sign for some local caves. I needed to hunt anyway and have never explored any caves before and was really excited about the idea. Jake agreed and thought it would be a nice little detour.

Rebecca didn't have an exact date that she was expecting us so we just gave her a call and let her know we would be there in a few days. Jake seemed to relax just from hearing her voice, knowing that everything was okay. I guess that would be enough for a now and I really did want to go explore the caves. They looked amazing!

And we were right. The caves were as interesting as we hoped they would be and more, but now we really did need to get to Greece so back to the car we climbed and headed on our way. Our three day detour turned into a weeklong deviation, but it wasn't really our fault, there were just so many caves to explore and so few animals to hunt, everything just ended up taking longer than expected.

"What do you think about driving a Ferrari in Italy, where they're made?" Jake asked me, out of the blue. I know we both shared a love of cars, and the few times Bella let me drive her Ferrari, that my father bought her, well . . . it was amazing, but she had not had that car in almost 30 years, but . . . to drive one now? In Italy? It made me a little nervous to go there and weren't we supposed to be going to get visit Jake's family? Although seeing a Ferrari factory, or a Ferrari showroom - the _first_ Ferrari showroom, or even just driving a Ferrari in the country where they were first designed . . . wow. Just the thought gave me a such a happy, blissful feeling, a thrill of excitement. Driving one, in its own country, purely for entertainment purposes . . . what could another little detour hurt?

It turns out the Ferrari factory was located in Maranella, over 100 miles north of Volterra, not close enough to be deemed too close. We could very easily visit the factory and remain far enough away from the Volturi that we wouldn't be in any danger. We could rent, or maybe even buy a car (neither of us had bought anything new for ourselves in over a decade) and drive around for a little bit. The Volturi weren't hunting us, and it was a big enough country with plenty of open roads. Why not?

Jake ended up buying a not so little dark cherry model he fell in love with. Bella's Ferrari had not been a convertible, that would have been completely inappropriate for a Vampire. But Jake wasn't a Vampire. While impractical for a human to drive around in the rigid Russian cold, with Jake's 108° body temperature he would be fine; although the sales woman did raise her eyebrows at his request. He did order at least a few options that were a little more practical, including tinted windows, a fully solar powered engine, and extra legroom, in addition to a whole bunch of other specifications that would take some time to engineer, but we were paying enough that the sales woman was more than willing to accommodate us. She was going to be making a huge commission on the sale after all.

And since they would be delivering the car to our home in Russia, we wouldn't be stuck in Italy with two cars. It would take roughly two months to manufacture the car with all of the requested modifications before they delivered it.

Once our order was placed we drove down the right side of the boot to Lecce, and planned on taking a boat over to Greece, but just as we were about to board we decided that as long as we were in Italy we might as well stop and see some museums. There were a lot of great ones here, not to mention all of the public art including fountains, statues, cathedrals. In particular, I wanted to see the Statue of David and the Sistine Chapel. Really the list went on and on. Just visiting all of the artworks of Michelangelo could take a whole month. Never mind da Vinci, Titian, Caravaggio, or Donatello.

But that would be too long. So two weeks later we were headed back to Greece but before we boarded the boat we got sidetracked again. We decided a little shopping might be in order. It would be rude to return home without gifts from Italy for everyone. And Alice would never forgive me. She was always saying that if you ever wanted to go shopping, Milan was better than anywhere else in the world.

We were headed back to our hotel, all of our arms weighed down with our shopping success, there was so much stuff we needed to make multiple trips up to our room. Jake was currently down at the car getting out the last of the bags while I tried to organize everything that we had already brought into the room, when I got a phone call from my mother.

"Renesmee has something happened? Alice just had a vision and said she saw you were in Italy. Why haven't you gone to see Jake's sister yet?"

"Oh, we're fine. We just thought of a couple of things we wanted to do while we're in the area. How is everything back home?"

I talked to my mother for a little bit about the family, and asked about Leah and Angelina. Bella let me know that she still hasn't phased yet, but she was starting to sprout up like a weed. Nahuel had only been 5'7", but Leah, even as a wolf was 5'10", rivaling me and Rosalie in height.

Angelina was already 5'8" and still had a couple more months of aging to go through before she took on the appearance of a 16 to 17 year old and would at least stop growing. She would age, slowly, over the next year and a half until she finally stopped forever, appearing close to a 23 year old.

It seemed like she was going to be phasing pretty soon if her rapid growth spurt was any indication.

"Do you want us to come home?" I asked.

"No, Leah is very . . . _determined_ that she can handle it on her own, and Seth is still here, too. He hasn't phased in decades but offered too if needed, but . . . oh . . ." she pause for a second. "Edward would like to speak with you," Bella said before presumably handed him the phone.

"Renesmee are you sure everything is alright? It isn't very polite to keep Jake's relatives waiting like this when you've made a commitment."

"We're fine Edward. Just taking some time for ourselves." That was the point of this trip after all, wasn't it? "How is . . ."

"I know honey, it's just . . . the sooner you visit them the sooner you can return home."

Oh, now I see the real reason why he wanted us to go to Greece - he wanted us to get back to him quickly. He missed me, that was so sweet. Of course I knew I was still his little girl, no matter how old I was

"I know _Dad_ , and we are going to, soon. It is just that every time we get close to Greece we see something or think of something else that we want to do first. It's so wonderful here."

I began explaining to him about the caves, and the Ferrari, and seeing some of Italy's amazing art, and I was about to tell him about all of the shopping we did when he cut me off.

"When exactly is it that you decide not to head into Greece?"

"I don't know, we're in the car, heading towards the border, or about to step on a boat to take us there, and then we see a sign or think of something we'd like to do instead and change our minds. It's only temporary. Greece and Rebecca will still be there; it's not like either of them are going anywhere?" Why was he making such a big deal out of this? We called and let Rebecca know that we were postponing our visit. Jake hadn't seen her in decades, what's a few more weeks?

I thought I heard my father say something under his breath, "Rengata!" I think. What was that? I couldn't actually tell if he was talking to me or someone in the house with him, back home. Whatever he said he hadn't said it very loud, or very clearly, and I almost missed it. And what was a Rengata?

"Did you say that you wanted me to go see a Regatta?" That was my best guess. "I guess the boat shows around here are pretty good but . . ." Wasn't he just saying he wanted us to go see Rebecca? Now he wants me to go to a boat show? Either he was making very little sense or I got it wrong and that was not what he said.

"No. Not Regatta. _Renata_ ," he's stressed. "R-E-N-A-T-A," he said again, spelling it out.

Huh? Then it dawned on me, that was the name of Aro's old guard member, the one who is some sort of shield. But Aro had replaced her with a more powerful shield, one that could create a physical forcefield. Why was Edward mentioning her now?

Oh, that was what was going on.

"I can tell that you gathered what I was getting at by the gasp in your breath. Though I cannot fathom why, if I am right, she is most likely the reason you keep deferring your trip into Greece. Stay where you are. We will be there by tomorrow afternoon," he quickly explained before the phone went silent.

* * *

 **To be Continued . . .**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and please review. :)**


	109. 40 Years Later, 2050-2054 (2nd Section)

**Part Eight – Second Section**

 **2050-2054**

Renesmee's Point of View

When my family arrived we immediately start heading towards Greece. I know my father had said to wait for them right where we were, but I was not sure he realized that we were almost at the very southern point of Italy. Just to save some time Jake and I headed north and met everyone at the top of the countries northern most boarder. It wasn't much be we saved a few hours this way, and with all of the delays Renata caused us it was better than nothing.

"I'm not completely sure it is her, after all." My father admitted, now that we were all back together. I asked Alice to see if we would be encountering her when we arrived but Alice has not seen her."

"Is it me? Could that just be because I am blocking your vision?" Jake wanted to know.

"I don't think so. You know how they work. Everything around you or is connected to you just disappears. I can see Renata, but she doesn't seem to be here."

"At least not anymore." Jasper cut in. "She could have seen us coming, or heard your phone call and high tailed it out of here." He never seemed to trust the Volturi anymore. I remember when I was just a baby and the Volturi were coming for me, he use to think that they were the guardians of justice and were only after me over a misunderstanding. My how times have changed.

But that brought up another issue. If Aro replaced his shield with some new forcefield generating Vampire, did he kick Renata out of the Volturi, or just reassign her?

If it was her, was she here on official Volturi business, or on her own?

"That's a good question," my father said, responding to my internal questions. "I would assume the former since Caius thought of Greece, he must know she was here. Which means she was keeping you out of Greece for a reason."

"Are we sure that was what she was doing though? Was Nessie and Jake really being kept out of Greece or kept _in_ Italy?" Rose wondered.

"We didn't go anywhere near Volterra," I assured them. Vampires could run so fast that just like the passage of time, distance was different for them than for humans. As long as we didn't go into the walled city of Volterra we were outside of the Volturi's immediate proximity. That being said, anywhere in the world was possible to reach in under a day so distance did not matter. One city over or across the globe to the other side of the planet made no difference to them. They could reach us anywhere and probably had spies everywhere.

"Why don't we just all go to Greece and see if there is anything going on there. Bella's shield should counteract Renata's if she was indeed attempting to keep Renesmee and Jacob out . . . for whatever reason," Carlisle suggested.

And then right on cue Esme both agreed with her husband and offered a plausible if not totally reasonable explanation for Renata's actions.

"I'm sure there won't be a problem. If Renata was trying to keep you out of Greece, and we are not even sure it was her doing it, we have no idea of her motivations. Perhaps she just has a deep fondness of the country, or its people, and wished to preserve it and did not want any supernatural beings ruining it for her."

"Carlisle, you use to live with them. Does she have a connection to the country?"

"Not that I know of. She was originally from Malta, when she was human, but that was in the thirteenth century. I am not sure of any connections she has made over the centuries, other than to the Volturi. And now that that is . . . in question . . . I just do not know.

"This makes me question if it is truly her behind all of this." Carlisle continued. "Her gift was never at this scope when she was Aro's personal bodyguard. She would need to physically be touching him, and even then her gift would only divert a physical attack. It could not bar a person or multiple people from entering an entire country."

"Her power could have grown." Bella was trying to think of every possible angle, I could tell. Her insights were always surprising to my father, but over the years he had come to realize that she just thought differently than most. Of course he always knew that, that was part of the reason he first fell in love with her. And he once told me that Bella, when she was human, would have almost prolific dreams. Now that she was a Vampire she no longer dreamed, or slept, but the insight she seemed to get from her dreams remained. They just moved into her waking mind. "She was with the Volturi for centuries. Perhaps she was able to do this all along but wasn't aware of it, having focused on singularly protecting Aro for so long."

"Or she could be working with someone else. The two of them amplifying each other's powers." I offered, seeing where my mother was going.

"Is that possible?" Emmett asked.

"They're supernatural gifts. Alice sees the future, I read minds, Benjamin can control the elements. Anything is possible," my father snorted at his brothers question.

"Or it could be someone else entirely, or no one at all, and Jake and Nessie just got very, very . . . distracted." Bella smirked toward me.

Well there is only one way to find out. Let's go, and if we run into Renata, or someone else, there are 10 of us," Emmett said, while pounding his fists together. "We can handle them."

"We are not fighting anyone, but I agree, we should go. Standing around and making assumptions is getting us nowhere."

So that was it. We were off, splitting up into a caravan of three cars, and thanks to Bella's shield we actually made it into Greece this time. But just after we passed through the countries border, Jake seemed to grow concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What about my family, Nessie?" he whispered back to me. My parents we riding in the back of our car, wanting to catch up with us. It had only been a little over a month since we had seen them, but even being away for a little bit was a change that they were not comfortable with. Any change was hard on Vampires.

"Why," I whispered back, fully aware that not only could my parents hear both of us, but my father could read everything in our minds. He already knew what was bothering Jake, but seemed to either be giving us the illusion of privacy or whatever Jake was thinking about was so disturbing it had rendered him speechless.

I heard my father chuckle, so it must not have been that bad, despite Jake's troubled expression.

"I'm just a little concerned for Rebecca and her husband. Well more for their kids actually. They have children that are teenagers now. I don't think she really wants them phasing due to all of the Cullens coming with us. I was a little concerned before that you might set off the gene if we stayed too long, but was determined to make this a short visit so that would not happened. But now . . ." he trailed off. "And really they don't know anything about wolves or vampires or any of that. Not ever Rebecca. I mean she had heard the stories, the legends from Billy, but she thought as I used to, that they were just stories, not histories of actual events. If her kids phase here, in Greece, without the support of the whole La Push community, the Pack . . . Phasing for the first time is a slow process. It takes months of growth spurts, increased body temperature, if the gene was to be set off they would not change into a wolf until well after we leave. They would be all alone and I would not be there to help them. It takes most wolves a few days to several weeks to even learn to phase back to human. And then there is the whole anger issue to deal with."

"Jake . . ." Crap! I hadn't even thought of that.

"Don't worry Jacob." Edward interjected, hearing my worry along with Jake's. "We won't be staying with you. The rest of us are going to fan out across the country and see if we can find Renata, or the Volturi, or anything else unusual that has been going on."

"Sure, sure." Jake said, along with a deep sigh of relief.

"Do you think you will be successful?" I asked, giving us something else to talk about.

"I'm not sure. Since neither Alice, nor I ,saw or heard, any trace of Renata at the border. Alice saw her in Turkey, but if it was her behind this . . . I'm not exactly sure how her gift works, she might have sensed us coming, and decided to move on, unwilling to take on all of us."

I hadn't realized it but the other three cars, my family were traveling in, had taken off in different directions once we were past the Grecian border, fanning out across the country just as my father said.

Once we arrived at Jake's sisters house, my parents gave both of us a quick hug and took off running, themselves, promising to meet us in one week. That should not be enough time for me to set off any changes in Jake's nephews genes to cause them to phase.

In the end we did not even need to worry about that. Rebecca's sons had joined the local scout army, one set up for teens, kind of like the boy or girl scouts in America mixed with a national guard, and were away at some sort of day/boot camp. It wasn't unusual nowadays. War and fighting were so common in the world now that most teens were in some sort of pre-army training program . . . just in case. Not to attack, but more to defend.

We hoped to be able to visit with Jake's nephews, unfortunately Rebecca said that they would be away for at least a month, but gave us the address if we wanted to try and visit them there. She wasn't sure we would be allowed to, but who knows.

Even without the kids there, Jake and I had a fun time seeing Rebecca and her husband, Solomon, but before we knew it we got a call from Bella. The entire family was on their way and would be meeting us at the northernmost border of the country. We were not scheduled to leave for another two days but she said that, though we were not in any danger, we needed to go. She would explain why when she saw us.

"What? What is it?" Jake asked, as soon as we arrived. Everyone was already gathered at the Grecian border and I could see the concern, or maybe it was confusion, on Edward's face.

Bella looked like she was going to let us in on the big secret, but Carlisle jumped in and was the first to speak, "Jacob you once mentioned that your father said there was another family from La Push that moved to Greece. Do you remember where exactly, or what their names were?"

"Sure, Ellen Beartrainer. But I heard she got married and never found out what her new husband's last name was. What does that matter? They were not living in the same province as Rebecca and it was decades ago that Ellen moved here. I'm not sure if her and the guy she married are still here anymore, or if they're even alive at this point. Why?"

"Carlisle and I saw an . . . individual that may _possibly_ be of Native American decent," Jasper interjected. They were living in Loutra Smokovou. Does that ring any bells."

"Sorry, no." he shrugged. "Now could someone tell me why Nessie and I had to leave my sister just because you happened to run into Ellen." I could hear the anger creeping into Jake's voice, though he was trying hard to control himself. He had not seen Rebecca in years . . . decades actually.

"It wasn't . . ." Carlisle began to reply before Edward cut in.

"They did not meet Ellen. The person they ran into was named Theresa, and no, to answer your next question she did not change her name. The woman Carlisle and Jasper ran across was more than 15 years her junior. It's a little . . . strange, don't you agree, that THREE people from La Push should end up in the same country, on the other side of the planet."

"Possibly, if 25 years ago, I had not let my Rachel know that her twin sister, Rebecca would be perfectly safe moving to Greece. But Rachel told Paul, and you know the Pack, even if he was no longer a wolf at the time, once Paul knew that there was another place on the planet as safe as the Reservation . . . and with better weather, how long did you really think it would take before someone else outside of the Pack found out and decided to move here?"

"That is an interesting theory," Edward mused. He still didn't look convinced. "But we cannot be sure that that is all that is going on here. We didn't search the entire country, but three families that have some tie with La Push is more than a coincidence. If it had just been Rebecca and Ellen Beartrainer, that could have been written off as a coincidence, as we previously had, but three is one too many, for me."

But my father said that Caius thought of Greece when he looked at Jake, back in Volterra. I was starting to see my father's suspicions. "I wonder if there is another reason they are in Greece? Could the Volturi somehow be behind this?" NO! That can't be it. How would they get random La Push residences to voluntarily go to Greece and why would they even want to do that? This didn't make any sense.

"You tell us," Alice spoke up. I know she hated being blind when it came to wolves. Did that extend to all of the La Push tribe, even if they were not wolves? I didn't think so, but then wouldn't Alice know what was going on, now? "We knew that the first girl, Ellen, moved here for school. Jasper did you guys find out what brought Theresa to Greece . . . other than a warm, sunny, and safe place to live?"

"Isn't that enough? Bella scoffed.

"Possibly, unfortunately I was never able to ask her," Jasper replied.

"And what about Rebecca's husband, Solomon? He moved here, with her, because he got a job offer to test surfboards. But he surely must be too old to still be doing that now. What are they still doing here? What did they tell you guys?"

"He's still working for that same company, only now he's more behind the scenes, consulting on design, colors, marketing . . ." Jake replied.

"And there kids were born here. They grew up here." I added. It would be unthinkable to a parent to want to move and disrupt their children's lives, without a very good reason.

"Too bad we were never able to see my nephews," Jake sighed, the disappointment heavily apparent. I know he was really looking forward to seeing them. We will have to return again, when they return from the training facility.

"What?" Edward gasped, "Not the camp on the Kea-Kythnos island?"

"Err . . . yeah, how'd you know?" Jake asked. "I wasn't even thinking about the name of it. Were you?" he asked, turning to me. But I had not been either, so I just shook my head.

"I heard it in someone's mind. Bella and I were searching around Preveza and I thought I spotted someone who looked like they might have originated in La Push instead of Greece, but thought nothing of it at the time. This was before I heard of Jasper and Carlisle's discovery, though. I'm not 100% certain that they were of Native American decent, I heard nothing in his mind to make me think that, but his appearance was . . . anyway he was thinking of visiting his son on that same island next week.

Jasper rose to stand in the middle of our group. "This is seeming like whatever is going on here is less and less like a coincidence and more intentional. It would seem prudent that we visit this island and see what is going on." It looked like his military background was kicking in and whenever it did, he naturally fell into a leadership position (in our family anyway). But were we really in danger now?

"If there's a bunch of La Push teens . . . some of whom could be potential wolves, don't you think that's the last place we should be?" Bella asked.

"Exactly," Jake agreed. "Maybe Nessie and I should go alone. There's less risk that way."

"For who? If the Volturi are the ones behind this and they spot you . . . the potential for disaster . . ." Jasper began.

"They're not. They wouldn't want to be anywhere near teen boys who, due to their presence, would phase into a giant wolf, right in front of them. A new wolf . . . angry, confused, and acting completely on instinct . . . whatever Vampire was closest to them would not survive for long."

Jake had a point. But if not the Volturi then who?

"The Grecian government possibly," Edward replied to my mental, albeit rhetorical question. "Or some other military organization. Wolves have been around for centuries. With today's satellite technology any number of foreign or domestic agencies could have seen the La Push residents phase into wolves. War is everywhere, people are desperate to protect themselves. Think of what having a giant wolf on your side could do. The one thing that might keep the tribe teens safe is that whoever is behind this is unaware of what is needed to trigger a wolf's first phasing."

"And you want to do it for them?" Jake growled to him, again raising a valid point.

"I don't like the idea any more than you do, Jacob," Jasper replied, "but if I am right, then it would seem that . . . _someone_ has gone to a lot of trouble to get an, as yet to be determined, number of La Push Tribes people or descendants of the Tribe, with possible wolf genes here and, for whatever reason, wolf or not, I doubt it's a good one. We need to know what that reason is and possibly . . . no, probably put a stop to it, whatever 'it' is."

"Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves? We don't even know that is why these families are in Greece. Why are we assuming that it is just boys from La Push at this training camp? There could, and probably is, a fairly significant portion of the local youth population there, as well. It has grown common for everyone, worldwide, between the ages of 16-20 to join their national guards or local militias. As much as I hate the idea it is completely normal, nowadays, given the state of the world." Carlisle signed before turning to my father. "Did you talk to anyone, or _over hear_ anything from someone, who wasn't from La Push, going there?"

"No, and that is why I think the fact that there's at least three of us who have encountered members of Jacob's tribe halfway around the world is concerning enough that we do need to look into this. If we don't stay long," my father said, pausing to acknowledge Jacob's concerns, "then what harm could just looking do?"

"Your right, of course," Carlisle acquiesced. If we went and it turned out to be just a coincidence then we could leave, no one would be the wiser, and if it does turn out to be something more, then I believe you are correct, and we would need to intervene.

"Okay," Jake reluctantly then gave in too. "But if it's not an island full of a bunch of La Push guys we need to get out of there as soon as possible. We don't need a wolf explosion in the middle of Greece."

* * *

Not wanting to waste any time we ran straight through the Grecian countryside, where we would hire a boat to take us to the island. It was nighttime so there was no need to be concerned about my families shimmering skin in the sun, or anybody catching a glimpse of a bunch of _humans_ running faster than cars. If anybody did see anything it was so dark they'd think it was just some sort of animal, I'd bet. Or perhaps that they were still dreaming. Either way none of us were concerned . . . at the moment, at least.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	110. 40 Years Later, 2050-2054 (3rd Section)

**Part Eight – Third Section**

 **2050-2054**

Renesmee's Point of View

Edward was able to hear, in some villagers minds, the location of the training facility we needed to go to. We were able to get tickets on a commercial transport boat, that normally ferried the locals, who lived on the Grecian mainland, to work on Kea-Kythnos island. We got on the first ferry of the day, but even so dawn was approaching and we would need to make our way to the compound right away.

"Alice do you see anything that can help us?" Jasper asked his wife.

She looked but didn't see anything, at least nothing useful to our current situation.

"You know I haven't been able to grow my gift, even after all this time being around him, to see anything when Jake is involved," she whined. I know she hated being blinded by him, but she was normally able to see around him. Whatever happens today he must be central to the activity. Hopefully this just means that he finds his relatives, visits with them quickly and we all leave. No drama.

For some reason, I doubted that.

After disembarking the boat we entered, well . . . _broke_ into the closest building next to the dock. We were cutting it close. The sun was going to be up any minute now and there was not a cloud in the sky.

I should not have let my family talk me into waiting till morning for a boat. My family could have easily swam, and Jake and I could have too. Even though we needed to breath, didn't mean we would drown, as some in my family worried about.

Rose peaked her head out the door to just glimpse the outside. "Damn! The sun's already coming up." She didn't exactly look angry or worried, more like disappointed . . . or bored. "Were too late. We'll have to stay here and wait till nightfall."

"Calm down. There's got to be a car rental place around here somewhere. Ness and I can go and rent a couple, with tinted window and pick everyone up," Jake said, while grabbing my hand to lead us outside.

"There's a rental place less than two miles south of here. We'll be waiting," my father informed us as we snuck out of our hiding place.

He was right. I wonder whose mind he picked up that bit of information from? I guess it really didn't matter. The rental car place had many cars and trucks to choose from, unfortunately none of them had tinted windows.

"Should we try another agency?" I asked Jake.

"There in nother, few kilometers east, but none with window tints," Mazia, the helpful woman, behind the rental counter informed us, using her best English. "Why tints so needed? You not like our sun?"

"Err . . . no, that is not the problem I just have . . . something that could . . . well, it would not do well being so exposed." She didn't, nor couldn't know the truth. "We'll just take the two sedan's you showed us." I reluctantly told the woman. There must be a store around here that sells hats, scarves, sunglasses, maybe even gloves if we got lucky. If we covered up enough of my families skin it would be almost as good.

"We have . . . emm, delivery truck . . . you could rent. No windows in back, if that be helping?"

Oh! Finally something good.

"We'll take it," we both practically shouted in unison.

Twenty minutes later, after picking up our family we were pulling up to the training facility. It was massive. At least ten times bigger than the football stadiums that used to house the NFL leagues in the States, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. After circling around the place once, (it took us over 13 minutes driving full speed!) we located a single door on the southernmost side.

There were a few cars scattered about. Some old, some new, various makes and models, some had rental plates . . . a random variety of non descript vehicles.

"Do we have a plan? A reason for being here? If we run into someone in charge and they ask, I mean." Bella wanted to know.

"Do we need one? Jake's here to visit his nephews. That's legit enough. Right?" Alice was right. We were here for that. Just because that was not our only reason didn't matter.

"No doorbell. I guess we should just walk in. Maybe there is a receptionist inside or something." Jasper said as he flung the door open and walked through. We were quick to follow, but didn't get far.

The inside of the building, if that was what you called it, was even more impressive than the outside. I guess technically it wasn't a building though exactly. More of an enclosure. Buildings had walls, ceilings and floors, among other things. This . . . place, was missing two of those things – walls and a floor. Sure it had an outer wall, but that was it. The inside looked to be one single room. The natural earth was still beneath our feet. The outer walls, were built around, what I would conservatively estimate as a two square mile forest, with a massive dome overhead, tall enough to house the trees, hills and I even spotted a waterfall that lead to a stream that ran though the middle of the enclosure.

There was a clearing in the middle of the enclosed forest that was where we saw the most . . . unbelievable thing. Okay so that was an understatement. Everything was unbelievable. But what we saw . . . was just . . . there were no words.

This was a military training facility, or so we had been told, so we expected to see the exercise equipment – treadmills, exercise bikes, pull up bars, a massive obstacle course complete with climbing wall, log dodging thing that one was supposed to run through without getting hit, and mud pit to crawl through.

But what we were not expecting to see was the wolves. Or the vampires that were now surrounding us. We had not picked up either scent outside of the building. Crap!

And who was in the center of the group . . . it took me a fraction of a second, I probably would have recognized him immediately if I had not been so shocked. But it couldn't be him. What was he doing here?

But there he stood. And he momentarily seemed as surprised to see us as we were him.

No it could not be. Not here in Greece. It barely looked like him. He was not in his normal black cloak. He was wearing a modern suit. His hair pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck and he was concealing his red eyes with a pair of sunglasses, Armani, if I'm not mistaken. But it was definitely Aro. Behind him, Renata his longtime shield and his newer shield, Adrian the forcefield generator, flanked him.

At least Adrian's presence explained why Alice had not seen anything, or why my father had not heard Aro's thoughts and known he was here. Was that also why none of us had smelt them outside? I didn't know enough about his shield to answer that.

"Ah, the Cullens. We meet again." Aro said to our group, as we uneasily approach him. The Volturi guards, none dressed in the customary robes either, also were all dressed in modern attire and wore sunglasses as well. Four came up from behind and were closing in on us, herding us toward Aro and his personal guards. I counted another seven spaced out around the facility. "I must admit I did not expect to see you so soon after our last . . . visit."

The wolves, I counted 12, all had stopped the various _training_ activities they were doing. I thought they would have instinctually attacked, but they were not. Not us, nor the Volturi. They were just sitting, calmly, as best as I could make out. What was going on?

"Aro, it is good to see you again. I didn't realize you had . . . business in Greece." Carlisle replied as the guards continued to inch us closer to Aro, and closer to the wolves, his wolves, apparently. Further away from the door. The one and only exit.

"Yes, as you are well aware, my . . . work takes me all over the world. How is it that you come to be here?"

It looked like Carlisle was silently asking my father some question, but Edward just shook his head, in the negative. Whatever it was that Carlisle wanted to know, Edward must not be able to read Aro's mind. Adrian's shield would have taken care of that.

It was hard to tell when my father put on his mask like façade, his face was almost unreadable. But I was his daughter and I could read him better than anyone, and he was terrified.

"Do tell me - how has hunting been going?" What? Hunting? Aro wanted to talk about our diet? Now? "You've only been on this existence for what a century, four at most," he chuckled looking to Carlisle, the oldest in our family. "You're practically babies. The Volturi, on the other hand have been here for multi-millennia. We've seen what's going on with this planet. We knew what to look for. Similar steps had to be taken during the Dark Ages, the black plague was not a friend to our kind either, killing off the humans before we could," he said shaking his head sadly. "And this isn't our first bouts with climate change, you're all too young to remember the mini ice age that happened half a millennia before Dark Ages. Tragic."

I'm guessing with the way Aro was speaking that that wolves only spoke Italian, and not English, and therefore had no idea what he was saying. And somehow did not know they were surrounded by Vampires. If they had there would have been no need for Aro's altered appearance.

"We could foresee the disappearance of your chosen food supply, decades ago," he continued. "I'm actually surprised you've lasted this long, before reverting back to your true nature, or should I say TO it, since you've never actually try to live as _REAL_ Vampires. We, on the other hand, have been preparing ourselves for this for a while now, and have even enlisted a little help," he said acknowledging the wolves for the first time.

"We have begun . . ."

"No! You can't!" Edward screamed cutting Aro off, before whispering over to my aunt. "How could we have not seen this." What the hell is going on with Edward. What happened? Did he see something in Alice's mind? But how? Did Adrian drop his shield? Or was my mother able to block his with her own? If we lived though this I would have to ask them.

Edward quickly whisper explained, how Aro planned to use his _own_ Grecian wolves as his puppets, to control the humans living in the country, gathering and controlling his food supply for the coming centuries, as the planets climate continued to become more and more erratic, and wars around the globe continued to increase, killing off more and more of the human population.

"You see? It is the perfect plan," Aro hackled.

Who was he laughing with? Had he gone mad? Correction . . . more mad?

"You're insane Aro. How would you even conceive of a plan like that working? The wolves were bred to protect humans from our kind, they would never stand with you." Edwards screamed at him.

"You forget, my young friend, these are MY wolves. They've been under my protection for the past two generations. I was the one who offered their parents the opportunities – jobs, college scholarships, business loans, what have you; anything they most desired to move out of that backwater hole in the forest that they were in. They will have a grand life with me, under my protection, and I will continue on, as I always have. As I always will.

"Unfortunately I cannot say the same for you." He said with false grief. "There are no witnesses here this time. No face to save. No reason to carry on with the façade. You have interfered with my plans one too many times. So as the saying goes, if you are not with me," he stopped briefly raising a single eyebrow to wordlessly ask Bella, Edward and Alice, but as they shook their heads, 'No', he shrugged his shoulders and continued, "then you are against me, and those against me cannot be allowed to live."

He must have given some unseen signal because the wolves sprang into action. But they were not the only ones. The guards surrounded and rushed us as well.

"No, Bella!" Edward screamed.

What? I whipped my head around just in time to see my mother running full speed towards Aro. Of course she would be the only one able to break through Adrian and Renata's shields. If we were to have any chance at all they would need to be taken out. But that meant that Bella would be outnumbered 3 to 1. I watched in horror as my father chased after her only to bounce off of Adrian's forcefield. I didn't have time to watch long though, because a fraction of a second later I was being thrown through the air by one of the Volturi guards.

I was headed right for the forcefield. Turning my body midair I prepared myself to spring off of it and back onto my attacker. Just as I was gearing my legs up to pounce, nothing happened. I continued falling backwards, though Adrian's shield. Had my mother somehow gotten it down? A quick scan of the battle denied that thought. No one else was able to break through, including my father, no matter how hard he was trying.

Whatever the reason, I was though and now stood inside Adrian's shield, able to help my mother.

She was fighting with Renata, while Adrian presumably kept the forcefield up and Aro just was standing by, looking on at the battle, safely behind his barricade. Or at least he thought he was safe.

Should I go after him first? I didn't know exactly how strong he was, as a full vampire they were all definitely stronger than me, but Adrian had to concentrate on maintaining his shield, and Aro probably had not actually fought hand to hand himself in centuries, if not longer, and neither of them had my gift.

My decision was made for me when Aro came flying at me. In an instant his hands were around my neck. For anyone else this would have been a problem, but having him this close, was actually good for me. If I could just get my hand on his skin, anywhere, then I could use my gift and trap him in one of my visions. Then, if my luck held out my mother would notice and come and rip his head off. If I tried to do it myself I would lose the vision and he could break free. But that meant that I also could not signal to Bella what I would need her to do. Hopefully she was paying attention . . . as she was fighting with Renata.

Around and around Aro and I went, neither of us gaining the upper hand and then finally something distracted him and I was able to trap him. I didn't have time to worry about what could have taken his attention from our fight, I had to concentrate. I brought him into a vision, one from my past. I needed something where Aro would be moving around in the vision, but Bella would recognize it as a vision of mine and not us fighting. I brought Aro back to the day, 45 years ago, back in La Push in the ocean, the day Jake first taught me how to swim.

Aro started moving his arms around like he was treading water. And then I heard the screeching noise that I knew meant that my mother had ripped his head, or arms, or legs (it didn't really matter) off.

Coming out of the vision I looked around and saw not only Aro's headless body, but Renata's, too. Hers was actually in four . . . no, five pieces. Two down, one to go. We both turned to face Adrian. with a quick nod we leapt together. It was over quickly. Having such a powerful forcefield he had never learned to fight. Bella easily locked him in a headlock, while I tore it off.

Thank goodness. Hopefully that did not take too long and now we were able to help our family who were dangerously outnumbered 11 guards, plus 12 wolves to my families seven vampires and one wolf.

But when I looked over it was all over, body parts were strewn all over the landscape. What the hell happened?

Not that I was complaining - the entire Volturi guard had been decimated. Jasper and Alice were gathering pieces to throw into a fire, someone had set, and Aro's wolves, who had charged at us, guns blazing, so to speak, at the beginning of the battle, had phased back and were peacefully talking with those in my family who spoke Italian – which was pretty much everyone except Emmett and Jake. And Jasper and Alice were still busy gathering body parts.

As soon as they realized Adrian was dead, and his shield was gone, Jake and Edward were by our side making sure we were unharmed. But now the real question arose.

"What should we do with him? He is the leader of the Volturi. I mean it is one thing to incapacitate him, but it is another to destroy Aro completely. Maybe we shouldn't . . ."

"Are you kidding, Nessie? He's a psycho that tried to kill you. More than once. Throw that SOB into the fire where he belongs," Jake growled.

"No. Renesmee has a point." Carlisle sighed. Was this just the fact that he did not want his once friend dead, or did he really agree with me? "We need to discuss this. Getting rid of Aro will have broad ramifications the entire Vampire world over. Without his leadership . . . intimidation, to keep the more nefarious of out kind in check, ciaos will reign supreme."

"Maybe. Maybe not," my father spoke up. "Caius and Marcus are still in Volterra."

"Is there someone who would step in and fill Aro's spot?" Who's left? We had already taken out Jane, Alec and Demetri.

"Felix, possibly. Or Santiago. But they were both merely muscle and intimidation. Brawn more than brain. Caius will most likely step into Aro's role as head of the Volturi. He probably won't want a third member. Marcus is little more than an empty shell. With Aro gone he will be unchallenged. Totally in control. Unchecked."

"I do not believe it will be as bad as all that, Edward. I lived with them, remember," Carlisle addressed my father but reminded us all. "Caius cares about the law above all else."

"If that is true than he may bring a new order to the Vampire world. If you are right and he is not greedy, like Aro, then he may not be such a threat to us. Not wanting to collect Alice, Edward and Bella. We would be free to go about our lives."

"You could be right, Jasper. His fascination with regulations and order makes him almost single minded in his determination for all to comply. This may turn out to be a good thing." Carlisle sighed, but still did not look happy that most of us seemed to be in agreement about truly finishing off Aro.

But I guess that was enough for Emmett, because just as Alice got a vision, probably of what he was about to do, she screamed for him to stop as he threw Aro's head into the fire. She was too late. There was no going back now. Aro was gone.

I was in shock. Crap what were we going to do now? As I looked around it looked like I was not the only one. But what was done was done. Emmett could not undo his actions. We would just have to deal with the consequences.

Of course not everyone was so quick to let things go.

"No! Now what are we going to do," Alice snapped.

"What? Wasn't this what we just agreed on?"

"We were still discussing it, Emmett." His wife shrugged.

"Should we tell Caius and Marcus? Or not?" Bella wondered. Tell them what? That Aro was dead or that we killed him?

"If we don't, and he never returns to Italy, they most likely will come here looking for him. That would be deadly to the humans. Not to mention the wolves." Jasper said.

The wolves? In all the _excitement_ I had almost forgotten about them. They were just standing around . . . waiting. No one was speaking Greek so it seemed that they had no idea what we were talking about.

"It's going to be a suicide mission for whoever goes to relay the news," he continued.

"No, I'll go." Carlisle volunteered. "I am sure it will not come to violence. Caius is terrified of werewolves. He could not have behind Aro's plan to acquire a squadron of _guard dogs_ , as Aro once put it, for the Volturi. I am sure I can make him see reason, that we had no choice, but to stop Aro and release Jacob's relatives."

"No," Esme cried over to her husband.

"And if you are wrong?" Edward asked him.

"I say we send a note." Emmet suggested. What? He was passing on a chance to get into a fight?

Rose, Jasper and Jake started laughing, but my mother seemed to take him seriously and looked like she was actually considering his _idea_.

"I agree. A letter . . . an anonymous one would be perfect. Have it tell them everything, almost. We tell them that Aro, Renata and Adrian, along with the other guards are gone, the wolves are no longer being manipulated into serving the Volturi, and the entire program has been shut down. Caius will most likely figure it was us, but without proof he probably won't act; him and his love of laws preventing him from doing so and all . If he ever does decide to come after us, Alice will see it and we will be ready."

"Will that work, Alice?" Esme asked. Bella's, well technically Emmett's idea was a lot safer for Carlisle than him going to Volterra, which immediately made it one million times better in Esme's eyes.

"I can't say he will never come after us, but we all seem to all be alive for at least the next decade, if nothing major happens between now and then." Alice answered my grandmother after checking the future for a few minutes.

"Okay, now that that is settled will someone please explain to us what is going on with the wolves. What made them change sides?" Bella asked.

"Aro was so confident in his plans and his gift," my father began explaining what he heard in Aro's mind, it seemed Adrian's shield, was not completely under his control and had faltered momentarily. "He had been communicating with the La Push families for decades. Of course up until a few years ago it was not in person, not wanting to change any of the teens prematurely. He only talked with them through the phone or video chats. Even the occasional letter. Aro was the one who arranged for all of the families to first come over here from La Push, or elsewhere, over the decades so their parents already knew, and trusted him. He practically raised the wolves, even if everything he told them was a lie. The wolves believed him to be . . . not exactly a magician or a god, but something close. He had them convinced that he was the one responsible for their transformation into wolves. And while that was technically true, he had them believing that he did it so they could protect their towns and villages in these times of war. Again this was partially true. If the humans died, before he could drink from them . . ."

"Okay, I get it." My mother said nodding her head. It looked like she was going to ask something else but Jake beat her to the punch.

"Great Bells. But now I have a question. Nessie," Jake looked deep into my eyes, "how did you get onto the other side of Adrian's shield?"

"I don't know." I was actually wondering that myself.

"I believe I have an answer for that." Bella replied. "I am not 100 percent sure, but when you were just a baby, Nessie, your father said something to me, that might explain what happened. It was just before our first battle, or rather showdown, with the Volturi. I started to panic when it first dawned on me that my shield had holes. I worried that I couldn't protect everyone and that we would be doomed. But Edward calmed me down and set my worries aside.

"It wasn't that my shield had holes, it was you. You can put images and words into my head. No one else, not even Zafrina, whose gift is so similar to your own, can do that. Your father's explanation was that your gift is the reverse of both of ours. He reads people's minds, you do the reverse and place your thoughts into other peoples. Similarly my gift keeps everyone out, while you don't let anyone keep you out. If you can get past my shield, then I doubt there is a shield on the planet you couldn't get past. Even Adrian's."

I guess that made sense. At least Jake seemed satisfied.

Once all of the Volturi bodies were burned, Carlisle and the rest of the family who spoke Greek began explaining everything that just happened to the wolves, and then the wolves filled us in on any remaining gaps that Edward was unable to read in Aro's mind.

"No wonder Aro felt the need to hide his thoughts from me," Edward explained. "This has been going on for quite some time, almost immediately after our encounter back in Forks, all those decades ago. Aro had read in my mind, what I told Victoria."

Victoria? Oh right, the one who was after my mother, while she was still human.

"Yes, precisely. The very same," my father concurred. "While I was fighting her, I told her that Seth would not turn against me. She thought she could use him as a distraction, but I informed her that while we had not always seen eye to eye, her escapades had united us, that she had given us a common enemy to fight. I was the one who gave him the idea; this was my fault." my father sighed.

"No, Edward," I tried to reassure him. "This is not your fault. This was Aro's sick obsession with our family."

"Anyway," my father shrugged, blowing off my attempt to release him from his guilt, "he immediately began planning. He knew he wouldn't be able to lure the current, or the then-current generation of wolves over to his side; to act as his own personal 'guard dogs' as he had toyed with the idea on the field, back then. But he reasoned that a new generation of wolves, one that he personally raised, that he created, so to speak, would be more than willing to join him, and fight on his side. As long as they were only given limited information, of course.

"It didn't occur to him that Jacob, being the true Alpha, of all of the La Push Wolves, even as many generations or distant relations removed as these are, that he would be able to not only communicate with them, and show them the truth in his mind, but also Alpha Order them to stop their attack on us."

"And that's exactly what happened," Jake confirmed. "Well not the Alpha Ordering part, I would have only done that as a last resort. I just showed them the truth, like you said, and they turned against Aro and the others. It was hard for them to completely follow him to begin with. They all seemed to sense that there was something was wrong with what Aro had told them. And then of course there was the smell that crept through when Adrian's shield broke from time to time." Jake snicker gauffed.

Of course Jake had been able to see exactly everything that has been going on inside the Wolves mind's, when phased their thoughts and memories were like an open book.

"But until I let them in on the truth, Aro had them at least partially believing him, and his _noble_ intentions. It wasn't hard. I saw in their memories how they had all grown up with him in their lives. First connecting with their parents, as whatever guise was needed to get their families to first move to Greece – a travel agent, college recruiter, company boss, real-estate agent, even a lottery prize awarder . . . over the years he built up a level of trust that was to the point where they were almost unquestioning in their loyalty. Then when they were all brought together and began their military training Aro and the others revealed their real reason for bringing everyone here, or at least the fake pretense that they gave to the wolves. Aro, knew from reading Edward's mind that Vampires were the key to changing the La Push teens in my Tribe to wolves, but like us, were not sure how long it took, or how much vampire contact it required to first change a wolf, so they were quick to convey their false plan to the wolves once they saw the teens start to begin their growth spurts, signaling they would phase."

"Wait, how did Aro know they would phase? Not every teen in La Push phases." Rose asked.

"That was another thing Aro learned from reading my mind. He knew that only the descendents from the original Wolf Taha Aki were able to transform. Everyone here is a distant cousin of Jacob's. A simple internet search would have provided Aro with that information," my father explained.

"But the wolves here believed that Aro was responsible for making them phase? Hadn't they ever heard the Tribes histories? Their legends? I asked in disbelief.

"No, Aro somehow got their parents to agree that it would be unneeded to tell them _fairytales_ since they were no longer living on the Reservation, but that is something I plan to rectify as soon as possible." Jake replied.

Carlisle and Esme had been taking turns translating everything for the wolves. For some reason, probably to control the wolves better, Aro had also stressed to their families that they should only learn Greek and not English, the international language, so our conversations were . . . sluggish, to say the least.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Rose wined, losing patience with the conversations slow pace. "So what you're telling us is that the Volturi, or at least Aro, had been giving job offers, and college scholarships to the women and men from La Push, who they think might carry on the wolf gene, those outside of the main group of current wolves as to not to attract attention."

"That's right." My father confirmed for her. "It was done slowly, over the decades. The Volturi think in decades and centuries, time being almost meaningless to them, in some ways. They built their own Wolf Pack, but could not be close enough to them in the beginning, so that it wouldn't set off the wolf gene too soon. To that end they also made sure that the entire country of Greece was free of Vampires. And with the tan complexion of its citizens, no one in Greece noticed a spread out group of Native Americans living amongst them."

"And that also ensured a large population to feed from when the need arose," Rose sputtered impatiently.

I knew she was fine with Jake, and Seth, and even Leah, having had them around so much over the decades, but she looked like she was growing more and more uncomfortable being around so many wolves. New wolves, who had just moments ago been loyal to Aro. Looking at my family, I could tell she wasn't the only one. Jake was of course fine, so was my father, but he could read their minds and probably knew for a fact that the wolves had no intention of attacking us, nor had any ill will towards my family. The would have seen the strong bond between my family and Jake, in his mind and would probably not have any more hatred towards us, no matter how many lies Aro had tried to make them believe.

Maybe Rose and the others were just becoming overwhelmed with the wolves smell. I never found it offensive but Jake and my family would bring it up from time to time, though they had barely mentioned it over the past few decades, I can still clearly remember some heated . . . err . . . statements I accidentally overheard as a child.

"Alice, am I correct in assuming that now that Adrian, and his forcefield, are gone that you should have no problem seeing what the remaining Volturi plan to do here?" Carlisle asked.

"Hum, let me check," she replied before closing her eyes and looking into some future vision.

A few seconds later she came out of it, eyes darting from side to side. That was no help. Did she see anything? Was it good news? Did we need to panic? Were the Grecian wolves in danger? Were Caius and Marcus coming after us?

I looked over to my father for clarification.

"Well?" "One of you say something." "Today please." "Is it bad?" "Do we need to set up a perimeter?" Everyone asked at once when neither of them said anything.

"Hold on, I'm still checking . . . okay, I've got it. I think. I see them getting the note we send. They are skeptical that it is even real, but then who would dare prank the Volturi, so they send Santiago, Felix and Roxy (one of the new recruits who choose to stay) to investigate.

"It looks like we do a great job of cleaning up here. Washing everything down, obscuring our scent, removing the ashes . . . There is still the question of the wolves. I can't see them but I don't think the Volturi find them either because they return to Volterra empty handed and looking very dejected. I'll keep checking so that if they ever do decide to all come to Greece, go after the wolves, or come after us, we will be ready."

"So they are not going to come after us?"

"No. At least not right away. You were right, Caius will refuse to act when his guards return back with no proof of our involvement. It's a good thing he is so obsessed with rules," she chuckled.

"No kidding."

Jasper looked like he still was in his military leadership role and wanted to act. Or fight. Or just DO something . . . besides stand around and talk. I knew it was hard for him to turn it on and off sometimes. "All right then, let's get to work cleaning this place up." Ha! I was right. "We'll need to spray everything down with a hose, or something. There is only the one door. Hopefully if we leave soon and prop the door open there may be enough time to clear out our scent before . . ."

"No need for that. Belen here," Edward gestured to one of the Grecian wolves, "says that the dome opens using the controls on the far western wall. Alice do you see it raining sometime in the near future?"

"Not for another eleven days, but that is still before the Guards will arrive. We should be good to go, just make sure everyone takes everything they brought in here with them. Um, Nessie don't forget your scarf."

Huh? My scarf? Looking down I realized that it was no longer around my neck.

Jake jogged over to where I had locked Aro in my vision. "I've got it." He did? Where did it go? I didn't see it. But Jake must have, because he was climbing up a nearby tree. Low and behold there was my scarf hanging not twenty feet up, swaying on a nearby branch.

After we cleaned up the training facility, ridding it of even the slightest hint of our presence – footprints, discarded clothes, even stray hairs, most of my family left for home. Edward, Bella, Jake and I were going to join them as soon as we could. First though Jake needed to deal with what was apparently his new _Pack_ , if that was even what they were. Not that he could stay in Greece to oversee them or anything like that, but they needed some sort of leadership.

With my father translating between Greek and English for us, we offered any wolves that were interested to come with us, back to Russia, or airline tickets to Washington, but they all declined. Bella had used her contact - Ms. Fellow (the new Mr. Jenks) and made sure that since Aro was initially responsible for the financial means for the La Push families to move here through jobs, scholarships, etc… not to mention arranging their passports and visas, and even obtaining Grecian Citizenship in some cases, so that they would be able to remain in Greece. It took a few phone calls and a lot of money (not that we told them about that) but in the end the La Push families would be allowed to stay in Greece if they wanted to.

It wasn't too surprising that they all chose to stay, even with the threat of the Volturi coming. They were born here. This was their home and they would defend it if needed.

Jake did get them to see that at least moving to the same town would be a good idea instead of returning home to their separate provinces. Surprisingly, or maybe not so, they decided to remain on the island. The training facility was a perfect cover and with a few touches could be made into a nice home. They were a Pack now and needed to continue to live and act like one, a real one, not whatever fake version Aro had them believing in. Jake promised he would be checking in on them often in his spirit form and that they could always contact him that way, or through the phone or video chat if needed.

Once everything was settled, or as much as it could be, given our limited time frame before the Volturi guards arrived, we returned home. We still had Leah and her daughter to deal with. My parents told us that Seth, Felicity, and Jennifer were all there, looking after them but Leah was, while better, still gravely saddened over Nahuel's death. And Angelina looked to have been on the verge of phasing. It should be interesting to see what we would return home to.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	111. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (1st Section)

**Part Nine – First Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"Jake there you are. I finished wrapping our presents to Angelina. I need you to sign the card with me."

"Sure, sure. What should I put on it?" I asked Nessie.

"What do you mean, what should you put on it?" She didn't understand my dilemma.

"How about something simple like 'Happy 1st Birthday! Love Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jake.' We sort of act like that to Leah's daughter, don't we?" Technically Leah and I were distant cousins . . . some amount, I don't know exactly how many generations removed. But Leah and I, all the wolves, were descendants of Taha Aki's. We were all related, in some way. It was the reason we all phased.

"That's not very official, is it? Aren't you somehow related to her?" she asked me.

"Well, unless you want me to go dig out our family trees and figure that all out," which would probably take two, maybe three hours (at least), "why don't we just stick with Aunt and Uncle for now?"

"What about me, then?" Nessie asked. "Angelina's grandmother, Sue, married my grandfather, Charlie, so wouldn't that make us . . . um, step-cousins?"

We both started chuckling.

"That might make you _cousins_. But there's still the issue of what I would be to her. You and I aren't married . . . remember?" I threw in a forced chuckle, trying to seem nonchalant about it, but . . . oh, how I wished it were true. Right then and there I decided _to hell with it,_ I was going to ask her to marry me. Not right this second, though. I needed time to prepare. I wanted it to be perfect

"Do you think Leah will ever imprint?" Nessie asked me, not answering the albeit rhetorical question I just asked her. I was hoping for some sort of reaction . . . disgust, laughter, boredom . . . something, but she just changed the subject. Damn-it! Oh well, I was still going to propose. Marriage might not be important to her, but it was to me, and I wanted to make her my wife. I wanted to be her husband.

"I don't know." I finally replied after a minute where I tried to see if there was anything she was trying to hide, or if it triggered any lingering feelings in her . . . good or bad, at all. But I still saw nothing. "I doubt it," I continued. "You know every wolf, has only _ever_ imprinted on someone from the La Push or Makah Reservations, except me. But you're a half vampire with 24 chromosomes, just like me. If Leah didn't imprint on Nahuel, or the other one from New Guinea, then I don't think she ever will, since she refuses to ever return to Washington. Too many bad memories," she had said.

"Hmmm. Maybe we should plan a family vacation to Greece some year."

"Maybe." I half-heartedly agreed. I doubt we could get her to actually do anything she didn't want to do, even if it was with the intention of trying to make her happy.

"So where is the birthday girl anyway?" I asked, after another minute of silence, changing the subject again.

"In the forest, somewhere; running around as a wolf, with her mother."

"Oh. Okay, well as long as they're back in time for the party, I guess," I shrugged.

"I really thought that Leah would have given up her Wolf so she could . . . so she would. . . you know . . . She's hurting so much . . . continuing to live forever in such pain . . ." Nessie shrugged, not finishing her thought, but she didn't have to. I knew what she was trying to say.

"Yeah. I know. But . . ."

"Not that I want Leah to die, even if it is from old age, but . . . I mean Angelina's one now. By this time, next year she'll be two and done growing. She will be an adult who is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She practically can do that already."

"I know. I think Leah just really wants to be there for her daughter for as long as possible. Soon she will be the only family she has left. Well . . . almost. You know that both of her parents are dead, and Seth . . . well he's not getting any younger." I sighed. Seth . . . he was just a kid, only 15 years old when he first phased. Now . . . well he was getting older. I knew he was. I had seen him grow older over the years. Not lately. He lived on the Makah Reservation now with his wife Carol, and there three grown kids. But it was natural. Just not something I was use to anymore. I was used to living in a house full of Vampires that never aged. My children never aged. Leah was continuing to phase and was not aging. But Seth was. He had given up his Wolf a long time ago and was an old man now.

That was also not something new to me. It was not like Seth will be the first person close to me I will lose. Not even close. All four of my grandparents were gone. My mother had died when I was only nine years old. Then Harry died. Then my father, Billy. And then Charlie. Then Sue. Renee. Emily. Sam. The list went on and on. Nahuel was the most recent but I knew he would not be the last.

Edward had had a talk with me awhile ago. He explained how this - outliving all of my family and friends, was something that everyone in the Cullen household had to go through, except it was harder for Bella, Nessie, and me because we had kept ties with those in our former lives.

Initially I had gotten mad at him. My family and the wolves, they were NOT my former life. Why would he say that? But then again, the more I thought about it, I wondered if he was right?

"Pretty soon" he had said, "everyone you knew will be gone. You'll feel bad for awhile, but will eventually move on. _Departing_ due to old age is the way life, this existence, is suppose to end. Living with the guilt, the pain of their loss . . . I suppose it is one of the ways we pay for cheating death in our respected ways. It's not fair. I know," he had sighed, before leaving me to contemplate his words.

But that conversation was almost thirty years ago. And today we were celebrating life. I needed to get a grip and put on a happy face, at least for now. I had a birthday party to get to.

For Angelina's first birthday celebration the house was decorated amazingly, thanks to Alice. She took care of everything, just like she normally did when there was any type of party or celebration involved. She really was amazing, that crazy little pixie. I think Leah was actually grateful to have Alice step in and take over the way she did. Normally I think Leah would have been annoyed with her, but she was still working on trying to relearn how to live her life without Nahuel, and throwing her one and only daughter a first birthday party, was too much for her to handle at the moment. I just hoped that, by this time next year, for Angelina's second and last birthday she will be in a more capable state of mind; for not only her own sake but that of her daughters, as well.

I went with my gut and ended up signing the card as I originally intended – Love Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jake, which Angelina either really like reading, or was very good at faking appreciation, before moving on to opening our gift to her. We gave her a couple books that she had expressed interest in reading, and some figurines that we had hand carved for her.

The Cullen's gave her the customary car which she was overjoyed with. What was it with this family and cars? I'll never understand. I mean I love cars. Nessie, Rose, and I love working on cars. Edward love's fast driving cars, so do Alice, Emmett, and Rose. I think the only ones who really didn't were Esme, Bella, and Jasper.

Jasper still hasn't gotten over his preferred method of travel – horseback riding, from his military days. Esme never drove in her human life and didn't understand them now. I mean she was more than capable of driving when needed, she just had no interest in it recreationally. And no matter how much Edward tried, buying her car after car, always the newest, fastest, sleekest models, much to his disappointment, Bella preferred to run – I think even thought she had been a Vampire for half a century she was still loved the thrill of it. I know what she meant in some ways, she could experience the speed more fully while running than driving. Carlisle, I guess could take them, or leave them, but he needed them for work, for the convenience factor, actually as an _excuse_ for the convenience factor. He couldn't very well run to work every day. It was bad enough how he would go to work at the same hospital year after year, for almost a decade, without ageing. If he also never drove to work people would start to question us, even more than they already did.

Seth and his wife gave Angelina some concert tickets to the newest, hottest, boy band - the Curly Chair Tops. I thought it was a stupid name, and the boys in the group sang cheesy songs, but for some reason, that I will probably never understand, teenage girls drooled over them. I didn't get it, but as soon as Angelina opened the card and the tickets fell out she started screaming and jumping up and down.

Yikes! I was eternally grateful Nessie never went through that boy-crazy phase when she was younger.

Jennifer and Felicity gave Angelina a few beautiful bracelets that they weaved out of leather straps. I guess it was something that they learned from the Amazons when they lived in Brazil years ago. I recognized the pattern designs from the clothing Huilen and Nahuel use to wear when they first began visiting us, before adopting more modern clothing (at least when they left the jungle).

It was a beautiful gift, but I could see how Leah also recognized the design and began sobbing, so much so that she had to remove herself from the room and everyone here. It just reminded her too much of Nahuel and everything she'd lost.

Nessie and Esme ran after her.

"Oops." Felicity cried. "We should have been more considerate. We just wanted her to have something to remind her of her father."

"Oh darling," Jennifer tried comforting my daughter. "It's not your fault, it's mine. I was the one who suggested it. I . . . I just miss my brother too, and felt like this would be a way to keep his spirit here with us. I thought it would make Angelina, and Leah, happier, to have a reminder of Nahuel nearby. I know I felt more connected to him when we were making the bracelets."

"It's neither of your faults," Carlisle interjected. "Everyone reacts to loss differently. Leah just needs some time."

"Yeah, but we should still go apologize," Felicity said before the two of them went to go hunt down Leah.

* * *

A week later, with a lot of help from her friends and family - mostly Jasper I think, Leah was continuing to do better. Her grieving progress was slow but she was . . . well, not exactly getting over Nahuel, I know she loved him deeply and I know you can never actually get over a lost love, but she was learning to accept that he was gone, remembering the good times they had together, and was beginning to live again.

As her spirit improved it seemed like the entire Cullen household was getting more and more happy, as time went on. About a month later Jennifer informed everyone that she was organizing a sort-of outdoor picnic / spring celebration, "just to celebrate the good weather," she said.

It seemed a little odd, but maybe she was just picking up and going with the lighter mood and atmosphere in the house. It sounded good to me, though Alice looked a little upset, parties were her domain, or so she thought. Whatever. She would either get over it or more likely worm her way into "helping" if not taking over the party planning herself.

I'm sure either way it would all somehow work out. And it gave me an idea to finally do what I've been wanting to do for a while now - to propose to Nessie. I wanted to make it special and what better way to do that than to do it in front of her entire family? That is if she says "yes" I guess, but I loved her and I just felt like it was the right time, for some reason. I know she had once said that she NEVER wanted to get married, but I was willing to risk getting rejected.

A week later, the night of the party arrived, we were all gathered in the backyard. Alice, just like I thought had offered Jennifer her _help_ and had not exactly taken over, but this evening definitely looked more like her influence, than Jennifer's. She had strung a bunch of twinkly lights everywhere, in every tree, all along the back of the house, and around the entire fence that encircled the backyard.

The party was set to start at 5:30, twilight, the Cullens favorite time of the day. I had the ring I bought a couple of days ago burning a hole in my pocket. Before going to the backyard I patted my pants one more time, triple . . . no quadruple checking that it was still there and that I had not lost it. I know I was being paranoid but I just wanted tonight to be perfect.

Part of me wished I hadn't given David my mother's engagement ring, I would have loved to have had it on my future wife's hand. Wow, she hadn't even said "Yes" yet, but already it felt so nice to even think. Hopefully it would be true soon . . . very soon.

I was just about to step out the back door when Edward pulled me aside. "Jacob can I speak with you." You'd think after all these years I'd be used to him appearing seemingly out of nowhere to relay whatever information he had gleamed from someone's mind. Tonight it must have been mine. He must have known what I was going to do tonight. But why did he want to talk to me now?

"What is it, Edward?" I was trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. He couldn't be against the idea of my finally marrying his daughter. Could he? Damn-it!

"Jacob, I know what you're planning to do tonight, and while I am not _against_ the idea . . . I think you need to hold off . . . just for the time being."

I was in shock. What was he trying to tell me? Was Renesmee going to say "No". . . in front of her entire family? But he was the mind reader in the family, not the psychic, and I know Alice. She could now see Nessie's future, but even after all these years she still couldn't see mine, or things closely tied to me, which this definitely fell into that category, so that couldn't be it. Maybe he read in her mind recently . . . somehow, how she _still_ didn't like the idea of getting married, but that's an awfully specific thing for her to think about, with me not even having proposed yet. No, that couldn't be it. Maybe it was him. Did he really not want me marrying his daughter? After all these years? Did he still have a problem with me? I thought we had gotten past all that.

"No, Jacob, I assure you, I would love it if you and my daughter were married. I've wanted you to be married for decades now. You know that and I . . . well honestly, I have no idea what her answer will be. I am just letting you know that tonight is not the night to ask her. I can't tell you why though. Please just trust me on this one."

To hell with that. I'm not putting this off any longer. I've been thinking about this for years now. I want this more than anything I've wanted in a long time; almost more than anything else I've wanted in my entire life. And I think it would make Nessie happy too, probably not as happy as me, but still. "Forget it Eddie. After everybody finishes eating I am going to ask her." I didn't bother waiting for his response, knowing he would try to talk me out of it. I was doing this tonight and nothing, NOTHING, was going to stop me.

An hour later, those of us who ate were finishing chowing down on the barbecue that Edward and Bella were gracious enough to cook. There was soft music playing and Esme and Carlisle, Jennifer and Felicity, along with Emmett and Rose, and Allison and Jasper were dancing on, in the newly installed outdoor dance floor.

Now was the time. I gathered my nerves and took a deep breath. This was it.

I stood up, ready to gather everyone's attention, so I could propose. Off to the side I could see Edward by the grill, shaking his head, warning me not to even try it. What was up with him? He wants me to marry his daughter. I want to marry his daughter. How am I supposed to do that without asking her? What horror does he expect to happen if I ask her right now? Meteors falling from the sky? The house explodes? An earthquake swallows us whole? Of course not. This was ridiculous.

Now was the perfect time. I was going to do it, I was going to propose!

"Excuse me. Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Jennifer and Felicity had stopped dancing and Jennifer was now standing on a chair on the far end of the dance floor, calling out to the rest of us. "I have something I would like to tell all of you." Felicity smiled looking up at her mate, until she saw me. Then her eyes dropped to the ground but her smile kept threatening to reappear on her face and I could tell she was trying to be serious.

I guess my proposal was going to have to wait a few minutes. I wonder what Jennifer and my daughter needed to talk to us about?

"Thanks," Jennifer began talking again, as soon as everyone stopped what they were doing. Edward even had rushed over to the music system and turned it off so that the music wouldn't hinder anyone's hearing – not that that was possible in a family of supernatural beings. Whatever Jennifer was about to say, I guess Eddie thought it was pretty important. "I had a ulterior motive to ask everybody to be out here tonight."

This was sounding more and more serious. And I was getting worried. Felicity wasn't giving me any clues, so I looked over to the one other person I knew would know what was going on. Of course Edward would have heard it in her mind already, but it looked like I didn't need to be worried about whatever she was going to say because he looked happy, well happy and . . . full of pride, I guess. Either that or he had gas, and I was pretty sure Vampires didn't get gassy.

"I . . . well," she seemed to be having trouble speaking. Was she sick? Was something wrong with my daughter? No, Edward still looked happy. No sign of worry on his face.

After a few deep breaths Felicity jumped up on a nearby chair and (most likely) continued where Jennifer had left off. "We have some exciting news," she said, her voice growing higher and squeakier as she spoke. "Jennifer asked me to marry her, and I said 'Yes!'" she screamed.

What?

Everyone immediately rushed over to congratulate the happy couple. Everyone except me. I was in shock.

But only for a moment.

Eventually after what felt like an hour, but in reality was no more than a few seconds I snapped out of it and joined everyone.

I was truly happy for them. A little pissed that Jennifer had not come to Nessie and I, to ask us for our daughters hand, it was tradition after all, but . . . oh! I guess I was going to have to have a conversation with Bella and Edward. But that could wait. Tonight was all about my daughter and her . . . fiancé.

"Daddy, are you okay with this," Felicity asked me later that night, after the celebration was over and everything had been cleaned up.

"Of course darling, why wouldn't I be?"

"That's good. I got a little worried when you didn't come and congratulate us right away."

"I'm sorry about that. But I am so happy for you. I was just in a bit of shock. I didn't see this coming at all." That was the truth. I was so consumed with my own proposal plans, which I would now need to reschedule, that I completely missed whatever signs that I should have seen regarding my daughter and Jennifer.

"I know, but Nahuel's death really affected his sister. It seemed to make Jennifer want to make things formal between the two of us. She didn't like it that he had died without ever getting the chance to marry Leah." What? I didn't realize that that was that something that they had been considering. "While it is highly unlikely that neither of us will die, at least not anytime soon . . . well she didn't want the same thing to happen to us."

"You're not going to go through with this just because of that are you?" Wait that came out wrong. "What I mean is . . . I just want to make sure that you want to marry her too, and are not just doing this to make her happy, because you imprinted on her. You have a choice too, you know?"

"I know I do, dad. And I want to marry her just as much as she does me. I think we would have done it long ago, but we thought we had all the time in the world, that there wasn't any need to rush. But now . . . after what happened to Nahuel, what almost happened to Jennifer, what almost happened to all of us . . . well, we just think that this is something we would like to do, sooner rather than later."

"Well in that case, I am extremely happy for you."

"That's good because we plan on flying to Vegas tomorrow morning."

Tomorrow?

"NO, NO, NO. No way!" Alice screamed running over to us from . . . somewhere. What a surprise.

"Alice, this is my daughter's and Jennifer's decision. If they want to elope, without any of their family present, then that is their choice." Even as I said it I secretly wanted Alice to take over and throw Felicity a giant, over the top, extreme wedding. She was my only daughter, and while I wanted her to be happy, I also didn't want her to miss out on anything. And I also wanted to do all of the traditionally father of the bride things. "Can your mother and I at least come with you, to give you away?" That wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?

"You'd want to come?"

Was she serious? "Of course. Why wouldn't we? You are our daughter and we love you. A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life. Of course Nessie and I would be honored to share that with you."

"Really? Jennifer and I figured that since you and mom weren't married that you didn't like the whole idea of anyone getting married. That's why I suggested eloping. But if you are really okay with it then I think Jennifer and I would love to take Alice up on her offer."

"YES!" Alice jumped up and down, screaming. "You won't regret this. Oh my goodness. There is so much to do. JENNIFER," she called while zipping around the house gathering all of her wedding and design books, swatches, and whatever else she needed.

"Alice, its 10 o'clock at night. Can't this wait until morning? Felicity and I need to sleep." Jennifer apparently didn't fully realize what she was walking into when she asked the little pixie to plan her wedding.

That was my cue to exit. "Good luck sweetheart," I chuckled, as I kissed my daughter's forehead and left to tell Nessie the news.

This was going to be interesting. And good, wonderful, over the top . . . I couldn't be happier.

Or sadder, when I thought about how my own plans were going to have to wait until my daughters were done. I didn't want to take the spotlight from her in anyway. What was a few more months? A year at most.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please, please please review.


	112. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (2nd Section)

**Part Nine – Second Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

After my weekly check in with the Grecian wolves I quickly shifted my Spirit form back into my Wolf body before phasing back to human. Then I followed Nessie's scent into the dining room. The table, where the Cullen's usually had meetings, was currently occupied. I knew this wasn't an ordinary meeting, it only contained the ladies of the family, well most of them. There was Nessie and Felicity, along with Jennifer, and of course Alice and Bella. And the table surface was completely covered with books, and binders, and swatches, pretty much every single piece of wedding material one could think of to plan this wedding.

It's been two months since Jennifer and Felicity announced their engagement so they were probably nearly done. Yet as far as I knew invitations hadn't gone out. Maybe it was just going to be a small wedding after all.

"So, are you guys wrapping things up here soon?" I asked no one in particular, before kissing Felicity, and then my Nessie, on the cheek.

Jennifer looked appalled at my statement. "Don't be ridiculous. We haven't even picked out a color theme yet. Let alone a date, or location, or any of the other things we are going to need to figure out."

While I was overjoyed that my daughter was getting married, my heart kind of sank a little bit. I was really hoping that Alice would have moved things along a little quicker. She did Bella's wedding in what . . . a little over a month, and that, from what I was told, at least, was amazing. I wonder why was this one taking so long? Not wanting to intrude, or say anything negative, I just kept the small smile plastered on my face, and just let them know to keep up the great work and to have fun. I then moseyed over to the living room where I found a bunch of the Cullen men, and plopped myself onto the couch to immerse myself into whatever they were doing.

I needed to try to clear my head a little bit. I really wanted to be happy for my daughter. She didn't deserve me to push her, or rush her along in this, but it was a bit ironic that's both of my children would get married before me.

Who was I kidding? It would be an absolute miracle if Nessie even said "Yes." Never in a million years would I even dream of her saying that, but for some reason I still held onto a small glimmer of hope. She loved me, I know she did, and even if she didn't want to get married for her own personal reasons, maybe, somehow, some way, she would still agree, just to make me happy. She was such a wonderful person. I could see her doing that. But then again, she knew how much I wanted to marry her already. If she knew, or felt that way, why wouldn't she just asked me? Or talk to me about it? Or . . .

"How are you doing Jacob?" I don't know why Edward bothered asking. Between him hearing what I was thinking, and Jasper knowing what I was feeling, it's not like I could hide anything from the two of them.

"I know, but I thought I'd be polite and ask. And just to let you know, the reason why my and Bella's wedding was planned so quickly was because Bella gave Alice free reign to plan the entire thing, which you know Alice. She already had everything planned the year before. Weddings typically take about a year or two to plan, depending on the couple."

A year or two? I gasped. I have to wait two years even to propose to Nessie? Damn.

"Jacob I'm sure that your proposing to my daughter is not going to take anything away from my granddaughter's wedding preparations. Stop making excuses and just ask her."

"What? The dogs going to finally proposed to my niece?" Emmett chuckled while punching me in the arm. "Took you long enough."

"Shhhh! Don't you dare say anything to her, and keep your voice down. She doesn't know anything about this and I would like to keep it that way."

"Yeah, yeah," he verbally agreed, but I could see the smirk on his face. Crap! Now I was going to have to rush and propose sooner rather than later, or else Emmett was going to do it for me and ruin everything. But Edward had a point. I could do this. I could propose now and not spoil my daughters plans.

A week later I had discreetly asked the entire family to make the house scarce. Everyone agreed. I had set everything up. Bella and Rose had kept Nessie distracted all day long. I arranged a special dinner for two that Esme and Bella cooked for us. I could have done it myself but they said they wanted to contributed something to the evening.

"Jake this is so lovely," Nessie said, as she took a sip of the champagne that I had just poured the two of us. I wanted everything to be perfect. Alice had decorated the entire house for the evening, I lit candles around the room, and the ring was in my pocket. I hope she liked it. Not that I was so naïve as to believe that my getting her the perfect ring would make her change her mind on marriage and that she would say "Yes", but if she did say yes I wanted her to like the ring; after all she would have it for a very, very long time . . . I hoped.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Emmett came bounding into the dining room where we were, his left hand covering his eyes while his right reached out to make sure he didn't hit anything – which he did – a lot.

"What are you doing back here?" I growled. I knew he was going to try something like this to ruin the evening.

CRASH!

BANG!

SMASH!

CRUNCH!

Emmett kept on his path of destruction, banging into and breaking things as he moved closer towards us. I knew he was doing it on purpose, he had an eidetic memory, just like every Vampire. He knew where every single piece of furniture was in the house. Emmett could have easily avoided everything. Jackass!

"Uncle Emmett, what are you doing? Take your hand down so you can see," Nessie chided her uncle.

"No way! I don't want to see my niece bumping uglies with that dog."

"That is not what we're doing and you know it."

"Oh yeah then why did Jake ask the entire family to clear out of the house, if not for the two of you to do it in all of the public areas here? I knew he had to mark his turf eventually."

"Gross Uncle Emmett. Are you ever going to grow up? You're over 100 years old; start acting like it."

"Never, little niece," he said, finally removing his hand from his head, only to wiggle his fingers through Nessie's hair, messing it up in the process. "Okay, okay. You're right. I did have an ulterior motive. I had to come back here to ask you a very, very important question," he said, winking at me.

He better not do what I think he's going to do. He better not propose to my Nessie for me.

"Emmett," I growled, "I really don't think you need to do that." Nessie looked shocked at my reaction, but Emmett didn't even look phased.

"Yeah, I do Jake. If I don't, who's going to? You?"

"EMMETT!" I growl / warned again.

"Nessie," Emmett said, ignoring me, "will you . . ."

Don't do it, don't do it.

". . . help me find my lucky bear tooth?" He flopped his arms and shrugged his shoulders, completely overdoing it. This bad acting was over the top and ridiculous. Nessie must have known he was up to something. Or at least just messing with her.

"I always take it out with me while hunting but it's the darndest thing. I can't find it anywhere." He was acting like a two year old upset over losing his favorite toy.

"Oh, um, sure," she said, still not really believing him, but going along with it.

After 43 minutes of _useless_ searching, for an item that most likely did not, and had never existed, all the while Emmett continuing on with his threatening non-proposals, it looked like he finally got bored with his little game.

"Well, I don't know where it could be. Maybe I'll just have to hunt this time without it. But before I go I would like to propose something."

"NO!" I sneered.

"Jake, oh come on. If I don't ask her, who will? You? Not likely." He smirked over to me. "Now as I was saying, Nessie there is something else I wanted to ask you. . . ." Damn-it! He's actually going to do it this time. "You and Jake have been together since you were born. You've stood by each other in good times and bad, through all the struggles, and heartaches, and well . . ."

NO! NO! NO!

". . . I guess what I am trying to ask is . . ." he was dragging this out, just to torture me. But what was I supposed to do? Tackle him? I briefly thought about it, but decided against it. Nessie would be mad at me for hurting her Uncle. And then there was a small part of me that kinda wanted him to ask, just to get it out there, if she laughed, or worse was appalled, at the very notion of the idea, it might be better coming from someone other than me. Then we could just laugh it off as Emmett's usual goofy antics and I would forget about the whole thing. ". . . will you . . ." Oh crap! Deep breaths. Here we go. ". . . keep an eye out for my lucky bear tooth and see if it turns up? If anyone can find it I know the two of you can."

Huh?

"Of course, Uncle Emmett," she said.

I'm going to kill him.

"Great in that case I better go find Rose, she hates hunting without me," he jogged slowly to the front door, seeming completely relaxed, but he must have known how pissed I was at him.

"Wait a minute," Nessie called after him. Oh no! Had she figured out what he had been hinting at all this time? "Aren't you going to help us clean up this mess?"

As I looked around the room I saw that Emmett had made more of a mess than I had realized. Looking for the non-existent bear tooth had added more to the destruction that he had originally inflicted when he first bumbled his way into the house. It was going to take hours to clean up. I guess my proposal was going to have to wait until another time. There was broken glass, and furniture, and pottery everywhere. Esme was going to be pissed, she better not blame us for this.

"Neah, I'm sure you guys can handle it," he chuckled while still running deeper into the woods. "It's not like you had anything else _important_ to do tonight. Right guys?"

Hmmm, he thought that was funny? Well I'll show him funny. He may have ruined my proposal for tonight, but I wasn't going to let him get away with this. I wasn't going to actually kill him but I think I was going to have to go ruin his prized truck. He loved that thing, almost as much as he loved Rosalie. I know I was being petty, and he could easily get Rose to fix it, or just buy a new one, but after what he just did, he had it coming.

* * *

Nessie, Felicity, and Jennifer were determined to help Leah out of her depression and decided to get her out of the house. They took her, along with Seth's wife Carol, for a day of pampering at the local Spa. Seth was out with Edward and Bella buying some presents for his kids. Rose and Emmett were at the car dealership. I had done a better job paying him back for his little stunt, during my attempt to propose to Nessie, that I had thought.

The entire transmission was unsalvageable. Rose told him she could install a new one, it would take awhile, parts for it were no longer made. Everything would have to either be scavenged or custom manufactured. But that was not all I had done to his truck. In the end Emmett decided to just cut his losses and buy a new one. But that particular model was not made anymore. Hopefully this taught him a lesson not to get between me and Nessie.

I was a little worried I had gone overboard on my retaliation, but the rest of the Cullens found it funny, mostly. Carlisle and Esme, thought that both of us were acting immature, but neither did anything to intervene. And of course Nessie didn't know anything about it. That was the hardest part, "tinkering" with Emmett's truck without her finding out. That would have led to questions, which would have lead to her finding out about my plans.

The rest of Cullens were currently out either feeding, or shopping, or working. I was all alone in the house – for the first time ever. Bella had asked if I wanted to come with them but Seth seemed to want to talk to Edward without me, so I bowed out.

It was so strange. I had not actually been alone, completely alone, in decades. I decided to put the finishing touches on my new proposal plan. I was going to ask Nessie tomorrow night. But this time I was not going to do it at the house. I learned my lesson the last time. We would go somewhere where Emmett could not ruin it. I was just about to call the restaurant when my phone started ringing.

It was Belen, one of the Grecian wolves. The Volturi we're back! The wolves were not under attack but the evil Vamps were asking questions and they needed my help. He thought, and I agreed that I should come alone. Bringing the Cullens would only cause more problems.

There was no time to lose. I had to leave ASAP!

I freaked and without thinking I just phased and ran there as fast as I could. I was so worried about them. I was their Alpha, even if I wasn't there to lead them in person they were still my responsibility.

I made it there in just under 6 hours. I didn't stop for anything. Not to pee and not to eat. But when I phased I still had been holding my phone and it had not survived. As soon as I got to Greece and the situation had been dealt with I would need to call Nessie and let her, or someone, know where I was, where I went, and why.

But I should have stopped somewhere along the way and somehow found a way to call home. If I had I would have learned the truth. Really it should have dawned on me as I got closer to Greece; once I was within 300 miles of the island, I should have heard at least some of the phased wolves, but it was just me in my head. At the time I had worried that the Volturi had taken them all out, or _best_ case scenario relocated them to Volterra.

But the reality was something else. I didn't hear any of them, because none of them were currently phased, because none of them wanted to ruin the surprise.

I don't know. I think I should have been mad at the Grecian wolves, but they were just so sweet. They had lured me to the Greek Island, where their former training facility and now Pack Den, or whatever they were calling it, was, under false pretenses.

Now that Adrian, Aro's newest personal forcefield guard, was gone, Alice could see the Volturi and their plans. If I had called home she would have been able to tell me that they - not the leaders, nor any of their guard, were not in Greece. But I had not.

It's not like I was that upset at a wasted trip. Or that I had been deceived – though it was still wrong, and I told them so. But the wolves wanted to surprise me and they thought this was the best way to do it. That I would not come if they didn't. That bothered me more than anything. I was supposed to be their Alpha and they thought they had to trick me to get me to come visit them. And in truth, I guess they were right.

And I was also upset the I would need to reschedule my proposal . . . again. At least I would only have to wait a day or two. And the restaurant was very understanding, moving my reservation and everything else I had arranged. No big deal. I can handle that. It's already been 50 years, what's another couple of days?

But now I was in Greece, without Nessie. Once I found out that there was no danger I quickly called my angel. She should have been back from the spa by now, but since she didn't pick up, I assumed she left her phone at the house and was currently out _feeding_. We couldn't really call it _hunting_ anymore, not when we raised and then released the livestock, that the Cullens then recaptured to feed from. But I left her a message and told her what was going on, mostly.

I had not realized it but today was the one year anniversary of when Nessie and I, along with the Cullens, had first come to the Kea-Kythnos Island and destroyed Aro, and the rest of his personal Volturi guard, that had been manipulating the Wolves. This was a _party_ that all of the Wolves had thrown for me. I couldn't imagine why. The Cullens did just as much as I did to _liberate_ them, but they claimed that I was the one who gave them a new purpose in life and wanted to celebrate it. They said they wanted to say thank you for being such a great Alpha.

It seemed a little ridiculous. There was no way that I was a very good Alpha, let alone "great". I barely had learned Greek so that I could communicate with them, while we were phased for my at first weekly, then later, monthly check-ins. Really I was hoping that once they got used to being Wolves, a year or two down the line, one of them would have stepped up to become Alpha themselves. But, so far, that has not happened. Maybe . . . since I am here, I should just appoint someone, if that was even possible.

In the end, that was exactly what happened. There was one Wolf who I had been communicating with the most. He seemed to be a little bit more sure of himself, more confident, a leader. Belen was also the tallest, which I'm not sure if that meant anything, but Sam had also been the tallest Wolf in the original La Push Wolf Pack, until I outgrew him, that is. Alphas seemed to always be the tallest, so I guess it made sense. And then of course there was the fact that he was Rebecca's kid, and my nephew, so he had the whole Tribe Chief, linage . . . _thing_ going for him.

Before I left, I suggested to Belen that he think about taking over as Alpha, and as soon as the words left my lips I could tell that it happened. Almost automatically he stood a little taller, talked a little louder; he had gained his Alpha status. Maybe he had just been waiting for me to say it, or maybe whatever magic it was that allowed us to transform into Wolves in the first place just needed my blessing, or whatever, I don't know. It didn't matter. This would be good.

After I left I told him that I would continue to check in on all of them; but now they would have a true leader. Someone who was there with them, practicing and fighting alongside them. Someone to lead them, guide them and . . . if necessary Alpha order them. But I knew Belen. I knew he would never do that unless absolutely necessary. I had seen into his mind. He was a good kid. He would do right by them.

I had stayed four days, two longer than I expected, but I wanted to make sure that the wolves were all set and had everything they needed. Once I was sure that they would be fine I headed home.

I had called Nessie every day, but our conversations were short, and I missed her. I wanted to hold her in my arms, kiss her, talk to her and only her. I just missed being in her presence. She grounded me, without her I felt antsy. She was my gravity.

* * *

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Please review.


	113. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (3rd Section)

**Part Nine – Third Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"Jake! There you are," Nessie ran out of the house as soon as I came into view and closed the distance between us in under three seconds, practically leaping into my arms. "I missed you so much."

"Back at you, sweetheart. I'm sorry I was gone for so long." I had already caught her up on the phone with everything that had gone on in Greece, so she knew everything that had happened and just like my sweet angel she wasn't even mad, or if she was, she wasn't letting on. But I could feel the pull of the imprint; I'm sure it felt somewhat the same for her too. Now that we were back in each other's arms all I wanted to do was never let her go.

"So . . . I called the restaurant and if you're still willing, I was able to move our reservations to tomorrow night. I promise nothing will stop us from dinner this time. I made some special plans with the chef, our dinner should be completely hybrid approved; very heavy on the strawberries." Even after all these years strawberries were still her favorite human food.

"I don't know, Jake. You ditched me a few days ago, when you said we were going to have a romantic evening together. Why should I believe you this time?" I could tell she was just playing with me. She wasn't really mad but I thought I'd go with it anyway.

"I'm sorry, darling. What can I do to make it up to you?"

She turned away from me pretending to be upset. I couldn't see her face, but she was probably trying to hide the smile that I knew she was wearing. "I don't know. You were gone for four days. And four nights." Oh! I think I saw where she was going with this. "That's a lot of making up to you have to do."

I don't think the smile could have gotten any bigger on my face. "Well then let me not prolong this any longer." I said as I swept her up into my arms and raced the two of us upstairs to our bedroom where I proceeded to apologize to her over and over again. All. Night. Long.

When we finally woke the next day, we had been up so late the following night that it was noon when we finally climbed out of bed. Our reservations were for 6, so there was plenty of time. But right then I was hungry.

Walking into the kitchen we saw that Esme was preparing us a nice brunch. Hmmm. I wonder if she had just heard Nessie and I in the shower together to know when to start cooking? But I thought the walls were soundproofed? Maybe she just heard us coming down the stairs. It didn't matter, really.

Considering the time, brunch seemed like the perfect meal, for me at least, but I know that Nessie had fed a few days ago, which normally filled her up much more than human food did. She probably wouldn't _need_ to eat for a week. I hoped she would have some room tonight, for dinner. At least for the strawberry soufflé I asked the chef to prepare for dessert.

That's when I planned on popping the question and I think her favorite dessert would make the evening that much more memorable.

"None for me, Grandma." Nessie replied, but sat next to me to keep me company while I ate. "I want to be able to eat at the restaurant tonight." Perfect.

Over brunch, I ate and Nessie told me about what she had been up to while I was in Greece. As soon as I was done Alice swept Nessie away to get her ready for this evening. It would take us about 45 minutes to drive to the restaurant so we were planning on leaving around 5pm. It was barely after one now. What could they possibly do for four hours? Nessie already looked perfect. She could just throw on any one of the hundred dresses Alice had stacked in her closet and she would be good to go. Hell, Nessie would look good in a potato sack. But Alice knew what I was planning on doing tonight, so I guess she had something of her own planned to get Nessie in a good mood.

I was still worried if Nessie would say "Yes" or not, so I would take any help I could get.

After Alice had whisked Nessie upstairs, and I had washed and dried my cup and dish, I walked into the living room to find out what the rest of the Cullens were up to.

Jasper was there waiting for me, holding out a complete two piece suit, dress shirt, tie, even some matching shoes and a belt. I guess Alice decided she needed to dress me for the occasion, too.

"Sorry, dude," Jasper apologized to me, knowing my displeasure for having to wear excessive layers of clothing. Extra layers just made me too hot. "You know my wife."

"Sure, sure. I know." I sighed with him. I knew I only had to switch clothes to get ready for this evening, so I just took them from him, laid them over a nearby chair and went to sit on the couch next to Emmett. I had some apologizing to do. He was watching some sort of Rugby game that looked like it was being broadcast from England somewhere.

Emmett's behavior the week prior, threatening to propose to Nessie for me, forced me to retaliate. It was his own fault. He just kept taunting me until I couldn't take it anymore. Of course, after I cooled down I realized that destroying his truck might have been an overreaction . . . slightly.

"So what kind of truck did you get this time?" His happy-go-lucky expression suddenly shifted and his face fell. Damn! He was taking the loss of his truck worse than I thought. I knew, even as I was messing with it, that he wouldn't be able to replace his old truck with something anywhere close to being as good. They just didn't make trucks like that anymore.

All the new vehicles nowadays were all solar powered, completely energy efficient. They were just as fast and durable as his truck, but with his old truck you could feel the rev of the engine, the speed of the RPM's, the roar of the motor.

Today's cars and trucks were completely different than they had been in previous generations, the propulsion transmission of today versus the motors and transmissions of yesterday are like comparing fiber optic illumination to torches.

"I'm getting the new Jeep Wrangler 187EL." Ha! That trucks a joke, he's going to hate it. He ruined my proposal, but now I was starting to feel even worse for what I did. "It's not going to be perfect right away but don't worry, Rosalie'll fix it up and make it as good as my old truck. Don't worry about it," he exclaimed, seeing the remorse on my face, while punching me in the arm.

Ouch! That hurt. Not that I was going to say anything and appear weak in front of Emmett. Sometimes it is hard being one of the only humans, or I guess non-Vampire's in the house. I could easily take him in my wolf form, but on two feet . . . it's not like I wouldn't heal . . .

"I'll give her a hand," I offered as soon as my arm stopped burning.

"Yeah, you will," he sneered, the anger of what I did to his truck finally showing, but only for a second, before his face softened. "Sorry about trying to ruin . . . you know, I was just trying to have some fun."

Fun? He thought trying to ruin my proposal was fun?

Deep breath. I needed to stop shaking and calm down. Getting into a fight with Emmett right now was not going to do me any good.

I knew that was what he was doing the other night. That's why I had destroyed his truck. I was just reacting this way, hearing him say it, confirm it out loud because I was nervous for tonight.

Well not exactly _nervous_ , more like eager and excited. I needed something to distract me for the next few hours, so I got myself comfy on the couch and watched a few games on the television with Emmett and Jasper, until it was time for me to change to go to dinner.

Four hours later it was time for Nessie and I to start heading over to the restaurant. I had not seen or heard from my angel since Alice had whisked her away after brunch. I was starting to get nervous, then finally at 4:58pm Nessie came down the stairs. Alice had dressed her in an elegant lavender dress that not only complimented her beauty, but matched the tie Alice had picked out for me to wear.

"Wow!" was all I managed to say. She always looked amazing, but tonight she seemed to be glowing. Yet even still, I couldn't help wondering what her and Alice did for the past FOUR hours. She never wore make-up, and she wasn't now. I didn't think she could, not that she needed it, she was a natural beauty. But her skin was just like a full Vampires, and just like dirt, nothing stuck to it, not even make-up, at least not for long. What could Alice have done though?

"Alright Nessie," Alice chirped, "Here's your purse, can you believe I found one that perfectly matches those shoes? Oh and put on your jacket. I know you don't get cold, but you need to remember to pretend for the sake of the humans."

"I know Aunt A . . ."

"Jake! Where is the belt I picked out for that outfit? I'm sure I gave it to Jasper to give it to you."

"Do I really need to wear it?" I was already wearing more clothes than I was comfortable in. I had planned on ditching the tie once we got in the car, too, but now that I saw how well it matched Nessie's dress I reconsidered.

"Yes," she growled.

"Okay, okay," I gave in . . . for now at least, I could always take it off in the car. I put it on and quickly started edging Nessie to the door before Alice tried adding any more layers onto me.

"Jake put on your suit coat?" Damn-it! I grabbed it off of the back of the chair I had put it on and in one fell swoop put it on, grabbed Nessie's wrist, and headed out the front door. The little pixie was getting on my nerves.

"So I take it, based on your reaction back at the house, that you approve of Alice's kidnapping of me?" Nessie giggled as we finally made it into my car. Now that I was alone with my angel my mood instantly improved.

"Kidnapping?" Ha, hardly. "You do look lovely, but I was wondering what she was doing with you for all that time. I didn't hear any screaming . . . so I guess there was no torture involved."

"No, it was absolute torture," she said with a wink. "Actually, I almost thought that today might have been something you arranged. Another apology," she smirked, "for abandoning me when you went to Greece." As much as I would have liked to take credit, I had to shake my head in the negative. "Well, Alice _subjected_ me to a day of spa treatments, right here at the house. But as much as I loved it I am glad to get away from her and be with you now. She can be a little overwhelming at times."

No kidding. "I missed you too."

"You look very nice yourself. Alice?" She asked me, to which I just nodded my head. "But how . . . I mean she never left my side all afternoon."

"She recruited Jasper to do her dirty work," I chuckled. "So what is it that your spa day included?"

Before she could answer, Nessie's phone started ringing. Glancing down I saw that it was Alice calling. Really? What could she possibly want to talk to Nessie about now? But Nessie just shook her head and hit the power button, turning the phone off. I wasn't going to try and stop her or even disagree. Whatever Alice wanted (did she forget to give Nessie a broach, or hair glitter, or something?) it could wait until we got back. She got to play Barbie all afternoon, it was my turn now.

"Oh, you know the usual," Nessie said while slipping her phone back into her purse, "a bubble bath, seaweed scrub, manicure, pedicure, deep hair conditioning . . ." she began ticking everything off on her fingers. The list went on and on, "not that I think any of these things actually did anything to me. You know how the exterior of my body is pretty unchanging. It's not like I can even get nail polish to stick, but everything Alice did felt nice, at least."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it sweetheart. And you do look amazing."

We were getting closer to the restaurant, I had checked the weather reports for this evening and nowhere did it mention rain, but I could clearly see clouds were starting to build off in the distance. It looked like Alice had spent a lot of time doing Nessie's hair in some intricate braidwork and created a fancy updo with Nessie's hair. I didn't want it to get ruined so I pressed the gas, well technically there was no "gas" anymore but I advanced the accelerator on the car a little bit more, increasing our speed.

As we got closer to the restaurant I saw that it wasn't rain clouds in the sky I had seen, but smoke. And as we continued to drive I saw that the source of the smoke was the restaurant. It was on fire!

Damn-it! I really wanted tonight to go perfect. I was about to ask Nessie if she just wanted to turn around and go home. Or I guess, we could go to some other restaurant nearby; not that I knew of any in a 150 mile radius, but I'm sure we could find something.

But before I could even ask her I heard coughing. The place was not big. I had been there before when I first made the reservations. However judging by the size of the crowd it looked like everybody who had been in the restaurant was now gathered outside, but the source of the cough was definitely coming from the interior of the building . . . and was getting fainter as we got closer to the building. That wasn't good and as far as I could see the entire building was engulfed in flames. And the fire department had not yet arrived.

Why weren't the fire suppression units working? Commercial buildings were supposed to have those. How could this place even catch on fire?

"We have to help them!" Nessie screamed as she jumping out of the car and ran the rest of the way at her half-Vampire speed into the building.

CRAP!

"Wait Ness, let me at least park the car," I hollered, as I raced after her, then jammed my foot on the brake, jumped out, and ran after her into the burning building. I had parked in back, away from the crowd so no one would see, but still this was going to cause problems. I just knew it.

What was she doing? Even if Nessie somehow managed to not get herself killed, there's still the fact that she was putting us in a great deal of unnecessary exposure. But she was thinking with her heart, not her head and that was one of the reasons why I loved her.

We spent the next 22 minutes searching through the building for whoever was trapped inside. After searching the first floor I had to bust through a locked door just to get us into the stairwell. Up the stairs we went.

Where was this person?

The coughing we had heard had stopped and both of us were trying to search for whoever was still in here. There was so much smoke and fire and crumbling building it was hard to see much of anything.

Over the crackle of the flames I was straining my ears to hear a heartbeat. Nothing. It didn't seem like this was going to end well.

"Over here!" Nessie shouted, motioning towards the front part of the building. Did she see him or her? Did she hear something? I hadn't but I trusted her. If she said there was someone over there I would follow her anywhere; to hell and back if needed, which was almost literally what I was doing right now, I guess.

Just then a chunk of ceiling came crashing down inches away from us. "We need to find this person and get out of here, Nessie," I yelled. She might be a half-Vampire but that did not mean that she was invincible, and fire was the only way to kill a Vampire. Damn-it! Why did it have to be fire?

The fallen roof nearly missed crushing us, but Nessie just kept pressing forward, toward whatever it was she thought she saw.

"Keep going, I saw a flicker of a wrist," Nessie yelled back to me pointing to a pile of rubble. I didn't see anything. Whoever it was, must have been on the ground, almost entirely obscured by the collapsed wall.

After all this we might have been too late. He was probably crushed to death by the weight of the wall, but then I saw his hand twitch. He was alive, however barely. We started digging to get as much of the ruble off of the man. But as we dug deeper I saw that a support beam was wedged on top of him. I reached down to lift it up, it was burning hot.

"Aagh!" I screamed as my hands were scorched from the heat of the metal. The man was bleeding pretty bad, and Nessie looked like she was fighting to suppress her bloodlust, but she amazed me just like she always did and regained control. Somehow I was able to hold onto the red hot beam long enough for Nessie to scoop him up before it slipped out of my hands.

We tried making our way back out of the building, but we couldn't get out the same way we came in. That section had collapsed behind us. I ended up leaping through a side window shattering the heavy reinforced glass in the process. I got scraped up from the broken glass, but it wasn't too bad. Nessie was easily able to jump through the hole I had made, still carrying the man.

We were only one story up and between the smoke and flames in the building, the windows being tinted, and a thick layer of smoke outside, I wasn't sure what we were going to find once we landed. Unfortunately the crowd of restaurant goers and staff were exactly where I was hoping they would not be. There they were, surrounding our exit point. Staring, in awe, at our superhuman rescue as we easily dropped down, landing gently on our feet, between them.

Nessie put the man down and had to take a few steps back. The scent of his blood must have been intoxicating for her. Though he was bleeding pretty badly, as I checked him over I saw that after all he had been through, being crushed by that beam and a good chunk of the ceiling, he somehow seemed to still be breathing. In addition to his cuts, his leg was twisted in an unnatural direction and was probably broken and he was badly burned. He would probably need to be in the ICU or hospitals burn unit, or something, for awhile, but he would live.

The crowd start to gather closer around us but thankfully a group of fire engines and ambulances finally pulled up and with all of the blazing lights and sirens it provided enough of a distraction for Nessie and I to make our escape.

But the damage was already done. We had been seen. The only thing we could do now was go back home, pack everything up and leave.

The car was close, just on the other side of the building, but there was one problem. My hands were still a mess. The skin burnt to crisps. They were healing, quickly, but not fast enough to allow me to drive us home. Crap! I couldn't even open the car door right now.

"Jake, what's wrong?" Nessie asked, when she noticed that I was standing by the car door. Then she looked down and if she wasn't as strong as I knew she was she probably would have fainted or something seeing the grotesque sight of me. "Oh! Jacob, oh . . . are you okay? No, of course you are not. Oh my goodness, we need to get you home right away. Carlisle needs to look at you. He'll be able to . . . "

"Ness, calm down. I'll be fine. Look! It's not like I lost any fingers. My skin will be completely healed within the hour. They'll probably be good as new before we even get home. But . . . um, you'll have to drive."

"Are you in pain? You must be. Oh, Jake, honey. I'm so sorry. Why didn't you say anything?"

"It hurts, I won't lie. But I can handle it. But we should get going. You'll need to drive, the keys are in my pocket . . . and can you open the door for me?"

"OH! Oh course," she said before opening both our doors and climbing into the driver's seat herself. Along the drive home she also called Edward and filled him in on everything that had happened. In return he mentioned that Alice had seen the fire (that's why she had tried calling.) And she saw that we would need to move, though she did not know why, I blocked that part of her vision.

By the time we got home my hands were fully healed and we saw that everyone – the Cullens, and Leah, Jennifer, Felicity, and Angelina had packed up the entire house. You really have got to love Vampire speed in times like these. They were done and were starting to load all of our things into trailers that would attach to everyone's cars.

We had been moving and living around various parts of Europe for a few decades now. It had seemed only reasonable at some point to buy the trailers.

"I'm so sorry," Nessie cried, running into Bella's arms after we . . . well, she parked my car. "I should have thought . . ."

"Nonsense! I'm, sure what ever happened . . . whatever you did was the right thing to do." Bella said trying to comfort her daughter. I guess Edward hadn't told them the whole story yet.

"Bella's right, Nessie." Esme added. "We were going to have to leave soon anyway. We've been here for too long, 10 years is longer than we have stayed anywhere else in a long time. We were only able to stay here so long because we are relatively isolated but we do have neighbors and feed delivery for the . . . livestock. People were beginning to talk."

"Yeah . . . whatever you did, is just giving us the extra push we needed to finally get out of here," Emmett said. "Now hopefully we can go somewhere that has some decent wildlife, I'm getting sick of these boars." He started going on and on about how sick he was of his current diet and I soon tuned him out.

Alice didn't know what happened, since she can't see me, I would have blocked her vision of our rescuing the man from the burning building. She must have just see us packing and leaving for somewhere new, and figured whatever it was must have been because of events that transpired while Nessie and I were on our _date_. I wondered why Edward did not tell everyone what Nessie had told him as we drove home. Was our need to leave quickly so great he could not spare a few seconds to relay the information?

"I thought it was something that you and Renesmee would want to tell everyone." Edward quietly said to me.

 _Why?_

Edward actually smiled at me. I thought he would have been more upset that Nessie and I had acted so hastily, not stopping to consider the consequences of our actions. "Just the opposite. You both did a wonderful, selfless act. You deserve to let everyone know, yourselves. Just . . . it seems that someone in the restaurant crowd recognized you and the authorities are on their way. I can hear them now. We should get going before they get here. It will have to wait until we get to the new house."

He didn't seem concerned. Alice must have seen that we get away without any further complications. That was good to know. And that was not all. Now that I really looked, I could see the pride in Edward's eyes towards me. Weird.

I don't know why. It's not like he wouldn't have done the same . . . well maybe not run into a burning building to save someone, what with fire being the one thing that could kill him, but I was sure if he saw someone that was dying and he was the only one who could save them, then he would.

"I think you have a better opinion of me than I deserve, Jacob," he partially chuckled, partially sighed, before loading the last box into one of the trailers.

Everything that had been in the house was packed and loaded. It was time to go.

I went over to my Ferrari where Nessie was already waiting in the passenger seat. Her car, an elegant little silver Maserati, was hitched to the back, behind the trailer. She could have driven her own car, but that would have meant we would have been separated for . . . who knew how many hours. Come to think of it I wasn't even sure where we were going.

"Did you happen to get directions to the new house?" I asked her. I had no idea where we were going.

"I have the address right here," she said, waving a piece of paper at me. "We are going to Timoshino. It's about 300 kilometers east of Yaroslavl. We should get there before morning if we take turns driving. Are you okay to drive for a couple of hours while I take a nap? Then we can switch."

"Sure, sure. Let's get going." I could see Carlisle and Esme's car pull out, followed closely by Rose and Emmett. Alice and Edward were still talking. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, especially with the car doors closed, but Edward looked worried. I could see that Alice was trying to reassure him. He already told me that we got out of here before the police arrived to question us, but that did not mean things hadn't changed. Had we lost our escape window?

I didn't get a chance to ask him though. Not that I would have needed to with Edwards mind reading. But instead of answering me, he gestured for me to start driving as he and Alice quickly joined Bella and Jasper in their own cars, followed closely behind by Felicity and Jennifer in their truck and Leah and Angelina in her new birthday car. I guess that was my answer - in a way.

Twenty kilometers into our drive I thought Nessie had drifted off to sleep when her head shot up.

"Jake, we haven't taken any of the animals with us!" Of course we hadn't. That would have been impossible in the short time we had to get out of there. "What are we going to do about them? I can survive on human food but what are my family going to drink? And what's going to happen to them without us there to feed them?"

"Don't worry too much about it, honey. Once we're resettled we can buy some more animals. I'm sure Jasper or Esme, or one of the others, made some sort of arrangements with our neighbors to take care of them until we can reclaim them." I wanted to reassure Nessie but I had a feeling once word got out of what happened at the restaurant we would probably just have to buy new ones. "Once we get to Timoshino we'll double check, and if I'm wrong we can always call and make arrangements then. Don't worry. The animals will be fine for a night on their own."

That seemed to calm her down and she soon settled into her seat and fell asleep. An hour later I had followed the two cars in front of me onto some lonely back road, more a dirt path, than a major highway connecting major cities. It was pitch black, the middle of the night, there weren't even any streetlights. It didn't matter though, even without any of our cars headlights on I could still see perfectly well in the dark, just as well as the Cullens could. I knew why we were taking this road. We needed to stay out of sight, and could not take any chances of being seen; main roads offered a higher probability of running into any officials who would be looking for Nessie or me. And if we were going this way than that meant that Alice had seen that we needed to.

We were the only cars on the road, but my Wolf senses were telling me that something was up. This . . . whatever _this_ was felt wrong. I saw the lead two Cullen cars pull off to the side of the road.

What was it?

I pulled over behind Carlisle's car but still didn't see anything.

Maybe I was just paranoid. They could just be giving those of us who sleep a chance for us to switch divers.

Nessie was sleeping and my stopping the car had not woken her. As quietly as I could I climbed out of the car. I was going to tell the rest of the family that it was too soon for us to switch places, but as soon as I opened the door I smelt it.

A Vampire.

And not one I knew. Where were they?

I looked around and saw the rest of our little caravan had pulled over behind me. But still no Vampire. I kept scanning the horizon. Nothing. Then when I looked back to the empty road ahead of us I saw that it was no longer empty. Standing right in the middle of the road was the source of the smell.

He looked to be by himself. That was strange. Was he a friend of one of the Cullen's? I thought I had meet all of Carlisle's friends, but I guess after 400 years you meet a lot of people.

Much to my surprise a few of the Cullens started growling at the stranger. Okay, so definitely not a friend. And whoever he was he was not a vegetarian either. My imprinting protective instincts took over and I unconsciously moved closer to my still sleeping Nessie.

Should I wake her up? She could not defend herself if she was asleep. But was there really any danger? There were 14 of us and only one of him (even if only 11 of us were currently awake, Jennifer and Leah also seemed to be snoozing away.)

Then again to approach us like this . . . alone, he was either not worried about us hurting, or killing him, or he was too stupid to know not to be afraid. And I have never met a stupid Vampire. Narcissistic – yes, stubborn – yes, but stupid – never. Could he possess some gift that made him not have to worry about his own mortality, or immortality, in his case?

"Carlisle, I think you might be the best one to handle this situation peacefully," I heard Jasper suggest.

Jasper, our best, most experienced fighter, was worried that we settle this peacefully? That did not make me feel better.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Ohhh, a cliff hanger.

And Jake's proposal plans got interrupted again. If you havent noticed by now i tend to punish happiness for Nessie and Jake in this story. I don't know why, i really like them as characters, I just cant ever seem to make things easy for them. Where is the fun in that?

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.


	114. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (4th Section)

**Part Nine – Forth Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

I looked over to my right to check on Nessie. She was still asleep in the car, but along my row of sight I glanced at Rose and Emmett. They were in a defensive stance, growling at the strange new Vampire. A little further down Carlisle looked like he was preparing to confront this new player, while standing defensively in front of Esme. She wasn't the best fighter, but there was enough of us that the possibility of her even getting injured if this came down to a fight was slim to none. Well . . . if he did not have some sort of extra gift. But Bella's shield should protect us. Wouldn't it?

Shifting my gaze over to the left it looked like she must have already raised it. I knew that look in her eye. She was ready for a fight and she knew she would win. Edward, who was standing just to her left looked confused though.

I couldn't remember. Could Edward read someone's mind if they were outside of Bella's shield? Was the looking he was making because he was trying to read their mind but couldn't? Or because he could but didn't understand what he heard?

Jasper seemed to take his expression as one of great concern because his growls were getting louder, even though he had been the one to suggest that Carlisle try and talk us out of a fight.

Felicity and Angelina were following his lead, but hanging back a bit, barely stepping a foot away from their vehicles. Jennifer was still asleep but I could see that Leah was beginning to wake up. An angry, mourning, sleep deprived werewolf was not what we needed right now. Worst case scenario was that she is half awake when this unknown Vamps stench hits her and she phases and attacks on instinct.

Alice didn't seem concerned. But she was probably unaware of what was happening not twenty feet behind her. She was however gleefully swinging her legs as she sat on top of her Porsche while rolling her eyes at the rest of us.

 _Edward, we need to do something quickly._ I had seen Leah's nose scrunch and knew that she was about to phase, fully awake or not, and didn't want her doing something we all might regret. I knew she didn't really pose a threat, but she had been through enough. I didn't want to have to fight or restrain her in any way. Physically she was fine, but she was still an emotional wreck.

"It's fine everyone," Edward finally said, breaking the silence.

"My name is Claudio. I am from Madrid, Spain. I have come to pledge my loyalty and allegiance to the Cullen Clan." The new Vampire quickly explained.

Huh? I wasn't the only one who looked shocked. Most of the Cullens relaxed out of their defensive crouches. Most but not all. Jasper and Rose were still crouched and growling. Bella was still hunched a bit but I didn't hear any growling from her anymore.

Leah on the other hand looked like she was going back to sleep. The wind had shifted and the new Vampires scent was being blown in the opposite direction.

"He thinks we're trying to take over and become the new Volturi," Edward whispered to us what he must have heard in the Vamps mind. "There's _apparently_ been rumors going around not long after we killed Aro and his guards. But they seem to have first started when we took out Jane, Alec, and Demetri."

 _You knew about this?_

"I had heard some rumors. Whispers here and there. Most didn't even mention us, only that some group was trying to replace the Volturi. Nothing concrete enough to put much stock in. And with their being no truth to it, I figured that with enough time, they would die out," he quickly replied to my mental question.

Carlisle tied to explain all of this to Claudio, with little success.

Edward and Alice assured the rest of us that he was not a threat so we decided to split up. We needed to keep moving, so the majority of us would head on to the new house while Bella and Edward went with him. They needed to not only try to convince him that we were not trying to take down and replace the Volturi, but find out whom he had heard these rumors from, and who they heard them from, all the way back to the source. And then to try to put an end to it.

The last thing we needed was for the remaining Volturi to come after us . . . again.

* * *

"This is it? This is where we are going to be living from now on? What the Hell?" Emmett huffed. I knew what he meant. This place was a dump. My old run down shack of a house I use to live in, in La Push, with my dad, was better than this.

"I'm so sorry." Nessie cried. "This is my fault. If I was not so thoughtless with my actions . . . if I hadn't been so impulsive . . . we would never have had to . . ." she began to cry, unable to finish her thought. But no apology was needed. She, no . . . WE, did nothing wrong.

"Relax, darling. It's not like you killed someone. Did you?" Jasper asked after a moment's reflection.

Humph, as if that was a possibility.

Nessie was still crying, I was trying to comfort her, but Edward was currently the only other one who knew what really happened and he was not here. I knew he thought that we should be the ones to tell the family what happened, but now I really wished he had told them already.

"No. Nessie saved . . ."

"WE," she corrected me through her tears. Although I disagreed, I wasn't about to argue with her, she was already upset enough. But she saved the man. I merely was there to witness my angel.

"Sure, sure. We saved a man's life, pulling him out of a burning building," I began to explain. "But we were seen."

After I was done everyone rushed over. Unfortunately despite all of my attempts to comfort her, and now the family's added praise, my Nessie was still crying.

The Doc was the first one to us and slipped between me and Nessie, "Oh, honey, never be sorry for that. I couldn't be prouder of you than I am right now."

"Carlisle's right. We can live anywhere. Some paint, some spackle, this place will look even better than our old home in Forks. Just give us a week." Rose half smirked, warily eyeing the crumbling walls. It amazed me sometimes how much Nessie had changed her, and not just because she finally got to be a pseudo mother, but she had turned into one of my closest friends.

"So, this is our new home?" I quietly asked Esme once Nessie had settled down. It didn't really match up with the Cullens high standards. I knew we had to pick up and leave in a rush . . . but really?

"Only until we can find some place more permanent," she informed me. "Emmett, Jasper, Rose, can you bring in the beds, so those who sleep can. The rest of us can start on the renovations when they wake up." It was still technically the middle of the night. The sun would not be up for a few more hours and I was sure she could see how exhausted I was, and I was sure Nessie, Felicity, Jennifer Leah and Angelina were as well. "In the meantime I am going to begin to look for a more suitable house to move into."

"Thanks Esme."

Not even ten minutes later, after making sure the others were all set in their beds, I was snuggled with Nessie in our own temporary bedroom and we both fell fast asleep.

* * *

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

What the hell? Are we under attack?

My arm immediately shot out to protect Nessie, but all I found were sheets on her side of the bed.

Had she been taken?

I was about to phase when the banging started again and I realized it was just hammering that I had so rudely been awakened by. Even without my enhanced wolf ears I still would have been able to hear the Cullens pretty easily through the cracks in the walls as Esme directed everyone on what needed to be done around the house.

Wait where am I? After a second I realized that I was in bed in the new house . . . well our temporary house. But I was alone. Where was Nessie? She wasn't anywhere in sight but I could smell that she was still in the house.

Damn-it! I was still tired. And that was not the best way to be jolted awake - in a new place . . . alone and adrenaline racing.

"What do bloodsuckers have against sleep? We drove all night. Couldn't they at least let me get a decent 8 hours?" I grumbled under my breath, as I got out of bed.

After throwing some clothes on I walked out of the temporary bedroom, if you could even call it that. There were barely four walls and the roof had more than a few holes in it. At least I could see that the Cullens had waited until the sun came up before they started their construction, but sheesh! How early in the morning was it? I know they didn't need to sleep but the rest of us did.

"Hey sleepyhead," Nessie greeted me with a kiss as I followed her scent into the . . . um, kitchen? There was a table and chairs that the others were already eating at, a sink, a dishwasher – minus the front, a hole where the refrigerator should have been and in its place on the floor a cooler, and nothing else. Just outside the door I saw Esme cooking what I assumed was steak on a brand new looking grill that I assumed was not here when we arrived last night. "I told Esme and the others they could go ahead and start working. They went to the store this morning and starter buying as many of the supplies that they could get their hands on, that we will need to fix up the house. I didn't think you're going to sleep much longer anyway. We never made it to dinner last night, you slept through breakfast, so I didn't think you would want to miss lunch too," she said pointing over to the clock that was now hanging on one of the walls.

12:26

I guess they did let me get _some_ sleep; and so much more than 8 hours. Man, I was still so tired though. And now that I thought about it pretty hungry as well. I had let Nessie sleep all night and took it upon myself to drive the entire 30 miles here. But after our encounter with Claudio I just couldn't wake her. She had already been through so much.

"So how are you doing?" I asked her as she handed me a plate of food. She seemed like she was fine, but I knew it had to be an act. She had fallen apart last night and now she was acting like everything was okay? I wasn't buying it.

"I'm fine . . ."

"NO!" I cut her off. Bella use to do the same thing when she was human. Though it was a lifetime ago I still remembered how whenever she was on the brink of falling apart all I would here was how she was "fine." I was not going to let Renesmee do the same thing. "Sweetheart it's okay to be upset. It's healthy. Cry. Scream. Hit something. But please don't bottle everything up inside."

"I will." She huffed up to me. "But right now there is just so much to do. The house is a disaster. The others are fixing the walls and roof, but we still need to buy all new furniture, and appliances, and food, livestock, feed . . . there is just so much to do. And Esme hasn't even had a chance to start looking for a permanent place for us. Somewhere where we can spend the next seven to ten years. I think it would be best if everything was settled when Bella and Edward returned." I could see her façade begin to crumble when she mentioned her parents, but before she could shed a single tear her walls were back up and she had regained her composure. This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Have you talked to Alice? I'm sure she will be able to see what will happen and be able to give you a definite date that they will return." Without Nessie, me or any other wolves or hybrids around them nothing should block Alice's visions.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to her, but she knows how anx . . . how I feel. I'm sure she will come and find me whenever she see's if there is something worth telling me."

Yeah, Nessie just confirmed for me that she was anything but fine. But I didn't want to push her on the subject. I hoped that once the entire family was reunited she would be calm enough, relaxed enough to let go of her guilt. It was completely undeserved. She did nothing wrong. I know she thought our present situation was her fault, but in truth it was as much mine as it was hers, and we did save a man's life. So what if we were a little inconvenienced? We were going to have to move in a year or two anyways. But she had heard this all last night. Saying it again was not going to suddenly relieve her guilt.

But was that what was really bothering her? Or was it Claudio? And what he told us? I had told her everything that had happened during the car ride, once she had woken up. Everything. Claudio pledging his allegiance to the Cullens, the rumors of the Cullens desire to eliminate and replace the Volturi, and her parents departure with him to try and set the record straight . . . or at least track down the source of such ridiculous lies.

I was going to give Nessie some time and try and work though things on her own. But I told myself that if and only if her emotional state declined I would say something.

I also planned on having a chat with Jasper. I didn't think that our imprint would let me miss anything but I had been wrong before, mostly because of my own stupidity, but I didn't want to risk her hurting.

* * *

Two weeks later we had a new supply of livestock and the house was done.

Although we had a bunch of new animals – cows and boars this time. I don't think any of the Cullens we looking forward to the cows, but they were easy to get, though hunting them would not exactly be a challenge or any type of fun at all. And the amount we were able to get was not nearly enough of what we needed. We'd need to wait for a few generations to get the population required of the family to be feeding on a regular basis. For now there were going to be a lot of thirsty vampires around. It wasn't something I particularly liked but we had searched and searched and just were not able to procure anymore at the moment, what with state of the world being the crapshot that it was right now. Nessie, Jennifer, Felicity and Angelina were going to have to go on a strictly human food diet for the time, and the rest of the Cullens would be rationing the animals for the next . . . however long it took. Now that the house was done, sort of, locating more animals was now top priority. Carlisle was even going to postpone looking for a new hospital to work at, something he was eager to go back to, to help in the search. And in all honesty, though his and Bella's control rivaled each others, not even he could trust himself around open wounds when he had not drunk anything in weeks. It was hard for him I know. Helping people was what gave his life meaning and with all of the wars going on hospitals were desperate for anyone with any type of medical training. The fact that he was not going said a lot as to how bad it was for him and the others.

And then there was the house.

First I didn't like the idea of thirsty Vampires so close to Nessie and Felicity. Or any of the rest of us with blood and heartbeats for that matter. But the Cullens assured us that they would leave, go live in the woods or something if things got too bad. Unfortunately there just wasn't anywhere else to go right now. Nessie and I couldn't even move to a different house like we did last time.

And then there was the size of the house itself. It just wasn't big enough to accommodate all of us, even with converting some of the rooms into bedrooms, there just wasn't enough for the entire Cullen family. Nessie and I got one room, Jennifer and Felicity another, Leah the third, and Angelina the makeshift forth. But that was it. It was suggested that Leah and Angelina double up but given the current state of Leah's mind that idea was quickly dismissed. Everyone knew she needed her privacy, a place to unwind, be by herself and try to recuperate. The rest of the Cullens took to the woods for there . . . nightly activities. They said they didn't mind, that it didn't matter. But I know everybody was looking forward to Esme finding us a larger permanent house to live in. One that was big enough for everyone.

There's also the fact that the majority of everybody's stuff - furniture, books, artwork, knickknacks, were still in the trailers. there simply wasn't enough places to put things. At least there were no longer holes in the roof.

And the kitchen had been completely renovated. There was an actual stove and refrigerator, dishwasher and a whole slew of smaller appliances, everything that we would need to feed the six of us who actually ate. Especially since Nessie and Felicity would be only eating human food at least until our livestock supply returned to a large enough level for them to return to drinking blood.

Even with all these difficulties there was something to be said for Vampire speed and unlimited funds. It made more than a few things easier. And much to my surprise and delight Nessie seemed to be doing better. Not wanting to take any chances I had been checking in regularly with Jasper, but he came to the same conclusions I had. Nessie had worked through her guilt and insecurities and everything else all on her own. I should have known. She wasn't a little girl. Even though she still looked like a 23 year old she was in reality 51. Full capable of dealing with life's ups and downs. She just needed time.

Don't get me wrong, she still missed her parents. We all did. But Alice assured us they were fine, just still following leads and tracking down Vampires, bringing them closer and closer to . . . whatever they were looking for. All the while setting the record straight - that the Cullens had no interest in usurping the Volturi, to each and every Vampire they came across.

According to Alice it would be at least another two months until they returned and they did call once a week. That helped.

In the meantime she had thrown herself into helping Alice plan Felicity and Jennifer's wedding.

* * *

"So where were Bella and Edward calling from this time?" I asked Nessie as she finished her weekly phone call with her parents. They had been gone almost three months and it didn't seem like they would be returning anytime soon. At this rate they wouldn't even be coming back to the current house, but the new one Esme had finally found for us just outside of Mongolia.

"They're still following some leads in Israel. But since neither one of them is a tracker it is taking longer than they would like," she replied. "As far as they can gather someone is using the Cullen name to gather an army to go up against the Volturi. Now that Jane and Alec are gone, whoever is behind this seems to think they have a chance to stage a coop or something."

"But why are they claiming that our family is behind it?"

"The Cullen name carries a lot of weight."

Was it really that simple? I raised my eyebrows to question the simplicity of her response to which she simply shrugged back. I guess it was.

"Jake . . . Nessie?" Angelina's voice rang out through the halls as she called to us. This house had not been soundproofed and we all could hear everything . . . all the time.

"Oh, there you are," she said as she walked into our bedroom. Can I talk to you? In private?" she asked before turning to leave. She knew that we would need to run at least a mile to get out of earshot of the rest of the family, if she truly didn't want anyone to hear whatever it was she wanted to talk to us about, which was apparently the case.

"I want to get to know my father," Angela said to us once we got far enough away from the house.

"I'm sorry?" I was confused. "You want to get to know your . . . dead father?" I tried to ask as delicately as I could, but at that moment could not think of another way to word it.

"Yes. I've tried talking to my mom about him but she either closes up and starts crying or just shuts down completely and goes catatonic. I've glimpsed a few things when we were both phased and running around as wolves, but again she mostly either blocks me out as much as she can or is blocking those images from her mind herself.

"But you two don't have the same issues with my father. You aren't crying your eyes out over the loss of Nahuel." Nessie started to object, but Angelina kept talking, while waving her off. "Don't get me wrong, I know you were both upset that he died, but you were able to move on with your lives. That being said I was hoping you could help. Nessie you could use your gift, and Jacob we could phase together, and you guys could share with me your memories of him. Please."

Sheesh! I don't think this is going to be a very good idea. Nahuel and I never had a very good relationship, even at the best of times. I mean it got better over the decades but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was anything close to what one would describe as a friendship. In the ends I basically just came to tolerate him, which I guess was better than me out right hating him, as I had when Nessie was little. Or even the despise I felt for him when I first found out about him first getting together with Leah, but still . . . I don't have very many happy memories of him, especially from the stories he told me about the first 150 or so years of his existence when he would sleep with and then feed on the local prostitutes in the villages around him.

"I don't know Angelina, maybe I could just tell you some of the . . . err . . . _good_ things I remember about him. I'm not sure if sharing with you my memories of him is the best idea. We didn't really get along." I didn't want to sugar-coat this and have her talk me into showing her things that she definitely wouldn't want to see. I had a lot of fantasies in my head from years ago, mostly of me ripping him to shreds, and more than one real memory of me actually pummeling him after something he said or did.

Angelina shook her head. "I already talked to Jennifer and Felicity, but I want more. I want to see him. Hear him. Really get to know him. He's gone, so I can't actually meet him, but if you two will help me I can get the next best thing. And don't worry. I know all about your _dislike_ of my father. Believe me, there were a few memories of the two of you going at it that I was able to see in my mother's mind. Pretty good right hook you have, as I remember," she smirked.

"Sure, sure. But . . . um, well . . . there are a lot worse things in there about him, too." Damn-it. I didn't want to be the reason she hated her father, even if her father was Nahuel. No daughter deserved to think badly about their dad.

"Yeah, but there has to be at least a few good memories, and I'd love to see those, and the neutral ones too. Really, it's okay. I know a lot of people don't have perfect fathers. And a lot of people even have horrible ones. I don't care. I just want to have some sort of connection to him. And I know about his past with your imprint," she said looking over to Nessie, "I'm sure I can take all of your memories with a grain of salt, knowing that they might be . . . slightly _tainted_ , shall we say," she smirked.

I guess she had me there.

"Well why don't you let Jake go first," Nessie spoke now. And if his memories leave you a little" I let out a fake cough to point out the obvious "or a _lot_ , upset then you can end with mine, which will probably be much more positive in nature."

"Really," she shrieked with joy. "Okay, can we do it now?"

Now? I was really thinking I would have some time to prepare. Go over, or rather try and put a positive spin on some of my more . . . less unpleasant memories.

"Sure," Nessie agreed for the both of us.

Argh.

This isn't going to turn out well. But looking at Nessie and Angelina's faces I could see that they both had their minds set. So I quickly tried recalling as many non-angry memories I had of Nahuel. It was the best I could do and I hoped that those, and only those would be the ones that Angelina saw. Though I very much doubted it.

We both phased and over the next couple of hours we went through my memories of Nahuel. All of them. I tried suggesting more than once, that we stop, especially after I saw how she flinched internally at the first few unpleasant memories I had of her father. And as she pushed deeper and started hearing some of the stories of his . . . err, life prior to joining the Cullen's and his sexual escapades that he had recalled over the years for me and the rest of the Cullens I would have thought Angelina would have wanted to stop. But she made it clear to me, in her mind, that she wanted to see everything.

Leah was going to kill me.

All the while Nessie sat quietly on a nearby rock. She must have been bored out of her mind, but never let it show. It just reminded me how kind and compassionate and generous my angel was.

As I was coming to the end of my Nahuel memories I thought that since I was already phased I would just phase again into my spirit form and check in on the other wolves in the La Push and Makah Res, and in Greece.

I let Angelina know and asked her to tell Nessie when we were done.

After Angelina phased back and I heard her relay the message to Nessie, I witnessed them hold hands so Nessie could begin showing Angelina her memories. After a couple minutes I settled down on the ground and prepared to go into my spirit form. I was a few days early for my monthly check in but I was sure I could find someone who would be phased at each of the three locations.

Quickly scanning their thoughts I could tell something Vampire related was going on with the La Push wolves but if they were busy chasing a Vamp I didn't want to break their concentration and get one of them hurt, or risk them losing the nomad. So I pushed their thoughts out of my mind and moved on to the Grecian wolves. After a brief chat I learned that everything was fine for the most part. Now that Aro was gone the restriction on Vampires entering the country was no longer in effect and the wolves actually had something to do. Nothing they couldn't handle especially after I had Belen set up a solid patrol schedule.

When I was done talking with Belen and a few others in Greece I refocused my thoughts to connect with anyone phased in the Makah Pack. I would talk to them next and see if everything was going well.

My thoughts shifted and soon I heard Quil and Clare's son, Jonah, in my mind,. That was strange, he was the only one on patrol. Alone? I searched again. Still nothing.

 _Jonah, it's Jake. What's going on? Where's everybody else._ No one was supposed to patrol alone.

 _Hey man,_ I heard him respond back. _They're . . . um, dealing with something._

 _Oh right, you must have heard about whatever Vamp issues are going on at La Push._ But why aren't they phased?

 _Don't worry about it._ I could feel the anger in his thoughts, but that was normal when dealing with vampires, as a wolf. Hatred for them was a natural instinct we all had. However his thoughts today seemed to have an extra edge to them. _The leeches have been taken care of. The others are comforting Seth, Carol, Quil and Claire. You should talk to the La Push Pack, they have more details than I do right now._

So I did, but I wasn't expecting what I heard.

After I shifted back into my Wolf body I howled out in pain. Oh god! How am I going to break the news to Leah? She was already an emotional wreck. More death, another funeral. How was she going to deal with it?

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. . . again. Please review**


	115. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (5th Section)

AN - Okay I hate to do this to everyone, but I was really unhappy with the last chapter so I . . . not exactly rewrote it, but I cleaned it up and added a bunch of stuff. In the end it ended up being way too long. I had to break it up. So the original events that happened are now about 75% in Part Nine Section 4, and the rest are at the beginning of Section 5 (this chapter) . You don't need to re-read the last chapter to understand what is going on, but you might enjoy it (I think) Sorry.

Oh and just to clear up some confusion (judging by the reviews) - Jake has still not managed to propose yet.

* * *

 **Part Nine –** **Fifth** **Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"How did it happen?" Leah asked me after I broke the news about Kim and Jared's deaths to her.

It was really just a matter of good, well I guess in this case, _bad_ timing that I had found out when I did. Someone would have called us within the next few hours to let us know, anyway. The fact that I just happened to have been phased into my spirit form before they had a chance to call was just a coincidence.

"It was a vampire attack," I huffed. I needed to calm down. Get control of my emotions. Leah needed to hear what happened to our former Pack-mate and his wife/imprint, and me falling apart right now was not going to help. There would be time for that later. "Kim was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were going to have a picnic to celebrate their anniversary. Jared, was on his way to meet her, but as far as the Pack can determine he was running late. Maybe if he had been a little earlier . . ." NO! Get it together. "Anyway," deep breath, "even after having not phased in decades," breathe, breathe, breathe, "instinct just took over, but by the time he got to her it was too late. She was gone, but the Vamps weren't." I started shaking. Damn-it. Calm down. "Jared was outnumbered. The current Pack heard him in their thoughts and were there a few minutes later. They were able to quickly rip apart the two Vampires but Jared . . . he is . . . _was_ not as young as he use to be . . . and two-on-one isn't . . . he was severely injured." Hold it together. "But he hadn't been bitten. With his rapid Wolf healing he should have been able to heal quickly and recover from his injuries; but from what I gathered from the other Wolves minds, it just seems like he lost the will to live." I completely understood. Now that his soulmate was gone, what was the point. "That was two days ago. He died this morning. Their son, Carter, is . . . " I didn't need to say anything out loud. After all Leah's been through she would know how distraught their son was. "Emily and Sam's son, John, got there first, but Carter arrived shortly after, along with Paul and Rachel's boys. They're all pretty shook up about this." Losing a Wolf, even a former one, well that has happened before. But losing an Imprint too . . . the Pack was taking it pretty hard.

I let Leah know about the joint funeral that was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. If we were able to get a flight by tonight we would be able to make it.

Jasper had heard everything and went ahead and arranged the flight for us, but seven hours later Nessie and I were on our way back to La Push alone. Leah, despite all of our encouraging and pleading, declined to go. She said she couldn't deal with more death right now.

The entire flight home I spent thinking about the funeral and everything that had happened over the past few days.

In some ways I had wished that the La Push Pack had let their guard down, that they'd gotten sloppy. That that was the reason why to Nomads were able to break through the border, onto the reservation, and that was why we lost Jared and Kim. But that just wasn't true. There was no one to blame. No one left to fight. John was an amazing Alpha, his patrol schedule was tight and perfect; always two wolves patrolling at all times, protecting the tribe.

The nomads had just gotten lucky and somehow slipped through the cracks. But it was a reminder to everyone in the Pack that they always needed to be vigilant. John had already drawn up a plan to add more patrols, have there be three, not just two, wolves on at a time. There was currently still enough of them to do this. It wouldn't be that bad for a while, I guess. At least until the shock of everything had worn away and then went back to just to just two wolves on, four wolves off, at a time. Too much patrolling and not enough sleep/downtime was counterproductive in the long run.

But then again . . . I was starting to think that maybe, we . . . I should start patrolling in Russia. I know we had Alice, she would see if there was any danger, and it's not like any of us could be killed, at least not easily, we are all technically immortal-ish, and most Vampires (the ones who had heard of him anyways) liked or at least respected Carlisle but . . . I don't know. This new Vamp, Claudio, got me worried.

A couple days after the funeral Ness and I headed home. Nessie had hoped to convince Seth and Carol to return with us, for Leah's sake, but Carol missed her kids and living in her own house. She had already been with us for more than a few months this past year, and Seth's presence had done little to improve Leah's spirits. Carol understood that Leah was hurting, after Nahuel's death, and having her brother there was some help, but they needed to get back to their own lives. I couldn't hold it against her. She and Seth had practically moved in with us for months. They had done enough.

Argh!

Being back in La Push for the funeral I had forgotten what had happened before I left. Leah had probably heard that Ness and I had shared our memories of Nahuel with her daughter. I had a feeling Nessie's weren't that bad. She had some control, a choice over what she showed Angelina. My mind, on the other hand, was an open book. Angelina had seen everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And there was a lot of ugly.

Leah was going to kill me.

I thought about the mess I was going to be in for the entire flight home and continued chastising myself as Nessie and I drove from the airport back to the house. It would take us a couple of hours to get there and I think I need all the time I could get to prepared myself for Leah's wrath.

"Jake, sweetheart, there's something I need to talk to you about. And now that were alone it seems like as good a time as any," Nessie said, breaking me out of my revive. She looked serious and a little worried.

She must have been worried about Leah's imminent temper tantrum too. "You're not going to tell me that you're pregnant again are you?" I joked, saying the most ridiculous thing I could think of, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, but you're kinda in the ballpark," she attempted to chuckle back, but I could still see the concern in her eyes.

How the hell is her possibly being pregnant in the ballpark? Her body had become frozen like a full vampire's over 40 years ago.

"It's Angelina," she said. "She only has a year left."

A year? Huh? Then I thought about what she said. Pregnant. Only one year? It took me a few seconds. Actually a few more than it should have. We had already been through this with Felicity. But in my defense that was a few decades ago. And with Felicity, given her mate, and lack of . . . well, it wasn't really a possibility.

Back then we had talked to her, with Carlisle, but she and Jennifer agreed that at that point in their relationship/life they weren't ready for children, and they could always adopt in the future if they wanted to. I wasn't sure how likely that would be - a Half-Vampire and one quarter Vampire/Half-Werewolf adopting a human baby didn't seem very realistic, but it wasn't my choice to make.

Angelina on the other hand was in some ways just like our daughter, one quarter Vampire/Half-Werewolf. Well almost. Angelina's Werewolf side seem to be a little bit more dominant, what with her phasing and all. So the same might not be true for her as it was with Felicity. Her physiology might be closer to Leah's, both of them being able to reproduce once they stop phasing for a little while. But that wasn't a certainty. And Angelina needed to be made aware of the facts. Before it was too late.

If Leah didn't kill me for what I showed Angelina about Nahuel she was surely going to for this.

Nessie and I talked the entire way back to the house. When we arrived we had a solid plan in place, we would go to Carlisle first. He was the family physician and had all of our medical histories. I'm sure he probably already thought of this before the thought even occurred to Nessie. There might not be any need for us to say anything. He might have known exactly what was going to happen with Angelina and already made her aware of whatever it was. But just in case he wasn't, we still wanted to be sure. We didn't want to take her one chance at having children away from her due to our inaction. Of course that still left the question of the non-existent guy in her life, but that might not even be an issue, depending on what she decided.

We had just pulled into the driveway, that wasn't there when we left. Some colorful flowers now edged the side of it and there was even a path leading up to the front door of the house. Even though this wasn't going to be our permanent home it looks like Esme couldn't help herself. I know she enjoyed it and I guess it would be good if we were to sell this place later; if we actually even owned it. Who knows, we might just be squatting here.

I was about to grab our bags out of the trunk when the front door burst open and out ran a very angry Leah. Check that . . . a very angry Wolf-Leah.

Damn-it! I knew this was going to happen. I thought I would at least be able to unpack first though. She must have phased at the same time as her daughter and saw everything that I had shown Angelina.

"Mom don't! Stop it! I asked him to," Angelina ran out of the house shouting, to no avail. Not a big surprise, either.

Felicity came running out next, I could see the concern on my daughters face. Jennifer ran out after her, followed more slowly by the Cullens. They probably had not heard anything and didn't know that there was a fight most likely about to happen.

Somewhere in my mind I noticed that Alice and Jasper were missing. They must be off feeding or on a shopping trip or something. And it looked like Bella and Edward we're still not back yet. But we didn't expect them for a few more weeks.

As much as I had hated Nahuel in the past, at times like these it really made me think about how much he leveled out and had made Leah happy. There weren't so many temper tantrums or snide comments from Leah when he was around.

And of course Leah was much more pleasant to share thoughts with when we were both Wolves, minus all of the intimate stuff that I accidentally witnessed over the years.

But I couldn't really blame her now. The love of her life has been stolen from her. Twice, now! I don't know if I would have behaved any better.

I refused to phase. I refused to fight her. I couldn't hurt her anymore than I already had. More than life already had. But that did leave me at a severe disadvantage. I was stronger than her when we were both phased, but on two feet against her four I was no match, so I took a few hits. Got a few scrapes and gashes, a few bites. I could take it. I knew she wouldn't kill me and I would heal . . . eventually.

But then, to my horror, Felicity stepped in.

She was only one quarter Vampire and though she _technically_ had half of my wolf genes, she had never phased. Sure she had her own Vampire gift, to feel a beings essence when she touched them, and she aged just like David, but I wasn't sure how impenetrable her skin was or even how Immortal she was, for that matter.

It was true that she had not aged a day since her second birthday, just like her brother, but in truth we didn't know how long either of them would live. David at least phased, so I knew, for some certainty, that he would at least continue to live as long as he continue to phase.

But with Felicity I had no such certainty and strength-wise while she was stronger than a human she was not nearly as strong as a full Vampire or even a Half-Vampire, she was the weakest one in the house. She might have been almost equal with me while I was on two feet, . . . on a good day, maybe. But we have never tested it. There's no way she would last long against Wolf Leah.

"NO! Stay back," I shouted to her, but I was too late. My daughter went to grab Leah's tail. I hoped that the Cullens would have run to intervene but they hadn't ventured much past the front door when they first came out, and were still a good distance away and looked like they were in shock at what they were seeing.

At least I didn't have to worry about Nessie. Jennifer was keeping her restrained, for her own protection, a safe distance away. But what was Felicity doing? Trying to pull Leah off of me? I was currently pinned down, but it wasn't like she was going for my throat or anything. She was just growling in my face. Probably trying to scare me, or force me to phase, or something.

I hadn't intended to, but now that my daughter's life was in jeopardy, instinct took over and my Wolf form sprang out. Phasing while Leah was already on top of me, and with Felicity so close, was not safe, for either of them, but whatever damage that I happen to inflict on Leah I knew she would heal. Felicity was another matter. A quick glance over assured me that she was still alive but there was blood dripping from three large gashes in her arm. Damn-it. Thankfully Carlisle was already tending to it.

That was enough for me. I needed to Alpha order Leah to stop. I should have done it earlier, but I hated doing it. Though if it came between my daughter's life and my taking away Leah's free-will, however temporarily, I would command her, or any other Wolf, every time.

Just as I was about to give the order Emmett, Rose, and Esme broke out of their statue like states. I guess the shock of everything had finally worn off because they rushed over and grabbed Leah. It was almost comical to see the three of them try to contain her. In the end the only way they could get her to settle down, without hurting her, was to sit on top of her so she couldn't get up. At least until she calmed down.

It seemed to be working. Leah was starting to relax . . . or at least give up trying to fight. I took a deep breath, in relief, and then . . . I don't know if my mind slipped or Leah had been searching in it and I was just so focused on getting her to relax that I missed it, but the instant she saw, I knew. Crap! This was not the best time for her to see the conversation Nessie and I had in the car. And just like that Emmett, Rose, and Esme were no match for her. She was up and ready to pounce once again.

At least that's what it looked like to everybody else.

But none of them were a Wolf. None of them were in Leah's head. None of them knew what I did. She was okay. Well, she wasn't going to attack anybody, at least not right now. She just needed time to run and clear her head. The fact that her one year old daughter needed to get pregnant, possibly . . . _probably_ within the next year was a shock right now, especially after everything else.

"Everybody, let her go. It's okay. She just needs time to think." I yelled after quickly phasing back. "I need to go after her. Make sure she's okay." Or at least safe and didn't hurt herself or anybody she happened to run into. But first, "Doc, is Felicity going to be okay?"

"I'm fine dad," she answered instead of him. "It's almost healed," she added, waving her arm. I could see three pink scars running down it. I winced at the thought that I had been the one to do that to her. I would have to apologize to her profusely later.

Before I left, to go after Leah, I needed to quickly talk to Nessie. I didn't want Leah to get too far away from me. "Nessie, can you go talk to Angelina and Carlisle, about what we discussed in the car." She gave me a quizzical look but I assured her that Leah had suggested that they do it now and begin whatever tests were necessary as soon as possible. Leah promised she would be back soon, but couldn't deal with everything now and needed to get away for a bit, yet didn't want her daughter to lose any more time. She had so little already.

After Nessie nodded I phased and ran.

Judging by the terrain I saw in her mind it looked like Leah was already a good 50-60 miles away already. It didn't help that she was faster than me. I could only hope to catch up to her if she stopped somewhere on her own.

 _LEAH! LEAH, come on. Talk to me._

Nothing. Argh!

Where is she going? I've been following her for over four hours now and she was only getting further and further away from me. And what's worse I couldn't even figure out where she was going, if she even had a destination in mind. I mean I know I only said I was going to go after her to make sure she was okay but I was really hoping we could talk.

At this rate it was going to be days before I was back with Nessie.

 _At least you have someone to go back to._ Leah angrily shouted into my head.

At least she was finally talking.

 _Leah . . . you have Angelina. And me. And Nessie. And Felicity and Jennifer. And the Cullens. I'm sorry Nahuel's gone._ I could feel her wince when I thought his name. _But we love you too. You're not alone. I know it feels like it . . ._

 _YOU KNOW NOTHING!_

I could feel that she had changed direction and was headed back to where I was.

 _You think that just because you are in my head, hear what I think, feel my pain that you know what I am going through? I have to live with this every day, all day and night. We phase together on occasion and you get a brief glimpse into my mind. But then you get to go back to your imprint. And your family. And your perfect life._

Perfect life? Was she crazy. My life was far from perfect. The Volturi constantly seemed to be attacking us, Nessie's life has been threatened . . . I don't even know how many times, both of my parents were gone, I was living with a bunch of stinking Vampires in a strange country where I had to learn an entirely new language and just when I was starting to get comfortable we had to up and leave our home in the middle of the night, and that's just for starters.

But . . . if I really thought about it, I guess I did have it pretty good. We were safe, Nessie was alive and well. So were our children, and grandchildren (even if I didn't get to see them that often) and the Cullens were like family now, despite the smell, that I had grown accustomed to over the years. And the Cars. We had a lot of really nice cars. And I guess moving around all the time wasn't so bad. I got to see more of the world than I had ever dreamed I would have, growing up in La Push.

I could hear Leah growling now, and not just in my head. She was nearby. She must have ran at top speed to get to me this quickly. Or I had lost track of time while analyzing my life.

 _Your life is not so bad either, Leah._ I snarled back at her. I knew she wouldn't like what I had to say next, but I think I needed to. Trying to be gentle and patient with her wasn't working. Fourteen months after his death and she was still a mess. _Nahuel is gone._ _I know it's sad . . . devastating, and I know you don't believe me when I tell you that I understand, but that doesn't matter, right now. What matters now is that you have a daughter, your daughter and Nahuel's daughter. You're her mother and you're neglecting her; she needs you, now more than ever. You need to find some way to work through this ASAP and step up and be a parent. You need to be Angelina's mother and her father._

Instead of responding Leah just growled at me.

 _Fine. Go off and run and sulk and cry and wallowing in self-pity. But do it while your daughter's asleep or wait a year until she's grown up and moved on or whenever. But right now she needs you._

 _I know you think you've been dealt the short end of the stick. First losing Sam to Emily's imprint, and now the Volturi killed Nahuel, but think about how Angelina feels. Her father was taken from her, before she even got to know him, before she was even born. And her mother is all but absence from her life. Yes, you're there physically, but mentally you have not yet been._

 _How could you? How could you say that to me?_ Leah snarled back.

 _To tell you the truth it was easy. You need to get your head out of your ass._ I saw in her head that she was now thinking about how Nessie and I had shown Angelina our memories of Nahuel. _W_ _e didn't do it to YOU. We did it FOR Angelina. Wake up and start looking at what's going on around you. Your daughter is hurting and you're not helping her. You're not the only one in pain here._

I think my directness actually shocked her into silence.

 _Leah do you realize you missed her entire childhood? Hell you practically missed her first birthday. If Alice hadn't taken over and handled everything she wouldn't even have had that one._ That wasn't entirely true. If Alice hadn't planned it, Nessie and I would have, or Jennifer and Felicity, or one of the other Cullens. We wouldn't have not celebrated. Someone would have stepped up. _You do realize she only gets two before she stops aging right?_

 _Come on where's the Leah I used to know? The Leah from back in La Push that had just phased into a Wolf? That wouldn't take any crap from anybody? That gave every single Wolf a hard time?_

 _That was long time ago, Jake_ , she replied _. A person can change a lot in 50 years. Nahuel changed me._

 _No. I don't believe it. You're just as stubborn as ever. You just need to remember how to fight. Nahuel made you happy. Your life was easy. Maybe too easy. But the Leah I use to know is still in there. She's strong enough to do this. You just have to find her._

 _You think so?_ she asked me.

 _I know so._

Leah and I went back and forth for a little while before she finally acquiesced, realizing she needed to try harder to at least be a better mother in front of Angelina; falling apart or sinking back into her depression when her daughter wasn't around was still something she fully intended to do - or I guess not intended, but was all she was capable of right now.

She still wasn't happy about what Ness and I had shown her daughter but she understood. Yet she didn't feel like she was going to be able to phase with her daughter anytime soon. She didn't think she was going to be able to stand seeing Nahuel at the front of Angelina's mind right now. I thought it might be something that would be helpful but it was her decision and I understood and didn't push it.

But what I did push was the need to talk about Angelina's fertility timeline. I know I freaked out myself when I heard Nessie's timetable, and then again for Felicity, but I guess with Felicity I had it a little bit easier once we talked. It was really a non-issue for her, and in turn us.

I have no idea about Angelina's intentions and I doubt if her mother knew either.

 _You're right. I have no idea what my daughter would want in this matter._ Leah sighed, finally losing the rest of her anger that she had been seething out at me for the past 6 hours. _But she must want children right? I did. Wouldn't anyone?_

 _As I seem to recall, you only wanted them once you thought you couldn't have any._

 _That's not true. Sam and I used to talk about starting a family back . . . before . . ._ she trailed off.

 _Not everyone does._ I pointed out. _I know I relayed your message for you to have Nessie and Carlisle break things to Angelina and start the tests but you know you need to talk to her too, right?_

 _Yeah, I just don't know . . ._ Was she trying to wimp out on her daughter again?

 _NO, Leah, you NEED to do this._

As soon as I said it, stressing how it was her responsibility, at least through our linked minds, I think I could see her resolve building. She would be able to do it, she might just crumble as soon as Angelina walked out of the room but she was determined to try . . . at least for now.

 _Good then let's head back_ , I said, _before you change your mind._

* * *

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review. And please tell me if you liked the changes or should not have bothered.


	116. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (6th Section)

**Part Nine –** **Sixth** **Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"Ah Leah, I'm glad you're back," Carlisle said, casually stepping out of the house the way he always seemed to do, as she and I finally made our way back to our new . . . temporary home. "I have finished my examination on Angelina and I have drawn some preliminary conclusions from the tests that I performed on her blood and an internal exam. I was just about to tell your daughter the results but now that you are here, why don't we all sit down together and go over everything."

Leah looked apprehensive, but agreed.

"Do you want me to come with you," I asked her.

"No I think Angelina and I need to do this alone . . . together. It'll be our first mother daughter bonding thing, I guess," she shrugged.

With that Leah and Carlisle headed into the house and I went in search of Nessie and Felicity. There was something important we needed to talk about.

Nessie and I needed to sit our daughter down and have a talk with her. I wanted to find out what she was thinking, going after Leah like she had. She could have gotten herself hurt, or worse.

"I've been practicing with Jasper." She replied, once the three of us were seated at the kitchen table. With a house as small as this there were only so many places to talk. "I was trying to use me gift to try and calm her down. I'm not as good as Jasper, I still need to touch people to make it work, but I think, if I could have just held on for a few more seconds I could have gotten it to work," she explained.

 _Jake, she's almost 45 years old. You are not seriously going to talk to her like a misbehaving child are you?_ Nessie asked me with her gift. She knew me too well. That was exactly what I was planning on doing. No matter how old she got, Felicity was still my baby girl.

Ness had a point. But so did I. Our daughter wasn't as physically strong as the rest of us. And I was about to say so. Or I was, had it not been for the sound of Nessie clearing her throat.

Fine, I rolled my eyes and gestured with my hand, for Nessie to talk to our daughter, if she thought she could handle this so much better than me.

"Felicity that was very brave of you to try and help like that." Ness began. "We didn't know you had been working with Jasper. Neither of you mentioned it."

"Well, I figured, that now that we were all living together it was as good a time as any."

"You've been working on expanding your gift for how long then? Over a year?" I was shocked. Where was I when all of this was going on.

"Longer actually. I started when Jen, Leah, Nahuel and I were living in Australia in the 40's. But I never made any real progress until last year, with Jasper's help."

"Yeah, it would have been nice if she was able to do it better back then," Jennifer interjected, sitting herself down next to Felicity at the table. "You should have seen some of the fights the four of us got into. Well not Felicity. She was always trying to be the peacemaker."

WHAT!? She's done this before? "You fought with Leah and Nahuel?" I don't remember seeing anything like that in Leah's thoughts.

"Occasionally. You know how it is," Jennifer replied, acting like it was no big deal. "Vampires . . . well Half-Vampires in our case and Werewolves . . ."

"Shape-shifters." Nessie corrected her.

"Fine," Jennifer chuckled. She _really_ needed to be taking this more seriously. My daughter could have gotten seriously hurt. "Half-Vampires and _Shape-shifters_ are natural enemies. I was surprised we didn't fight more often. But then again Felicity was always around, calming us all down. And it wasn't just each other that we were fighting. We would come across the occasional nomads that weren't always the friendliest. Your daughter was literally a lifesaver."

"Why is this the first time we are hearing any of this?" Nessie gasped, mirroring my own thoughts.

"We didn't want you to worry," Felicity finally spoke up after a long silence. "I know how you get," she had me there, "and there were four of us. At most we'd encounter two Vampires at a time. And it almost never turned into a fight."

"Almost?" Nessie questioned our daughter and her mate.

"Three . . . maybe four times did we actually do something that you would consider an . . . argument that turned . . . um, physical. And only once did that result in us having to . . .um . . . well . . ."

Oh, just spit it out. Rolling my eyes . . . _again,_ I decided to just say for her what she was trying to break to me . . . us. "The four of you killed a few Vamps."

"Um . . . yes. I'm sorry mom," she replied, tears swelling up in her eyes as she looked at Nessie. "I know you want us all to get along. That killing our kind . . ."

"Oh, honey. I'm not mad," she said, bringing our daughter into a hug. "Your life is much more important to me than trying to get everyone to get along. It's not always possible. I know that."

I was torn. On one hand I was full of pride that my daughter could handle herself in a fight but on the other it filled me with fear that she could get hurt if it came down to one on one, but in the end I guess my daughter could take care of herself.

* * *

Over the next few weeks Felicity agreed to let me watch as she and Jasper practiced expanding her gift.

I wasn't sure how one would go about such a thing but quickly learned that Jasper would set up various scenarios, manipulating Jennifer's emotions, either through his gift or not. There were other ways to affect a person's emotions and Jasper employed all of them. He would have her watch sad, scary, comical, and/or romantic movies, told stories and jokes. He even yelled at her once, though Felicity took offence that he did that to her imprint and that tactic was not repeated.

He would take her sometimes up, sometimes down. Once thoroughly provoked he had Felicity attempt to sway her emotions back to normal . . . or at least make her calm.

I was worried about the effect this would have on Jennifer, but all three of them assured me that not only had Jennifer agreed to be Felicities' ginny pig, she was the one to suggest it. And Jasper was keeping close tabs on her, making sure that things did not get out of hand, or cause any permanent emotional, or physical harm in any way.

All their training seemed to be working, and Jasper told me she was making much more progress now that they were not sneaking around behind Nessie's and my back. And it had the added benefit of taking her mind off the fact that her grandparents were still not back yet.

Unfortunately the same was not true for Nessie.

"Hey, can you take a quick peek and check on Bella and Edward. There were suppose to check in two days ago. And Nessie is starting to worry." I asked Alice a couple weeks later.

"Sure, I can but I'm sure everything is fine. Those two can take care of themselves better than any of us."

"I know, but it would make Ness feel better, just the same." Alice went into her dazed trance-like vision face. I expected her to tell me that they were fine; the reason why they hadn't called and why Nessie's calls to them had gone unanswered was because of something benign like they just couldn't charge their phones while running after some lead or another, but one look at Alice's face and I knew something was definitely wrong.

"No! I . . . quick, give me a phone! I need a phone!" Alice started screaming. Hurriedly my hand dove into my pants pocket and I threw her my cell. "Pick up . . . pick up . . . pick up," she chanted "Oh no! I'm too late," she gasped.

Too late? What does that mean? "ALICE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"

Nothing. No response.

I started shaking her to snap out of whatever daze she was in, unfortunately Jasper was right by her side, a second later, throwing me off of his wife.

After I picked myself up after crashing into the far wall I saw the rest of the Cullen household emerge in the room - vampire hearing and all.

"What is going on here?" Carlisle asked.

"That's what I was trying to find out." I growled.

"By attacking Alice?" Jasper snarled back, ready to pounce again.

"Both of you calm down." That was easier said than done. "Now, Alice do you know something? Did you see . . ."

"I was too late. Jacob asked me to check on Edward and Bella. I should have done that earlier, if I had . . ." she froze again. The stress was too much for her.

"Alice," Jasper stroked her face. She instantly seemed to relax. He must have been using his gift on her. "whenever you are ready." He kissed her forehead. Those two had the weirdest love.

After a deep, unnecessary breath she finally began. "I saw Bella and Edward in some town, it was pretty heavily damaged from past bombings already," I didn't like the sound of that, "so I am not exactly sure where they were, but then another round of bombs hit there location."

"When is this going to happen? Is there time to call and warn them?" Esme asked.

"It already did. I only saw it a few seconds before the bombs hit."

"So . . . they're gone?" Nessie choked on her own tears.

"No, honey, relax. They're Vampires. A bomb won't kill them." But then again, these new bombs were bigger, hotter, more deadly than anything before. Maybe they could kill a Vampire. I just looked at Alice "Can you check?" She probably already knew they were gone. That's why she had freaked out. I was so stupid to say that to Nessie. It was just going to hurt even more when Alice confirmed that they had been incinerated, or whatever happened to them.

"I . . . I . . . I don't know. I didn't look that far, " she stammered.

"LOOK!" "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Almost everyone in the room shouted at once. "CHECK!" "DO IT NOW!" "QUICK!" "WHAT, LOOK ALREADY!" "OH, MY! I HOPE THEY'RE OKAY." They continued. That last one was from Esme, of course.

Alice went back into the vision and her face pained again.

Damn-it!

"I found them," she said, but didn't seem happy. But that meant that they were alive, right? Well . . . not dead, at least. "They were caught in the blasts, but just on the edges. We need to go there, find the pieces, and put them back together."

Pieces? YUCK - was the first thing I thought, but then I felt bad. Bella and Edward must have . . . still might be, in _incredible_ pain.

I don't think that was something that Nessie should see. That was not something I wanted to see.

"Do you even know where they are?" Rose asked her.

Alice looked again.

"Hills . . . two little mountains, a nearby stream about 40 kilometers to the south, I don't know . . . but . . . wait . . . I know that cathedral. I know where they are."

"The entire town was decimated, with the exception of an entire Cathedral?" Carlisle asked her in disbelief. I knew the feeling.

"Of course not. It was destroyed too, save a lone wall. But I recognized the fresco painted on it. Filippo Lippi was always one of my favorite painters from the 15th century." She sighed at the loss before shaking it off and returning to the matter at hand. "Now come on, we need to go."

"All of us?" I questioned, keeping a tight grip on Nessie as everyone else began rushing towards the front door.

"Relax, Jacob. Prato, Italy is almost 100 kilometers from Volterra." Emmett told me what I already knew, with a slight chuckle, trying to relieve the fear he thought I was worried about. But the Volturi were the last thing on my mind, right now.

A couple of ancient, has-been, self-imposed, royal bloodsuckers were no match for us. Nessie was all I cared about.

"Shouldn't some of us stay here . . . to . . . err, watch over the cows?" I knew my excuse was flimsy, but it was all I could think of at the moment.

"Jake come on." Nessie pulled harder than I was prepared for and actually ended up jerking me off the couch I had somehow ended up sitting in. "We need to go. Bella and Edward need our help. Others can look after the livestock. I'm sure Leah, and Angelina, and Jennifer, and . . ."

"Ness," I interrupted her, "Your grandparents, aunts and uncles can handle it. I don't think it is something you want to see. Once you do you can't un-see it. They're your parents. You don't want that image in your head."

"But it's already in my head, Jake. I'm already imagining the worst."

"That's right. It's just your imagination. But if you go it will be real. Please let's just stay here. The others can go and they will be back with your parents in a few days," I glanced over to Alice for confirmation and thankfully she nodded in agreement.

"Jake's right, Renesmee. Stay here. We'll take care of it," Rose said while pushing Ness back into my arms.

"I . . . um . . . okay," she reluctantly agreed.

As they drove away I had to keep a firm hold on her to prevent her from running after them.

Like I had told her Felicity, Jennifer, and Leah looked after the cows. Angelina, who a few months ago had received a drivers license from Jasper, or his forger, to be more accurate, was excited to drive alone and took over picking up the much needed feed for our cattle.

Nessie was a wreck for the next nine days, seven more than Nessie or I was prepared for, but then at 4:42 am, on Wednesday morning, the Cullen's cars finally returned.

Nessie was a wreck. She had refused to move from the spot on the couch we had been sitting on when everyone left, so as soon as the cars pulled up Ness was out the front door before the doors opened or the cars even stopped.

Edward was the fastest in the family and today was no exception. He was holding his daughter when I, and the rest of us who had remained at the house were just coming down the front steps. It made perfect sense. Nessie was always a daddy's girl.

Bella emerged from the car next. While Edward looked no worse for wear, and a normal onlooker probably wouldn't have noticed anything I could tell that Bella was noticeably shaken up from her experience. It was understandable, she had been blown up after all. I could tell she was trying to hide it in front of Nessie. Always the martyr.

While Nessie was hugging her mother, Edward was embracing our daughter. With Jasper, Felicity had been just as worried about her grandparents as Nessie was, but she had Jennifer to lean on. And Felicity was so strong. I think after all these years I am just truly starting to see how strong our daughter was.

Now that her parents were back, Nessie had been spending a lot of time with them. It wasn't just that she missed them, or that they almost died, it was that they, mostly Bella from what I could tell, were traumatized by their experience and the three of them needed to just be together.

Bella use to be my best friend and I wanted to be there for her two, but I could tell that this was more of a family thing. I decided to give them some space. But that left a lot of free time for me, where I was alone.

While I didn't like not being with my imprint it did give me the opportunity to spend thinking about a new way to propose to Nessie.

Attempt number one: Felicity and Jennifer stole my thunder.

Attempt two: Emmett's "lost" bear claw

Number three: the Grecian Packs appreciation party.

And four: my last attempt, where the restaurant burned down, did not go exactly as planned.

Hell; even Kim and Jared's deaths had delayed things. Sometimes I thought the universe conspiring against us.

But I knew it was time. It had been two months. She was better, and so was Bella and Edward. I had been worried about Bella most of all. But apparently being blown up, while as scary and painful as it had been did not leave any permanent physical damage. Or any damage at all for that matter. I learned, the night that they returned, that Edward and Bella could have put themselves back together, but there were too many humans around, searching through the rubble for survivors. They couldn't very well have dismembered arms and legs crawling of their own volition, through the debris to reattach themselves.

When the rest of the Cullens arrived they had to discreetly gather up . . . the parts, and then transport them back to a secure location to be reassembled. I'll say it again – YUCK!

After hearing what happened from Esme and Carlisle who tried to explain the events as gently as possible, albeit with Emmett commentating now and then whenever he thought the story needed a "little spicing up" as he called it, I was glad than ever that I insisted that Nessie stay away from the recovery mission and let the rest of the family handle it.

"But how did you escape the blast?" I had asked.

"It was luck. I heard the bombs soaring through the air, of course, but they travel so fast that even _we,_ with our enhanced Vampire speed, could not hope to outrun one, let alone the seven that were dropped, but thankfully I heard in someone's mind that they were expecting an air raid and we began our retreat moments earlier. If we had only been a couple seconds quicker we would have missed it entirely." Edward said looking apologetically over to his wife. She kissed his hand, as if to say that she forgave him, though I don't know if that was right, or if there was anything that he needed to be forgiven for.

"But there was," he corrected me. "I should never have brought us to Italy. I had heard, in the minds of those all around us, that another bombing was most likely imminent, yet the chance to get those responsible, for the rumors, of our attempted coo against the Volturi, was too much. In the end it didn't matter, they either got away, were never there to begin with, or were . . ." he fumbled, flailing, a loss for words ". . . blown up – possibly worse than us." He huffed. "Months chasing down lead after lead and we come home no closer to knowing who is behind this than when we left."

"This bites." Emmett growled. "Alice you can't see anything? Still?"

"I wish I could. Whoever is behind this clearly knows how my gift works, and how to get around it. It's like Victoria all over again," she huffed.

"Well I don't think we should make another attempt to track whoever it is down again, without having more information," Carlisle suggested.

"And just how are we supposed to do that, while exiled here in Siberia?" Edward growled.

"We're not in Siberia. That's a few thousand miles northwest of here." Leah snickered. While it was nice to see her laugh again this was serious.

"When is this stupid war even going to be over anyway?" I asked Alice. "Is there any way you can see that?"

"Oh please. There are way too many variables. Too many people involved, each making too many decisions, changing their minds all the time. I have never have been able to see something as bid as a war and WWIII is bigger that WWI and WWII combined." she sighed.

Surveying all of the black eyes in the room it brought another thing back to my attention. "I bet the red eyed Vamps are having a grand ole time of things with this stupid war."

"No, just the opposite is true, Jacob." Carlisle countered. "Aro knew this. That is why he went to such extremes recruiting potential wolves in Greece."

Huh?

"Television, books, and movies always depict wars as this huge bounty for Vampires but the opposite is true. Too much blood, open wounds, blown off limbs, . . . it's too tempting for our kind. Most of the time war forces us back into the shadows," Edward explained. "The chance of getting caught up in the moment, feeding right out there in the open, in public, our Vampire instincts would take over and we aren't be able to control ourselves. We forget the need to hide, to keep the secret. Our kind would too _easily_ be caught by humans, and there weapons are now deadly, even to us. Whether or not they know it."

"But of course some are unable to resist the blood all around them . . ." Jasper interjected. If anyone in the Cullen household knew how tempting and problematic blood could be, it was him. He had made progress over the last 50 years that I had known him, but he still struggled more than anyone else.

I hate this! That we were here, hiding. I want to be out there fighting . . . helping. Doing _something._ Some protector I was.

Of course the Cullens were not able to help either, just like Edward said. And I'm just one Wolf, and the entire world was at War. None of us were doing anything to help the dying humans all around us, except Carlisle.

Carlisle had found a job at the local, well the closest, hospital. Jasper's contact was able to get him new credentials and he started work there a few weeks ago. But it was still hard for him. There's been so few animals for him to feed on, even with our livestock, and all that blood he was exposed to during a surgery . . . I don't know how he did it. I saw how even Bella was struggling.

At least we didn't have to worry about someone recognizing him. He only performed surgeries and hid behind his mask around the other doctors and nurses, and never met with patients. It was hard for him to do so, but not helping at all would be even harder, he said.

"It's not like we're doing nothing, Jacob. It's true we're not fighting, or helping make bombs, or going and rescuing people ourselves but we are doing what we can. We're contributing money to shelters and orphanages and hospitals. Which is more than I can say for most humans right now." Edward admonished me.

I know, I know. With the world as it is, most are just doing what they can to survive.

Yet more and more humans were dying. More every day. Hundreds. Thousands. How many were even left?

"Our kind isn't faring much better." Edward said to me. "The Volturi have been working overtime. Vampire numbers are dwindling as well.

 _What are you talking about._

"Even though Aro, Jane, Alec and Demetri are gone the Volturi still exist. They are doing what they are meant to - keeping order. Stopping our kind from completely losing control in front of the humans and exposing us all." Edward continued to explain.

"They still have Felix, and Santiago, and others including a large group of those recruited by Aro and Jane." Alice added. She had been checking up on them, weekly, if not daily, making sure they weren't planning anything. "Not all of them left of course," she said giving Edward a quick look. His eyes budged before he recovered. There was something they were not telling rest of us. "Many stayed, or went back when given the opportunity - once it was not forced on them. Caius enjoys his . . . err, promotion to head Volturi Ruler. And now that there is more _justice_ to be doled out, he is in heaven. He is all about the law, you know," she added with an eye roll, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

But what could they possibly be doing? Killing every single Vampire that was seen feeding from a human, by another human? Hmmm. If this war continued any longer there might not be any Vampires left. That didn't sound too bad. Of course there might not be any humans left either.

"No, that would be overkill," Edward chuckled at his own humorless joke. "It would take more than just one slip-up, but when rumors start to build . . . if word got back to Volterra, Caius would send a few guards to deal with the situation," he informed me.

"But if they're just rumors, how could they kill . . . without being sure," Nessie cried.

"Do you remember Maggie from The Irish Coven, who could tell when someone was lying?"

I remembered her. She was one of those who came to witness Nessie when she was just a baby. No way! There's no way she joined the Volturi. For a red eyed Vampire I almost liked her. Almost.

"No of course not," Edward scoffed at my thought. "But there are others whose gift is similar, Vampire polygraphs are almost as common as trackers. Caius would simply have to ask the accused, in their presence, to know if they had exposed our secret. While overzealous, Caius is too much about the law to ever just go about executing our kind without some sort of proof first."

Yeah right. "It seemed like that was EXACTLY what he planned to do when he thought Nessie was an immortal child."

"That was a extreme circumstance. He was being told to disbelieve his own eyes. And as far as he knew the _truth_ had already been seen by Aro in Irina's memory. He'd never been wrong before. Add to that the Volturi's fear of not only our large, talented family but the Packs. You can see his reasoning. "

Like HELL I could. But I didn't feel like getting into an argument with Edward about this. I knew he was just playing devil's advocate. "Sure, sure." I said out loud. I was done talking about it. I needed a distraction.

"Ness did you want to . . ."

"Hey, Nessie," Alice cut me off, pulling Nessie off of the couch and out of my lap, "let's go work on that thing again."

Hmmm.

Those two always seemed to be running off together lately. I knew what they were up to something, I just didn't know what, but I wasn't worried. Ness would tell me when she was ready.

In the meantime I guess I could go see what Bella or Rose were up to.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Sorry this one took so long to get out.

I know everyone is waiting for the proposal and it is coming just two chapters to go. Its all written i just need to have a few things happen in between for the story to make sence down the line, Please dont hate me.

Please review.


	117. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (7th Section)

**Part Nine – Seventh Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"Checkmate!" Ness cooed, knocking over my piece. Finally. I love her but we had been playing for hours and I was tired.

"Oh, nuts!' I sighed, faining disappointment. "Well," fake yawn, "Why don't we head up to bed." It had been a long and boring day. I know Emmett was itching to take over my spot on the couch.

Since the house wasn't very big, we tried to split the common areas of the house into time zones, so we weren't always on top of each other. The Cullens would engage in various pursuits outside, during the day while the rest of us did whatever inside, then we would switch, until night when we would sleep and the Cullens would again takeover the downstairs of the house. Or vice versa. We didn't have any hard and fast rules about it, but we tried to make sure not everyone was in the house (at least not while awake) at the same time.

We learned that lesson the hard way. We had been here for months and were starting to get on each other's nerves, so much so that even Jasper had a hard time defusing some of the more tense moments.

It was getting late and the Cullens had slowly been trickling back into the house, as the rest of us made our way to our bedrooms. Felicity and Jennifer had already gone to bed over an hour ago while Leah went up twenty minutes ago. I wasn't sure where Angelina was, but Leah assured be she was right on top of it.

"YES!" Esme shouted for joy.

"What is it? Did you finally find a decent place for us to live," Rosalie asked following her husband inside as soon as Nessie and I had reached the stairs.

"Even better," she replied, ignoring Rosalie's _justifiably_ rotten attitude. "Do you remember Micca Khomiakova, our former neighbor who is currently looking after our livestock?" When we all nodded our heads in acknowledgement she continued, "Well I've been in contact with him and after some . . ." she hesitated for a few seconds, searching for the right word probably, "err, negotiations, he has agreed to sell them back to us, and not only that, but bring them to a location of our choosing."

We have to buy our own stuff back?

"How much does he want?" Bella asked ignoring the obvious absurdity of it all. The rest of the Cullens who were still outside had heard Esme and rushed in. And those upstairs whom I thought were asleep were now filing down the stairs. It was a very packed living room.

"It's a little much," Esme replied. It seemed like she didn't want to actually say the amount. That probably meant he was asking for a lot. But we had searched everywhere else. There were no other sources, well none that we could find anyway. "But with it comes an agreement that he's not going to be heading to the authorities, or the press, and will deny any knowledge of us or our whereabouts. Otherwise the money disappears if everything ever gets out."

"How much?" Bella asked again, a little stronger this time.

The amount that Esme eventually ended up confessing was . . . well, _draw dropping_ was not a big enough term for it.

"NO WAY!" Emmett hollered. "There's no way we're going to be blackmailed by some puny human. I say we go over to his farm and just take what's ours back. Or, hell, let's go tomorrow in the middle of the day, full sun light and sparkling skin and everything, that'll really freak him out. Who cares, we can scare him so good he'll be afraid to say a word. It's not like he's going to be able to stop us and no one knows where we live."

Why was he so pissed about the money? We had Alice, who could literally see how to get more money faster and easier than anybody else on the planet. It's not like we're going to run out.

"You know we can't do that." Edward, the voice of reason, said at the same time Jasper also spoke. "I think we should take the deal. Not all of us have Bella's self-control. And . . . some of us are getting rather _desperate,"_ Jasper gruffed while looking apologetically over at Nessie, and Jennifer. Instinctively I grabbed Nessie's hand and walked us over to Felicity and Jennifer, putting myself slightly in front of both my imprint and my daughter and her mate.

I knew Jasper wouldn't intentionally go after them, I don't think Felicity's, or Angelina's, blood even appealed to him anymore than Leah's or my own did, or Nessie's and Jennifer's, for that matter. But I have seen him and the others lose control (at least while hunting) on more than one occasion; never against my family, but I didn't want this to be the first time.

"Alright, then it is agreed that we will make the deal with Mr. Khomiakova," Carlisle said, effectively ending the argument. "When can you make the arrangements?" he asked his wife.

After a little back and forth between Esme and our former Russian ranching neighbor, he agreed to deliver the livestock in two days. Not to our house, we didn't want anyone, not even him, knowing where we were living, but a nearby yet remote location.

While this would solve the problem of the Cullens food supply, it created another. Now we would need to feed more livestock, and we were already having problems procuring enough grain to feed the cows we already had. They had already eaten all of the grass in the surrounding five acres, and getting new shipments of grain delivered was more than a little challenging, what with not being able to receive shipments at the house.

It was like one problem after another lately.

I wasn't sure what happened when Angelina went to pick up a shipment the last time, but she was gone much longer than she should have been and when she returned she came back empty handed, she was a mess though physically unharmed, and the grain dealer refused to sell us anymore.

Edward tried talking to her, but she refused to tell him, or any of us what happened. I couldn't even dig anything out of her wolf mind.

I think something was going on with her, I just didn't know what.

But one disaster at a time.

* * *

The next morning Alice came bouncing into the kitchen looking more than a little excited. What was going on?

"Okay Alice, what's up?" I asked her. "I haven't seen you look that excited since you redid your closet at the last house." At the mention of our now lost house her face fell. "Did you find a new grain supplier?"

"No," she sulked deeper, but quickly recovered. "We need a distraction and I have the perfect one. There is going to be a thunderstorm later today!" she happily exclaimed.

Not two seconds later Emmett appeared, "Did you say thunderstorm?" his eyes gleamed.

"It's going to start in a little over seven hours, around five o'clock, and it should last a while so we should be able to get in a full game, if not two. But Carlisle's won't get back until nearly seven." Carlisle was working at the closest hospital to us. It was a 40-kilometer drive but he wouldn't be Carlisle if he didn't help wherever he could. He was having problems with blood just like the rest of the Cullens, though and would frequently have to dash out in the middle of a shift. He didn't like doing it but it was better than losing control and slaughtering the entire Hospital staff, visitors, and wounded. The Hospital was so hard up for doctors that's they kept him on even with him leaving two to three days a week in the middle of his shift.

"And don't forget about Felicity and Jennifer," Nessie added. They left an hour ago to hit up the closest four stores, buying as much gain as they could. It would only last a couple days, but we couldn't let the livestock starve. "I hadn't, silly," Alice waved off Nessie, laughing at the absurdity of such a thing. "But they should be back within the next few hours. She was getting really good at seeing around us wolves and hybrids. "So we can either play without Carlisle" she continued "or . . ."

"We can have a little fun first." Emmett interrupted her. "Who's with me?" Bella and Esme had decided to go out this morning and hunt down some rabbits. They were the only animals in abundance around here anymore. It made sense. All of the predators that would normally have hunted them had been wiped out, and bunnies multiplied like . . . well, bunnies. Having the Cullens feed on a few thousand of them would probably be a good thing. Currently the little fur balls were way past overpopulation and were already eating themselves out of food.

Rabbits were so small though. It would probably take about thirty of them to equal the amount of blood one would get from a single deer, but Bella said she didn't mind and that it would be worth her time. She must really be hungry. I couldn't see any reason to waste all that time for such a little reward.

Leah and Angelina weren't even here. They were in the woods somewhere having another heart to heart telepathic wolf talk about Nahuel. They had been doing a lot of that lately. I thought about phasing and giving them the option to practice but Edward shook his head. He was right Leah and Angelina needed to talk. I wasn't sure how but somehow Edward had convinced Leah that it would be good for both of them.

Initially I was impressed with the progress I thought they were making until they limped back one day, both needing a couple of bones reset and covered in quickly healing scars. Then again I was shocked when they went back out two days later, to . . . um, _talk_ again, after their bones had healed.

Edward better be right.

He also had also declined going, saying he wanted to compose a new song on the piano, but I think he just didn't want to go without Bella. I was surprised he didn't join her chasing bunnies around. Lord knows they act like rabbits enough with their nightly activities.

I thought about going with Emmett, but only if Nessie wanted to go too. I went to ask her as she was already heading up the stairs. "Did you want to go . . ."

"Oh, um . . . actually I already have plans with Rose for this afternoon. Rain check?" she asked me cutting me off before I even got a chance to say what I wanted to do.

It looked like Jasper was the only one who would be taking Emmett up on his offer.

"Sure, sure." I replied trying not to sound too disappointed. What could those two be up to? They had been spending a lot of time together recently.

"Don't looked so upset, my Jacob," she said, reaching up to stroke the side of my face, down to my chin, her fingertips gliding gently across my lips. I hadn't realized I was outwardly showing my hurt feelings. I didn't want her to feel bad so I quickly tried to recompose my expression into a happier one. "Rose and I just needed something to take our minds off of . . . things."

What was she referring to? It could be a number of things – the war, our isolation, having to move so abruptly, the lack of blood, . . . the list could go on and on. I guess I was being thoughtless.

Life was not easy for any of us right now. And Nessie and the rest of the Cullens had it worse than me and the other wolves, us not needing blood. And Nessie and Jennifer were probably having a harder time than the others, not partaking in what little there was, and solely surviving on the less appealing (to them) human food. If she needed a distraction who was I to deny her?

"We're just designing some jewelry." Then she hesitated, just for a moment, "You're welcome to join us if you want." Her face was starting to blush and she looked nervous. Whatever she was doing I don't think it had anything with jewelry. Guessing she just said that to keep me away for whatever reason I decided to give her her privacy, that she obviously wanted.

"No thanks. I'm sure I can find something to occupy my time until the game tonight." And I think I knew just what that would be.

I needed some supplies first though. Could I risk a trip into the nearest town?

I didn't think it would be a problem. Jasper mainly, but the rest of us helped too, had been monitoring the news – all of it TV, radio, digital newspapers and magazines - really the entire internet, including most of the social media sites, stories of Nessie and my rescue of the man from the restaurant had died down. Our faces were not plastered everywhere anymore. It should be _safe_ for me to go to the nearest hardware store. Most humans wouldn't remember a random face they saw online over a month ago, let alone the story that went with it. There were too many newer, more fastening stories, to take its place.

* * *

I was right. Our rescue was old news and my trip was thankfully uneventful.

Edward agreed to monitor the news just in case and call if I needed to high tail it out of there. And even Alice agreed to use her gift and try to see around me, as best she could, to check if my actions caused us to move again, or something like that.

When I came home it was just as I had left, almost. Edward was back composing, Rose and Nessie were still _making jewelry,_ or whatever they were really doing. Felicity and Jennifer were back but Edward told me that after they had fed the cattle they rushed off to their bedroom. I wanted to talk to them, make sure everything went okay, but right now I knew, or could guess what they were doing, and there wasn't any way I was going to go near that room. I knew that they were safe and happy in there so that placated me for now. I could talk to them later. Edward slightly winced, even after all these years he was still a prude sometimes at what my 46 year old daughter, his granddaughter, and her mate were doing in there, but nodding anyway in agreement.

Edward then informed me that Alice was still locked away in the attic again. She had been up there for weeks, off and on, working on some sort of secret project that she refused to tell any of us about. When she wasn't with Nessie or Jasper that is. Edward must have known, but he refused to say. Only hinting that I would be very happy with it. Whatever "IT" was.

And everyone else was still out of the house in their various activities. Emmett and Jasper taking off just before 5pm, promising to meet us at the field.

I would need to work fast. I only had a couple of hours until Carlisle would be back from the hospital and we would all head out to the clearing for our baseball game.

I managed to finish everything just in time.

I used the supplied I had bought and constructed a few large rabbit cages, big enough to hold twenty or so animals, and had even managed to catch enough wild bunnies to fill the things up. I put some bowls of water and food in them for the night.

Tomorrow I planned on packing a picnic basket (for myself) and taking Nessie to where I had set everything up. The area I chose to house that rabbits was pretty enough, with a small steam nearby and a charming apple tree to give some shade. A nice traditional romantic picnic dinner for the two of us, me with my basket of human food and rabbit blood for her. And then after a nice meal I planned on proposing.

I hoped she liked it and didn't think it was stupid or that drinking dozens of rabbits too much work to be romantic maybe I should drain them myself beforehand and put the blood in a wine bottle or something. No, that wouldn't be enough blood and I'd have to keep it in a cooler and then the blood would be cold, and wouldn't be fresh, and . . .

Sheesh, I needed to stop this. I'm sure it'll be fine and hey, it's the idea that counts, right? Great now I'm talking to myself.

* * *

It was 6:58 pm and everyone was gathered outside the front door of the house in their baseball uniforms, We didn't have any equipment, not needing any but bats and balls and Jasper and Emmett had already taken them to the field. We were just waiting for Alice. She was still in the attic working away on her _secret_ project.

"Alice, it's time to go," Edward called in a voice just slightly louder than a whisper. We knew she would have been able to hear him, but four minutes later we were still waiting for her. Strange.

Two minutes later Emmett and Jasper appeared. What were they doing back here? I thought we were meeting them at the field.

"I'm afraid the game is going to have to be postponed." Jasper said looking rather annoyed over at Emmett

"Why is that?" I asked.

Emmett just chuckled.

Jasper seemed to ignore my question and asked one of his own. "Have you ever wondered what's inside a baseball?" His question must have been meant to be rhetorical, because before I could answer in the negative he dropped a pile of twine into the palm of my hand. As I flipped it over I saw the shattered tethers of white leather and a little bit of red string. I realized it was the outside of a baseball. The twine must be what's inside.

"What happened to it?"

"That's what happens when an overgrown Vampire acts like a child and tries to hit a baseball with his fists instead of a bat. Emmett thought it would be fun." Jasper scowled.

"Alright everybody let's go play some ball," Alice chirped, as she finally bounced out of the house. She must have seen what Emmett was going to do because she had a whole bag full of new baseballs. "Try not to destroy these ones," she said as she threw the bag at Emmett, hitting him so hard it made a thud.

"So how are we going to divide the teams?" Rose asked when we arrived at the clearing.

"How about Vamps versus the rest of you freaks," chuckled Emmett, pointing at me, Nessie, Leah, Angelina, Jennifer and Felicity.

"Emmett that would make the teams uneven, not only in participants but also in ability; that would not be the fairest choice," the Doc commented. Thank goodness he said something. I knew I could hold my own in a fight with a Vampire as a wolf, but even after all these years it was hard for me to admit that they were a lot stronger than me on two feet.

"How about boys against girls?" Angelina suggested.

"No way! There's way many more girls here than boys." Emmett huffed. Oh now he had a problem with uneven teams when he would be on the shortchanged team?

"How about we separate everybody down the middle. Divide mates up onto opposite teams. Jasper suggested.

"What about Leah and Angelina then? They don't have any . . ."

"That's simple, they each are on a different team," I said before that conversation could upset Leah.

"Yeah!" "Sounds good." Nessie and Jennifer quickly agreed. Soon everyone was on board.

Angelina, Jennifer Carlisle, Alice, Edward and Rose were on one team with me, against Nessie, Leah, Felicity, Esme, Bella, Jasper, and Emmett. Each team had four vampires, one wolf, one half vampire, one 1/4 vamp –wolf. We were pretty closely matched up, if you didn't count on Edward or Alice's gifts. But Bella agreed to shield everyone so hopefully that took care of that.

An hour later the game was going fairly well. My team was up four runs to two. It was the bottom of the fourth. I was playing right field, Angelina left, Edward was manning first base, Carlisle second, and Rose third. Alice was pitching and Jennifer was our catcher.

On the other team Ness had bunted and was on first base, while Jasper was at third, ready to run for home. Emmett was up to bat.

Without being able to see the future Alice was pitching blind, but it was her favorite position and we were winning just the same. After two fastballs, she ended up lobbing the third to Emmett. I didn't think he would have expected such a change in her tactics but he compensated in time and slammed his bat into it. The ball flew over everybody's heads; Angelina took off running after it. She jumped to catch it but she wasn't even eight feet up in the air when she shrieked out in pain.

If it hadn't been for my enhanced wolf eyesight I probably would have thought she got hit in the gut by the ball, but that wasn't what happened. Before the ball even came within a few feet of her she had grabbed her stomach in pain and collapsed in on herself. Two tenths of a second later the ball _did_ make contact with her - right in her ribs. She collapsed into a heap on the ground and didn't make a move to get up.

Leah rushed over to her daughter followed by everyone else to see what was wrong. Carlisle immediately jumped into doctor mode and assessed her injuries, however despite the obvious ball-sized red mark on her side that was quickly fading, he said she hadn't even broken a rib and there was no other external damage.

What was wrong? Then everyone smelled it. Blood. She was bleeding. But from where? I didn't see any. Had her appendix burst or something?

No that couldn't have been it. She was not only a Wolf but a quarter Vampire. I didn't think she could actually get sick. And when she would get hurt it would always heal in no time at all. I didn't think this, whatever this was could be that bad but it didn't look like the Doc was going to be taking any chances.

And she was still lying on the ground, moaning in pain.

"We need to get her back to the house," Carlisle finally said.

Leah quickly, yet gently picked her daughter up and began running. We had all ran to the field, there was no car to hop into. Edward, the fastest vampire in the family, took off, breezing past Leah, towards the house.

Six minutes later he was back, intercepting the rest of us with Emmett's Jeep. It made sense why he had chosen that one out of all the others the Cullens owned. It had off-roading capabilities. Well it did now, after Rose and I were done tinkering with it. And a large enough space in the back so that Angelina could lay down. She was howling in pain, still clenching her stomach. I really thought that whatever was wrong would have healed or corrected itself by now, but it obviously hadn't, and I was starting to get as worried as Leah looked.

As soon as the doors closed they took off, Leah in the back, with her daughter, and the Doc up front, riding shotgun to Edward. The truck was a super smooth ride despite being designed for rough retain and all of the families cars and trucks had been put through a Jake, Rose, Nessie overhaul and could easily go over 300 kilometers per hour, much faster than any of us could run. The Cullens love for speed was coming in handy right now. Soon the truck was out of sight. The rest of us ran as quickly as we could back to the house.

Once there Edward met us at the front door and informed us that Carlisle had already worked Angelina up and was performing a _necessary_ procedure on her. Crap! I guess whatever it was, was more serious than I thought.

"What type of procedure?" Bella asked.

"I'm not sure if it's for me to say," he told her. "It's . . . delicate. I'm sure when she's able to she will explain everything in her own time."

"Edward, she's in my Pack. If something is going on with her I need to know," I argued.

"If she wanted you to know then you would have seen it when you were phased together," he countered. "She worked very hard to hide this from you . . . and me, and Leah for that matter."

I guess. It seemed Angelina had learned a thing or two about guarding her thoughts from her mother. Huh, I thought those two were actually starting to make some progress.

"Apparently not," Edward replied. "It seems Angelina has been keeping a lot of secrets from us, and there's much about her that we misjudged. I'm sure when the time is right she . . ." he stopped and grimaced towards the room that the Doc was operating on Angelina in. "Or everyone will just hear it now," he quickly said more to himself than any of us.

Not half a second later the shouting began. I guess Carlisle hadn't sedated Angelina for whatever procedure he was doing.

Sure I had heard hushed whispers but it was between the Doc and Leah, and while I could tell who was talking, they were being so quiet I couldn't make out the actual words. I wasn't sure if the Cullens could. Probably. My ears weren't as sensitive on two feet as they were on four. And I think everybody else had tried to tune then out, as was the custom, and let them have some semblance of privacy. But it seemed that Angelina had had enough of them talking _about_ her, and not _to_ her.

"Don't you pretend to care. Cut the crap, Mom." We all heard Angelina scream. "Can't you see, I did this on purpose? I knew exactly what I was doing and I don't care what you think. You've never cared about me before so why are you starting now?"

"Sweetie, don't you . . ." We all heard Leah try to say something to her daughter.

"Don't you dare sweetie me. This is what I wanted, well maybe not this. I wanted a baby, not a miscarriage, but don't worry; I'll just go out and find someone else and try again."

Baby? Miscarriage? There were several gasps among all of us, still standing awkwardly by the front door.

Angelina then gasped. "I will be able to try again, right?"

"Yes, you will still be able to have children in the future," Carlisle confirmed. "But I . . ."

"Thanks Dr. Cullen but I believe I can take it from here," Leah cut him off.

"Um . . . maybe we should go outside," Bella suggested.

"You didn't know what she was doing," Rose asked me once we stopped running, about 14 miles out, into the forest. Far enough away, that we wouldn't be able to hear them, even if they were yelling.

"I knew something was up, but no, she somehow hid what she had been up to. I definitely would have said something to her, or Leah, if I knew."

"She never thought about it when she was at the house either," Edward added.

"So I'm confused. Did Angelina find a mate? Who is . . . was the father?" Nessie asked, looking at each of us.

"Wasn't me," Emmett said before looking over my way. "Was it you?" he asked while doing his best to keep a straight face, before Rose hit him off the back of the head. "Ow. I was just kidding. Everyone's so serious. What's the big deal? She wants a kid. She might only have a few months left. It's not like whatever random human guy she meet could hurt her, or anything."

"That's not what I meant. But I would like to know what happened to the guy. Did something happen to him? She said she would just find some other guy to get her pregnant again. What happened to this one?" Nessie asked, looking towards Edward.

"I guess there's no point in not saying anything now that you know the worst of it, but I don't have all of the information, just what I got back there while Carlisle was working on her to stop the bleeding. But I'm sure you've all noticed, like Jake did, that she's been going out a lot and has been moody and distinct recently. The news of her possible fertility deadline was rather shocking for her and I don't think she took it as well as we all had assumed. Whenever she had to go out for a grain pick up she would use the time to also go to bars, clubs, . . . truck stops, "he winced," wherever, to meet men and . . . well you can guess the rest."

"So it was just some random guy that she's never met before?" Emmett chuckled before Rose smacked him off the top of the head again.

"I'm afraid so."

"Do you know how far along she was?" Esme asked.

"No, but it couldn't have been that long, none of us picked up on a heartbeat. If it wasn't loud enough to detect with our hearing the fetus most likely would have been under two months along, or at least the human equivalent of such."

We stayed out in the woods for another two hours discussing the situation, before Carlisle came and let us know it was _safe_ to go back to the house. Angelina was completely healed by now and it seemed that she and Leah had gotten most of the yelling out of their systems; for right now, anyway, and were "calmly" talking in the basement.

They were still down there when I woke up the next morning, and all through the day.

Later that night they were still down there.

I was concerned but not enough to call off the picnic I had planned for me and Nessie.

"Where are we going?" she called to me as we ran through the woods. I had only told her that I had something special for her our here. She didn't even know about the dinner I had planned.

"Be patient. You'll find out in a few minutes," I yelled back to her. I wasn't as fast as her on two feet, and knew she was holding back for me, not even caring that I was slowing her down. I was a few feet ahead, since she didn't know where we were going. Even so she was so considerate. It was one of the reasons I loved her.

We ran for a few more minutes, but when we were still four miles away Nessie noticed the surprise I had planned. Well, at least one of them.

"Jake! Do you . . ." she almost tripped from what I hoped was happiness or excitement, whichever it was I knew she had detected the rabbits I caught for her. But I could not be sure if she had smelled or heard them.

I still wanted it to be at least somewhat of a surprise, so I played dumb. "What, Ness? Is everything okay?" I asked, faking concern, or at least what I hoped she would think was concern.

"Jake, I know you have something special planned but . . . do you think we could, just, um . . . maybe take a little detour? Do you hear all of those heartbeats? It sounds like they're so close; and listen to all of them, there must be dozens around here. Maybe we found some sort of huge rabbit collective - if that's even a thing." she mused, mostly to herself, I think.

Of course she would have been able to hear their heartbeats, and she must have also smelled them to figure out that they were rabbits. Instead of answering her I just smirked and kept running. We would be there in less than a minute anyway. One leap over the next small hill, that was just big enough to obscure the cages, and we would be there.

I had come here earlier in the day to bring the animals more food and water, and also laid down a picnic blankets and left a basket of food for me. I didn't want to give things away and carry it with me as we ran.

"Oh my goodness, Jake . . . that's . . ." her eyes grew wide as she approached the cages, looking like a little kid in a candy store for the very first time. Her eyes were wide with amazement and I could tell her mouth was watering by the way she kept swallowing. I felt so happy that I could give this to her, to come up with this idea. Tonight was going to be perfect. Finally. "Did you do all this?" she asked me, still not taking her eyes off of the rabbits.

"Uh huh," I replied simply, enjoying just watching her , as she watched the bunnies.

"Are these _all_ for me?"

"Of course. I'm not really into eating raw. You know that. I brought some sandwiches for me," I said, tilting my head towards the basket that she probably hadn't even noticed yet. I love her enthrallment.

"Shouldn't we share?" she finally said. "I mean Felicity, and Jennifer, and Angelina; they're probably just as thirsty as I am. They've all been abstaining from drinking the limited livestock as much as I have. It's been hard on them as well. I shouldn't be greedy."

I should have realized she would say that. I mean I kinda did. She was my imprint after all. I knew everything about her and always knew what she wanted. But I guess I was trying to ignore it, so that my proposal could go the way I wanted. Serves me right for thinking of myself first. Of course she would think of others first before herself. In some ways she was just like Bella, like that, and it was one of the reasons why I loved her.

I needed to make this up to her. But maybe we both could get what we wanted.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you drink these and then tomorrow you and I can have another _date_ together," I said with a wink, "and we'll fill the cages back up. We'll cram them with rabbits, twice as many as are in there now." She looked skeptical. "Really honey, there are plenty more around. Thousands of them. It's just a pain to gather them all up, but if you really want to, we could take a few hours out of our day to . . . share." I said using her word.

She agreed and the rest of the night went off mostly like I planned, with one major and one minor exception. The major one was that I didn't propose. I wanted the proposal to be memorable, perfect. Without any dismal or depressing things weighing either one of us down. After everything from yesterday it just didn't feel like the right time especially since that what the topic for discussion most of the day and a lot through dinner. Nessie was very worried about Angelina, and truthfully I was worried about Leah.

Earlier in the day I had offered Leah that if she wanted to talk to me, or I to her daughter, or anything I would. But she declined, saying it was more of a mother-daughter issue that in Alpha / Packmate thing. I really wasn't that upset that she declined since I didn't see how I would be able to help but, still I felt that I needed to make the offer, just the same.

Even without the proposal the rest of the night went wonderfully. Almost. I loved watching Nessie drink the rabbits I had caught for her. Well not her killing innocent, defenseless bunnies, but the happiness and relief from the burning in her throat that drinking them brought her, and it was so wonderful/amusing seeing her eyes practically roll back in her head as she sunk her teeth into the first one. She had been deprived of blood for so long, I felt bad that I had not thought of this earlier. I mean, it's not like she was starving or anything. Human food filled her up, almost as well as blood, but her throat still burned from its absence.

Rabbit after rabbit, she drank then tossed the carcass' to the side. After her eighth one they were starting to pile up. I really should have broughten a barrel or something. Not wanting to upset her I just ate my sandwich and tried to ignore all the dead animals that were now littered around us.

"Oh . . . Jake, I'm sorry," Nessie said, after drinking her eleventh one. "Here, I'll just," she stuttered as she began to gather them up. "Um . . ." she was looking for somewhere to hide them, but there really wasn't anywhere.

"No, it's fine. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." I wanted to assure her. Tonight was suppose to be about her. Damn.

"But Jake, this can't be pleasant for you. I don't want to look at them either. Here," she said, finally deciding to dump them in the stream.

I guess that would work. There had to be some animals left somewhere, to eventually come along and finish them off, or else the water would wash them away. I was sure they would not ended up being wasted.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	118. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (8th Section)

**Part Nine – Eighth Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

"So how are my favorite ladies doing?" I asked Felicity and Jennifer, a.k.a. the two brides to be, currently huddled around the kitchen table. Hopefully that would soon change to the _three_ brides-to-be, when Nessie would be my fiancée (I loved even thinking that, hopefully it would come true and we will be finally engaged, and then married. Ahhhh). Of course Nessie was at the table too, helping with the planning of her daughters and Imprints wedding, along with Bella, and Alice. You know, the ladies of the Cullen household, and normal wedding planning group – minus four.

Leah and Angelina were still . . . err, having issues. Leah wanted to handle the issues of her daughters fertility deadline and subsequent _inappropriate_ behavior on her own, and as much as I and a few others tried to persuade her otherwise she had refused any of our help, advise, or even just a shoulder to lean on. In other words she was being her normal stubborn self. No one saw this ending well.

Esme and Rose, on the other hand were with Carlisle an Emmett picking up our livestock from our former rancher neighbor. They should be back sometime tomorrow.

They were suppose to meet him in an hour, but first they had run over to a piece of land, late last night, under the cover of darkness, that Esme thought was suitable to build on. She had give up finding a large enough vacant property for sale and was in the process of designing a new one. Four actually. One large one for the Cullens and three smaller ones for the rest of us.

I had an idea, and swore Esme to secrecy, but I hoped to convinced Nessie to go along with it to live apart from the family, just for a little while. Not far. Just next door.

And If Leah and Angelina were going to keep up the fighting, or if Angelina was successful, and had a baby, a separate house for what would be her partially human baby was thought to be best. The child would only be 1/8 Vampire, and some part Wolf (who knows if he or she would ever phase or not). That left a lot of human left over, with human blood and human scent. Not ideal for the child, her mother, or a house full of thirsty Vampires, no matter how much they tried to control themselves.

Of course I assumed once the soon-to-be-newlyweds, Felicity and Jennifer heard, they would want in on a house of their own too. That was if they ever got married.

It had been about 5 months since the last time I had even dared to question how far along their wedding plans had gotten, but some progress must have been made by now. "Is the wedding planning almost done?"

"Dad are you kidding? Felicity cried. "We haven't even figured out a color theme, yet."

What? It's been 17 months since they announced their engagement and they still haven't picked a color? How? What? How . . .? "Calm down," I told myself.

"Felicity, can I have a word with you, in private please?" I didn't want to rush her but this was getting ridiculous. She seemed to be stuck, or something, and I think she needed some help, or advise or something. I at least wanted to see what the holdup was.

"What is it daddy?" she said to me in the basement, this would be the best place to discuss things. Esme had realized that all too often EVERYONE was running miles away just to have a private conversation, so she made some modifications. The room was completely, and I mean completely, soundproofed. She couldn't do the entire house. We were still trying to remain inconspicuous and only buy the essentials. But buying the materials to soundproof only one room was doable and wouldn't draw too much attention to us.

"Is there something going on? Is something wrong?" I asked her after closing the door, effectively cutting us off from the rest of the households super sensitive ears.

"No. Why would there be?" she asked me.

"It just seems like if you actually wanted to get married then things wouldn't be this time consuming. You would be able to make decisions a lot easier. Look I know I'm a guy and things are different for us but I'm also your father and I'm worried. Does it really matter what color scheme you choose? Isn't the main point to be married not what the wedding looks like?"

"Yes it matters. This is our wedding. It's important. Very important. We're going to remember it for the rest of our lives, and hopefully that's going to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Does it matter if we take a few extra months to make sure that everything is exactly how we want it?"

When she put it that way I guess she had a point. But she had also planned on eloping when she first shared the news of her engagement with the family. Something still felt wrong. And I needed to get to the bottom of it.

"Okay then well then why don't you tell me what the problem is. Why are you having such difficulty picking a color scheme? You both have similar favorite colors, right?" I asked. "Yours is green, Jennifer's is blue. That doesn't seem too far off. Why don't you just pick something in the middle."

"That's exactly what we are trying to do," she answered me. "But we have still so many options. Teal, Jade, Cyan, Turquoise, Aquamarine . . ." she continued to list off a whole slew of other colors that all seemed to say the same thing to me - some sort of blue-green or green-blue color.

"Look at these two colors," she said pulling out to color swatches from her pocket. This seemed to be, for some reason, completely stressful and overwhelming to her. I didn't fully understand why. "How can you decide between the two of them," she practically screamed.

"Umm . . ." They looked exactly the same to me, but it's not like I was going to tell her that. "Sure, sure. You're right. I see it now. I'm sorry sweetie. I can see this is very . . . trying for you. Take all the time you need."

Wrapping my daughter up in a reassuring hug, I tried to do the same for myself. She smiled, then Felicity rushed back to the dining room to continue the deliberations. I on the other hand went back to the living room. I know Edward would have seen the entire conversation in our minds.

"So is it some sort of enhanced vampire eyesight that I'm just not seeing the difference?" I asked him in a whisper.

"No, it's a crazy, female, wedding planning thing." Jasper chuckled, while hitting me playfully in the arm. I would have expected that from Emmett, but not Jasper. Of course he was married to Alice. He had probably been through this a few times.

I should have known not to try to hide something like this, not in this family anyway. I just hoped that if he heard our conversation that that did not mean that Nessie had as well. A single look towards Edward relieved my apprehension.

"Hey, Jacob," Alice appeared from the other room. "I need to talk to you about something?" She said before running outside. Argh, I groaned. What did the little pixie want now? Running outside meant she really didn't want anyone hearing what she was going to say. And why couldn't we just go to the basement?

This was probably not going to be good news. But she still couldn't see me, so whatever it was must be about one of the Cullens.

"Here," she said, handing me a folded piece of paper.

"What's this?" I asked.

Rolling her eyes, she waved her hand, I guess that was her way of telling me to open and read it.

 _Pizza Sorento_

 _Murom, Vladimir Oblast, Russia_

 _Wednesday, 19 April 2058_

 _7:00pm_

"Okay? So . . . what's this?" I asked her again.

"That is the location, date, and time of your proposal to Nessie. Everything is all set up. I made the reservations myself. Got the last one, too. You'll love it. They specialize in American, Italian, and Japanese food." That's a weird combination. "All you have to do is show up." She said ignoring the face I made.

"I've heard that before."

"Are you doubting me," she looked hurt, and angry. Yikes, not that many things were scarier than an angry pixie. But at this point I was starting to really believe that the universe was conspiring against me. No matter what I did, no matter how much I planned, something always went wrong. Maybe it was the Imprint magic warning me not to ask Nessie. She had told me years ago that she never wanted to get married. Maybe that was why none of my attempts were working. "Jacob?" Alice said waving her hand in front of my face."

"Huh? Sorry Alice. I kinda spaced out there for a minute. What did you say?"

"I said that I had a vision, and while you know I can't see you, you know I can see her now, and I also saw the rest of us celebrating the news of your engagement when you return."

"Really?" I was actually going to propose? And Nessie was going to say "Yes"! I was so happy I picked Alice up and spun her around pretty easily, considering she was a good two feet shorter, and 100+ pounds lighter than me.

"Eww, Jacob, Wolf stink, gross!" she half-shrieked, half-laughed. At that moment I didn't care if she was serious or not. I was going to marry the love of my life and nothing could ruin my mood.

"Oh Jake, one more thing," she called to me as I was getting ready to run back to the house. Alice's note said the 19th of April. That was tonight! "I didn't see what was going to happen until a few minutes ago. I'm going to have to steal your bride to be for a few hours to get her ready. It's going to be cutting it close, the timing I mean . We need to shop and buy a new dress, and then pick out shoes, and a purse, and do her hair. But don't worry. I'll have her meet you at the restaurant."

"Why can't I just wait for her, so we can drive there together?" It didn't make sense to go separately.

"Because there is no time. I'm already trying to condense three days of shopping into a single afternoon. By the time I'm done she will have to take the car and floor it directly from the store to the restaurant, while I run home. Even then she's going to be running a little late. You are going to have to go to the restaurant and hold the reservation, until she gets there. Now go up stairs and get ready. I already laid a suit out on your bed."

"But . . ."

"GO!" she growled, stamping her foot and slowly raising a single finger to point in the direction of the house.

Sheesh she was scary when she got like this.

* * *

For someone who doesn't eat, boy could Alice sure pick a restaurant. The place looked amazing. Of course I hadn't even tried the food yet, but the selection on the menu looked delicious.

Alice had made the reservations for 7pm, the only opening she said Pizza Sorento had. The Maître 'd at first doubted my reservation when I gave him my name, but there it was on his list. I assumed Alice must have paid someone off to get our name on there. A place like this was probably booked months, if not years, in advanced.

Knowing Alice said it might be a little while before Nessie showed up I had him show me to the table straight away and ordered a bottle of Champagne for the two of us.

Twenty minutes had passed. Nessie was probably going to be showing up soon. I was so nervous. Fidgety really. I must have run my fingers through my hair and straightened my tie at least a dozen times. Every few minutes my eyes wandered over to the door. Occasionally someone would be there, but Nessie had yet to show up. Where was she?

I went to check the time on my phone but a quick rummage through my pockets, suit jacket and pants, relieved that I must have forgotten it.

"Excuse me," I flagged down the closest waitress, "can you tell me the time?"

Glancing at her watch she briskly replied, "It's ten of eight," before hurrying off to the kitchen.

It was later than I thought. Where could Nessie be? Alice hadn't given me a time, she just said that Nessie would be later than she could get the reservation for. I wish I had thought to ask Alice exactly what time Nessie was going to arrive. Could she really have meant that I would need to wait this long?

I decided to wait another 15 minutes. If she didn't arrive by then I was going to ask to use the house phone and call Ness myself.

16 minutes later I was in my car, frantically driving back home. Not only had Nessie not answered her phone, Alice hadn't either. Exasperated I called Edward who picked up, but he said he didn't know where Ness was either but to come home. I assumed we would meet there and form a search party, but when I arrived Edward told me to hold tight.

"But . . ." I tried to object.

"Don't worry." Alice interjected. "She's on her way home." Of course she must have had a vision that Nessie was okay. In some ways I was relieved, but in others I was still worried. Where was she? What had she been doing? Was she in trouble? Had she encountered more fighting? Did she try to save someone again? Were we going to have to more again?

I didn't know. Edward didn't answer so that only meant two things. Alice either didn't know or wasn't saying, so I was left to stew.

And stew I did.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

45 minutes later when I thought I couldn't wait any longer the front door finally burst open.

"Jake? Jacob are you here?" Nessie called, running into the house. "There you are," she sighed as her eyes landed on mine. "Where were you? I waited for over an hour. Why didn't you answer your phone? I called and called." She was angry at me?

Seeing an argument was about to take place Edward, Alice and the other family members who had been in the room made themselves scarce.

But no matter how upset, or angry, or worried I was the Imprint immediately made me want to comfort her first. "I forgot it." I stammered, pushing aside my own anxiety. It was a stupid, Alice had planned the whole night and I thought it was full proof. She told me that she had seen the family's reaction, that we were _definitely_ going to get engaged, tonight. Thinking that it was actually going to happen this time, I had worked myself up, that I was so nervous and excited and freaked out that I must have forgotten the damn thing. "Wait, what are you talking about? I was at the restaurant waiting for you." I said finally regaining myself and also remembering that not only was there waiting for her and not only that but Ness had also not answered her phone either when I called her.

"No you weren't." she angrily spat back.

"Yes I was," I growled back. I didn't mean to do that. I wasn't mad at her, just upset about the whole evening being ruined . . . again. How had this happened? "You're telling me that you were at the Pizza Sorento restaurant?"

"Yes, the Pizza Sorento restaurant in Melenki, just like Alice said."

"NO! Alice made the reservations for the one in Murom not Melenki." I said, attempting to dig the paper Alice had given me with the address written on it out of my pocket, to show her, but I couldn't find it. "Argh." Defeated I slumped down onto the couch, throwing my head into my hands. How does this keep happening? "This is beyond ridiculous." I was angry and getting angrier. "I . . . just . . . damn it!" I yelled while ringing my hands roughly through my hair, desperately trying to restrain myself from phasing. "All I want to do is to marry you, but every single time I try to propose something goes wrong. Why do things keep getting screwed up? every. single. time?" I screamed. This was so frustrating. Why couldn't I get this right?

"Jacob?" Nessie gasped. Oh crap. What did I . . . did I just say that out loud? "Do you want to marry me?"

It was out there. Not at all like I had intended, but now that it was, it wasn't like I was going to back down. "Yes, more than anything. Nessie, I know you always said that you never wanted to get married, but we love each other. We've been together for over 50 years. Technically I have loved you, and you have been in love with me, since before you we even born.

"I want this Nessie. I want to marry you more than I have ever wanted anything in my whole life. I know you are my Imprint and normally a Wolf tries to give his Imprint whatever they want, putting their own needs second, but . . . I don't know. Maybe everyone . . . Leah, Nahuel, you . . . maybe you all were right when you thought our Imprint was _different_ in some way. Not that it is wrong," I started to panic. "But . . ."

"Jake, stop. Please."

"Nessie . . . Renesmee . . . please, I love you so much. Please . . ." the tears started building up in my eyes now, but I didn't care.

"Jake, I would like to say something. And before you freak out I would like you to hear me out, because what I am going to tell you is important and I don't want there to be any misunderstanding. Okay?"

"Alright," I replied after wiping the moisture from my cheeks.

"I have been waiting for you to ask me to marry you for the past 20 years," she chuckled. What? The look on my face must have confused her because she began explaining at a ferocious pace. "What I mean is that I have been hoping you loved me enough to break through the Imprint. You know I love you too, but I didn't want to ask you to marry me, or tell you that I wanted us to get married. I needed to know that you wanted to marry me for you, not just because the Imprint told you that that was what you were suppose to do. I wanted to know that this was something you wanted too."

"You want to marry me?" I couldn't believe it.

"Yes." she agreed. "I would love to marry you, my Jacob."

YES! Wrapping my hands around her waist I pulled her too me and kissed her. "I can't believe it. I finally proposed. And you said 'Yes'." I chuckled. Who knew it would be so hard.

"Technically I think I was that one who asked you Jake, if I remember correctly." She smirked back at me. I guess technically she did.

"Does this mean I can give you this now?" I asked holding out the ring.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Jake where did you get it?"

"Oh well, I bought it a while ago." I'd like to tell her it was a family heirloom, like the one David gave his wife and Imprint. I'd like to tell her that it was my grandmothers or aunts or something. That Billy had put it in the Memory Box along with my mothers. But he didn't. This was just a rock from some jewelry store, with no history. But I hoped to change that. "I've been holding on to it in case you changed your mind someday."

"When exactly did you buy it?"

Damn-it. I can't lie to her. Now she was going to know exactly how long I've wanted this. How long I've waited to do this. How pathetic I am. Oh well. Here goes. "I bought it when . . ." deep breath. Please, oh please don't think I'm a pervert . . . "I bought it back when I first though we would _,_ " stress, stress, stress this next word, " _eventually_ get together. Back before you and Nahuel; before the two of you dated. You had just gotten your period for the first time and had . . ." I didn't want to say it. I'm sure she remembered how she had come on to me when she just had the appearance of a thirteen year old. Of course I didn't love her this way back then, but I thought it had meant that she had chosen me, and we would eventually . . . "I didn't mean to. It wasn't something I consciously did, but somehow I had ended up in a jewelry store and saw this ring. I knew, err hoped, that someday," though at the time I didn't think it would take this long, "that we would be in a place, this place, where I would give it to you, and you would accept. Can I put it on your finger?"

"I don't know." She hesitated, pulling her hand closer to her body, and ripping my heart out a little bit. "What will my mother say? What if she freaks out?"

Nessie was worried about Bella's reaction? Why would she do that?

Nessie then moved her hand towards me, but not her left one. She touched me with her right and showed me a memory, one from when she was just a baby.

* * *

 _"How dare you_ Imprint _on my baby? Have you lost your mind?"_

 _"It was involuntary!" I saw myself reply, as Wolf Leah and Seth had appeared, flanking my sides in an attempt to protect me from a very upset newborn Bella._

 _"Bella, would you try to listen for just a second? Please?" I had begged. "Leah, back off!" I saw myself snap at her._

 _"Why should I listen?" Bella had hissed to me._

 _"Because you're the one who told me this. Do you remember? You said we belonged in each other's lives, right? That we were family. You said that was how you and I were supposed to be. So . . . now we are. It's what you wanted."_

 _"You think you'll be part of my family as my_ son-in-law! _" Bella had screeched._

 _"No!" I insisted. "How can you even look at it that way? She's just a baby, for crying out loud.**_

* * *

And then Nessie let her hand down and the memory ended. She started chuckling and I relaxed, grasping that she was only joking before.

"Well, I might not have said that we would be married back then, you were only three days old after all. But you're slightly bigger than you were. I don't think Bella would attack me now."

"Good, because I can't wait to make you my husband."

"And I can't wait to be your husband either. So . . ." I said waving the box that contained the engagement ring.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, answering my unspoken question, with a little giggle and a giant grin, finally holding out her left hand to which I didn't waste another second and quickly slipped the ring on her finger.

"Come on, let's go tell everyone the good news." she said after the two of us forced ourselves to break away from the kiss we had been locked in for the past . . . 27 minutes. That was longer than I thought and only I realized just how long it had been after peaking at the clock on the wall.

"Later. They can wait a little while longer. I want to show you how happy you've made me," I said to her. I think I probably had that certain mischievous look in my eye, that she knew meant that we would both be enjoying each other for the next several hours.

"Oh really?" she smirked at me. "And are you about to give me a demonstration of what you plan on us doing on our honeymoon?"

Honeymoon? Hmmm. Being so focused on the proposal I hadn't even thought about that, but now that she mentioned it, my imagination was going wild.

"Unless you had something else to do?" I replied.

"None that I can think of at the moment. Certainly nothing that I would enjoy more." she chuckled.

Two hours later we finally made our way back downstairs to tell everyone the good news. They probably already heard what with everyone's supernatural hearing and everything, but just the same I really wanted to announce it.

We wanted to tell everyone the good news all together but Esme, Rose, Carlisle and Emmett weren't back yet from picking up the livestock. When they finally arrived Esme seemed upset. Apparently she and Carlisle had a hard time calming Emmett down. The delivery was late and he wanted to track our former neighbor down when he was not at the agreed upon meeting place when he said he would be. Emmett thought he had run off with the money, or at least tried to. Most currency was electronic nowadays and thanks to Jaspers less that legal computer skills we could always remove whatever we paid him from his account if he broke the deal in anyway. So Emmett should not have been so concerned.

I felt bad. If Alice had not been so busy with Nessie's and my engagement she probably would have foreseen all of it and could have called Esme to warn her, or even Emmett, to let him know that the guy was on his way. That he had just been held up, needing to avoid some local skirmish along his way. But in the end it all worked out and they only were set back by a day. Less than that, technically only 19.24 hours.

At least when they returned, after telling us of their ordeal, the news of our engagement brightened Esme's day.

They were all full of the expected cheers and applause. Once everyone was done congratulating us there was a certain little pixie Nessie and I still needed to have a chat with in the kitchen.

She saw us coming and raced over our way, looking more than a little smug. Why? She ruined my . . . her latest scheme for me to propose to Nessie. Never mind the fact that I finally managed it somewhat later.

"Sorry," Alice said without a hint of actual remorse, while handing not only me, but Nessie as well, back our cell phones. So that's what happened, the pixie stole them. "But I didn't see us celebrating your engagement if you both went to the same restaurant. Imagine my surprise when I looked to see what would happen if you didn't," she smirked over at us before bouncing away.

Huh?

The next morning I woke up to the most beautiful sight in the word – my Imprint wearing the engagement ring I had given her. But when I looked into her eyes my heart filled with dread. There was apprehension in Ness's eyes and she was biting her lip the way she did when she was nervous about something. Then she started twisting the ring on her finger. Was she trying to take it off? Had she changed her mind?

"Jacob, I need to talk to you."

Crap. She did.

"You changed your mind." I said flatly.

"NO!" she exclaimed. The shock was so blatant on her face I knew it was the truth.

"Then what's wrong?"

"This is not the 18th, 19th, or even 20th century. I know how my family is and how they think. I have a few conditions that are important to me if we are going to do this."

"Whatever you want, sweetheart." Didn't she know I would give her the moon if I could? A part of me was still concerned that she was trying to back out of it though. I know she said that she had been waiting for me to ask her, but maybe now that I had finally done it, and that she was actually wearing an engagement ring, that it was starting to become real for her, too real, and she realized it was not what she wanted.

"Okay. First, there is to be no giving away of the bride. I want to marry you, not be a piece of property that is changing ownership. Alright?"

She still wants to marry me! I was so excited I forgot to respond to her request. Such a simple one. So easy. I loved her so much. She was so wonderful. Of course I would give her whatever she wanted. She was already giving me the greatest gift of all.

"Jake?"

Oh, right. I needed to answer her. "That's fine honey. Whatever you want." I agreed as soon as I snapped out of my daze. "Does that mean that you don't want to walk down the aisle with Edward?"

"Yeah . . . err . . .? Did you want me to do that?" she asked me. "I guess I could suck it up if it was that important to you . . . or him. I can see how it might be something Edward would want, but I didn't think you would really care about it."

"No, I don't care either way. I was just checking." I wasn't too sure how happy Edward was going to be, but right now I didn't care. "Anything else?"

"Um . . .yeah." Whatever it was she didn't seem to want to say it. I tried to give her an encouraging nod. Didn't she know she could tell me anything? That I would try to give her whatever she wanted? "I am not leaving my family to go live alone with you," she blurted out, and my heart sank. "I know you talked to Esme. How you asked her to build us a separate house, away from the rest of my family, Jake."

"You don't want to move in with me?"

"It's not that I don't, it's that I don't see how it will be feasible. Seriously, Jake, how do you think that that will work?" Nessie asked me. "I mean the entire world is at war. Its ciaos everywhere. We're practically living in hiding. There's barely enough animals for my family to feed from. And this house, that's too small for us, and was barely standing when we moved in was the only thing Esme could find . . . how can we ask her to make another one just for us. It seems so selfish."

Okay, so she had a good point. A lot of them. But I was just being honest, I really wanted to live with my new wife for the first few years of our married life together. Was that too much to ask? It's not like I was asking for eternity, or even a few decades. Just the first few years. I thought this was important. I know it was kinda silly. We had been together for over half a century. But still . . . that look in her eye. I couldn't force her to leave everyone. Not yet. Maybe when the war ended, if it ever did, she would reconsider. Hell, I've waited this long, what was another decade or two? "Alright darling. Let's get dresses and I'll find Esme and let her off the hook." I don't know what this meant for Felicity and Jennifer's house, or Leah and Angelina's. Nessie didn't mention theirs. Maybe she didn't know that Esme was planning on building them their own houses as well.

After I told Esme I went to go for a Wolf run. I needed time to think. On one hand I was happier than I had been in awhile, but on the other . . . well.

Three hours later I had phased back to two feet and was slowly walking home.

As I was approaching the garage I heard Leah speaking with Nessie, and in all honesty I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How can either of them be saying anything like that? It was so beyond the rational that I thought I was dreaming or something.

"I don't know maybe Angelina has it right," I heard Leah say.

"What you mean?" Nessie replied. She sounded like she knew but was unsure about what Leah was referring to, though she didn't want to admit it, exactly. Although without seeing her face I couldn't be sure.

"I mean, maybe not everyone was meant to find a mate, or companion, or husband, or whatever you want to call it. You give your heart to a man and then they just leave you and then what do you have . . . nothing."

"That's not true, there are a lot of good men out there. Just because you had some bad experiences . . ."

"Bad experiences? Nessie, I've had exactly two loves of my life and they both left me."

"Sam Imprinted on Emily and Nahuel was murdered. Neither of them chose to leave you, Leah."

"Pfff," she huffed in disagreement.

"It's true and you know it. They were taken from you. They didn't choose to go, not of their own free will," Nessie offered her. I know she was trying to comfort Leah but her words hurt me. Did Nessie think that my love for her was not of my choosing. So what if I had Imprinted on her, I would have fallen in love with her anyway. She had just agreed to marry me. What did this mean?

I warred against myself. Should I go in there and interrupt them or . . . well, not exactly entrap them, but interject myself into their conversation and offer my own opinions on the matter but maybe not. It seemed like a private girl talk kind of a conversation. I didn't want to impose, not really. But . . .

"Oh, Jake! Just come in here," Leah shouted, interrupting my indesparent thoughts. "Did you want something?" she hissed.

"I didn't mean to interrupt, really," I apologized. "But I couldn't help but hear what you were saying." Then I turned to my Imprint and Fiancée, "You don't really think that, do you?"

"I don't know," she replied looking slightly apologetic at least.

"So do really feel that way, like Leah does?" I asked Nessie again later that night, once we were in bed, cuddling together. "Please tell me you don't, Ness." I had never gotten a real answer from her and it was still bothering me. Did she not know how much I loved her? Imprint or no Imprint.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not fully seeming to understand what I was referring to. But really what else would I be upset about?

"When you were talking to Leah in the garage and you said that Sam had Imprinted on Emily, causing him to involuntarily fall in love with her, you know 'against his will'. You know that's not true right. I mean for us, too. I would love you no matter what. Imprint or no Imprint. You're my soulmate, in every sense of the word."

"Of course I do, my Jacob. I didn't say so at the time only because I didn't feel like it would have been helpful for Leah. But I DO know that, to my core.

The only thing that stood against us before you Imprinted on me, beside your obvious hatred of me for almost killing my mother, was my age. But I think that if we had met each other on some other occasion, when I was older, without all of the excessive drama, that was going on back then, maybe after I fully matured or something, and met in a library, or an auto repair shop, or a bar, or whatever, we would have gotten to talking and still fallen in love. Even without the Wolf magic. If both of us were fully human, or Wolf, or part-Vampire or a Witch or something. Hell, I would still love you if you were a troll and I was a goblin," she chuckled.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good I'm glad you know that I love you, and always will. No matter what."

"Of course I know that, my Jacob. I've always known that. How could you doubt me? It's been 50 years."

"I don't know." She was right. I was being ridiculous. But why was I even thinking like this? I considered everything for a moment and thought I knew why. "Maybe it's because I remember everything now. When I was human or first phasing into a Wolf my memory wasn't as good as it is now, and I would forget things. But now it's different, cause I have not only the time, but the ability to reconsider every single event, every single instance, every smirk, every eye roll, everything. I guess I'm over-analyzing things, I'm sorry. I know you know I love you, just as you love me."

"I do. And I also know that we love each other more than anyone else on the planet."

"And I know you probably already know it but I want to say it anyway. Nessie you are my world, my life. The mother of my children. You are my friend and lover. There is no one I love more than you." My words echoed back to the speech she had given me after my father had died. They had been perfect then and they were perfect now.

* * *

** Excerpt from Breaking Dawn, Page 449-450. By Stephenie Meyer copyright by SM and Little Brown and Co.


	119. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (9th Section)

**Part Nine – Ninth Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

Unlike Felicity and Jennifer's trouble making decisions, Nessie's and my wedding plans were moving right along. Unfortunately we can't take all the credit. We readily accepted Alice's help. Well in moderation.

For someone who had never cared about getting married herself, only marrying Jasper at the insistence of Carlisle, and his deeply held religious beliefs, ingrained in his head by is preacher father, (I found out that they married shortly after moving in with the Cullens back in the 1950's) she sure was into this whole wedding planning thing for us.

We weren't going to let Alice take over the entire affair, like I heard Bella had, but the Pixie had quite a few good ideas that we liked, including the color scheme and types of flowers, table setting arrangements, and music choices.

Everything was moving along. I was so happy, after the disasters of my many failed proposal attempts, I think I had prepared myself for the worst with the wedding planning itself. Thank goodness I was wrong. Mostly.

Like I figured, Edward wasn't too happy about Nessie's . . . not exactly her _demand,_ but her condition of not being walked down the aisle or given away by him. But he could never say "No" to his daughter and went along with it, offering instead to play the piano as she walked.

I think she must have known, when she told me her conditions, knowing that neither of us could ever say "No" to her. It's a good thing Nessie never was the type of person to demand a lot or else she would have been the most spoiled person on the planet, with more than one person willing to give her whatever she desired. Of course I probably never would have imprinted on her if she was.

Everything was going so well but even with all of Alice's help I was still worried about the rings.

No, not the engagement ring. Nessie loved it. I bought it so long ago and styles change, but since we were going to be together forever, I had bought something that I hoped would be timeless. Or at least had that look to it. Her ring consisted of three round diamonds in a platinum setting. A large 1ct stone in the middle, flanked by two smaller .65ct diamonds on each side representing our past, present and future together. But the real part I loved about the ring was the setting. The prongs that held the diamonds were made from two simple curves on each side, (there were smaller ones inside, to offer more support, but they were hidden). The large prongs curved up, like a criss-crossed "W" for wedding, or "M" for marriage, if looking at it from the other way, joining the stones, along with our lives together.

But my apprehension was about what we were going to do about the wedding rings. At least mine. I liked the idea of getting to wear one, but I just didn't see how it would be possible, what with me phasing into a giant Wolf all the time.

Well at least I thought there was an issue but it turned out that Nessie and Rose's jewelry making endeavors were more involved and specific than I had imagined. I knew Ness had been up to something that she didn't want me to know about. Apparently they had been working on some sort of ring for me. One that would stay on my finger and not only withstand me phasing into a Wolf but expand with my finger as I did. The heat during the transformation and the additional circumference of my finger to Paw were both taken into consideration.

It was an amazing piece of engineering that took its cue from Alice's shorts that she made me.  
The heat was easy to overcome. We found out, way back when Alice was first developing my shorts, that I phased at a temperature of over 500 Degrees. The ring was made out of titanium so there was no risk of it melting or burning up or anything like that.

The expansion part of the ring was pure genius. Nessie had addressed it kind of like the opposite of those Chinese finger traps. It wasn't a solid band of metal that would go around my finger. It consisted of woven bands - the bottom layer going diagonal to the left, the top going diagonal to the right, both with tiny elbow hinges connecting them to expand out to four times its original size. I never thought I'd be able to get married to my angel let alone wear a symbol of our love on my finger. This was more than I could have ever hoped for.

Testing the rings size for accuracy was a bit daunting. Neither Alice nor Rose could be sure it would actually work as intended without ripping my finger off. They had me try it on first as a man and then as a wolf. Some adjustments were made to the size, but then it was time for the real test – phasing while wearing it. Carlisle was nearby, ready to operate if needed.

I was a bit hesitant.

At first I doubted, well not doubted, but maybe slightly didn't completely believe Nessie when she first told me that she's been waiting for me to ask her to marry her for the past few decades, but the fact that she had made the ring was proof enough. She told me that Alice had suggested she start working on it a few years ago, using the excuse that there wasn't much else to do while here in hiding, besides raising cattle and studying. The funniest thing was that she told me how she was only going to give me another two decades before she asked me to marry her herself. I slightly chuckled at that. I guess time really does pass differently for her sometimes.

Of course I wasn't about to drop the idea of the two of us living together after the wedding . . . well after the honeymoon; can't forget about that, I smirked to myself. Nessie still insisted that it was too dangerous in the world right now but I was wearing her down. I knew I was. It was only a matter of time and I knew she would be happier having it be just the two of us for a while. It wasn't like I was planning on having us live in another country, hell I wasn't even suggesting a different town. Just have us move a few miles away, out of everyone's hearing range.

I asked Esme to continue her plans of building us a separate house which she readily agreed to, siding with me and all. It was funny. I didn't even know where Esme had bought the plot of land she was going to be building on. I didn't care. All I wanted, all I needed was Nessie. Well maybe Nessie and some privacy.

"Oh, come on. Just get it over with, you big baby," Emmett goaded me. I guess I had been standing here for awhile. The entire family had turned up to witness if this would work. "You're not doubting my wife's handiwork. Are you?"

He was one to talk. Even if one of his fingers were ripped off, it was more easily reattached than mine would be, accelerated healing or not.

"Jake, I would not let you try this unless I was sure," my angel smiled up at me.

That was all the reassurance I needed. As my fear melted away I backed up a few feet and phased. No pain. I looked down at my paw just to be sure and saw a thin sliver of woven metal where just a few seconds ago there had been a thick weave on my finger. Everything was right where it should be. No missing digits. It wasn't too tight or too loose. The metal didn't cut into my skin, and had expanded at the same speed as I did.

She did it!

"So now that we have the rings, and flowers, and music, and the reception all sorted out what is left?" I asked her once we were back in the house. I had given Alice the ring back for safe keeping, and because she _insisted_ on cleaning it, now that I had gotten it dirty, smushing it into the ground when I was on four feet. Was this going to be a daily thing with her, because I phased every day? Not likely. Once Ness and I were married I did not plan on taking that ring off ever again.

"Well there is our vows, the guest list, the seating chart, the invitations, picking an Officiant, choosing who you want for your best man and groomsmen, my bridesmaids and maid of honor, along with their suits and dresses, if we want a ring bearer or flower girl, finding a location, and then there is the small matter of your tux and my dress."

"And the honeymoon," I added. "We need to find somewhere to go for after." Can't forget about that.

"And our married name." she winced.

"What's wrong? Do you have a problem with being Renesmee Carlie Black?"

"No, but Jake you haven't gone by Jacob Black in decades. I wasn't sure what you wanted. I don't have a problem with it. I love it. It's you real name and I would love for it to be mine too, even if we are the only ones who know it."

I know what she was referring to. Wherever we ended up next the best I could hope for would be if my new identity listed my name as Dzheyk Uil'yam Chernyy or Iakov Blak or even Wilyəm Chernyshev, all slight Russian variations on Jacob William Black, Jacob Black, and William Black, but at the same time . . . not.

"Renesmee this marriage, the wedding, the ceremony – that is for us. No one else. If our family is there that's great. If our friends come – wonderful. But that is not the point. No matter how many times we move, no matter how many lifetimes we live no matter what the fabricated identification papers list as our names it doesn't matter. I am still me and you are still you. And at my core I know that I will always be Jacob Black and I would love it if you would take the Black name for your own. You can have -"

"Okay, okay, Jake," she laughed cutting me off, not in a mean way, more cute and charming. "I would love to become Renesmee Carlie Cullen Black.

"Really?" I could hardly believe it. It went against everything she had once thought. But that was 40 years ago.

"Of course you silly, charming wonderful man, I love you. Now that that is settle on to the next order of business," Nessie went from jovial to attempting to appear serious, but she couldn't stop smirking, "the honeymoon. Where did you want to go?"

That was a good question.

She grabbed her computer and pulled up a few websites, some maps, and took out some old brochures she got from who knows where. With all the work she showed me she must have been working on this for awhile, trying to find someplace suitable . . . safe. Somewhere that was still intact. That still existed. Somewhere where there wasn't fighting going on, or had already been completely obliterated. There weren't a lot of choices left.

"What about Isle Esme? I'm sure your grandmother wouldn't mind letting us borrow it again."

"I asked Carlisle and Esme a few days ago about the possibility. Unfortunately it's been taking over," Nessie sighed sadly.

"What happened?" I hadn't heard anything.

"The island is now housing about 300 refugees from . . . I don't even know where. You know Esme. When she found out people were living there, after their homes had been destroyed she couldn't even think about kicking them out. She did promise though, that once this ridiculous war was over, and all of the people went home or found somewhere else to live, that we, and the rest of the family, could go back, whenever we wanted, for a month or two each.

That was generous of her but doesn't really solve our current issue. "Maybe we should think outside the box. We can survive a lot of places most humans can't."

"What are you thinking, inside of a volcano or something?" she chuckled to me but I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"No," I grinned back. "I was thinking maybe the opposite. We're both pretty good with cold. How about Antarctica. It's not like anybody ever goes there. Who says the honeymoon has to be someplace warm and tropical; all I need is you."

"You and me all alone sounds nice, but what about food? Shelter? Wouldn't you like those things too." Personally I would like a bed to, um . . . _sleep_ in on our honeymoon."

Sleep? Ha. But she had a point, a bed would be needed. Definitely.

"There are probably some abandoned research stations there that we could use and it might be fun to hunt some polar bears," I added, knowing full well that polar bears used to exist in the North not the South, not that there are any left in the Arctic anyway.

"More like penguins, thousands and thousands of penguins. Yum." she sighed. "Yeah, sure, why not," she eventually agreed after a moment of silence on both our parts, but her smile was false. I could tell she wasn't thrilled at the idea, but what were the alternatives? The wars were dying down, finally, all over the world, but the rebuilding process would take time. Years. Probably decades even. I know she agreed, but her voice held no real happiness. I was going to need to change that.

My angel deserved more. Better. Even with all of the climate change and global warming and the world practically being on fire and trying to blow itself up, Antarctica was still one of the last _habitats_ that were . . . well . . . uninhabited, except for penguins, only because it was freezing and covered in snow. With everything that was going on in the planet, with the heat waves, and ocean swells, not to mention the 460% increase in tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, floods, monsoons, wild fires, and everything else . . . the still frozen continent of Antarctica might just work for us. I just needed to find some way to keep Nessie fed and happy. I didn't think that she would really enjoy drinking hundreds of penguins. And then, of course, I would get the leftover meat to eat. But who knows they might taste like everything else – chicken. It might not be that bad.

No. I didn't want to risk it.

I was going to need Jasper's help on this. What I was planning wasn't exactly it illegal but the logistics of it we're going to be tricky.

* * *

I can't believe it. Only 47 days ago I had proposed to my angel. Now the day after tomorrow we were getting married.

But tonight was my Bachelor party. Not a stripper, booze filled night of excess and sin. I didn't want or need that. Tonight would be just be me running with the Cullen men while they attempted to hunt. I had a feeling they were going to be disappointed when they don't find anything, not that they even expected to, Emmett just hopped to get lucky. And none of us had been on a real run, a chance to stretch our muscles in a long time. That was what I was looking forward to. And being faster than Vamps on four feet I also didn't mind beating them in a foot race.

Nessie's Bachelorette party in comparison sounded like it was going to be a snooze fest. Angelina wanted to go to a strip club. Thank goodness no one else did. Not that I would say anything if Nessie had agreed, but she felt the same as me, looking at other people in a sexual way just wasn't appealing. And the other ladies . . . well Leah still misses Nahuel and also doesn't want to even think, let alone look at other guys, Felicity and Jennifer obviously like each other, and are not into guys so that held no appeal for them, and of course the other ladies were like Nessie, madly in love with their mates, and not interested in seeing lesser versions of their husbands "perfection". Or so i'm told.

When Ness and the others finally returned home two hours later than us, three hours later than expected, I had gotten, not exactly worried, but suspicious that they had changed their plans and had indeed had a wild night of partying instead of going to the local library as planned.

"Of course we went to the library. With the exception of the southernmost east wing it's escaped the bombings relatively intact. It was beautiful, Jake. You should have seen it. The local library had been built over 400 years ago, being added to over the centuries. Not just making room for more books, but paintings, stained glass windows, and sculptures, as well. They had rented it or for the night, to go on book scavenger hunt, despite Angelina's many protests.

I hoped Nessie had fun, despite all of Angelina's whining and complaining.

"So how was the Bachelorette party? Did you find all of the books before everyone else?" The book scavenger hunt was Bella's idea. But I didn't see how it was a challenge. They all knew the dewey decimal system. Did they blindfold each other to make it interesting?

"No, I came in third behind Esme and Bella. But they had an unfair advantage, being more familiar with Art History than I am."

"What does art have to do with a book search?" I was confused.

"It wasn't just a list of books we had to find, Jake. We had to first figure out a clue that led us to a specific piece of art in the library. Once we located it we then had to find a book that referenced that piece of art in some way," she explained while using her gift to show me how she was running around the library trying to figure everything out. No wonder it took so long. "It was so much fun. But it would have been better if you were there with me. I missed you," she said as she began kissing along my jaw.

"Miss Cullen, we are not getting married until tomorrow. You're not trying to start the honeymoon early, are you?" I teased.

"I," kiss, "have," kiss, "no," kiss, "idea," she starts taking off my shirt, "what," her blouse is now on the floor, "you," there go my pants, "are," her skirt now joins the growing pile of clothes, "talking," thank goodness we were already in our bedroom, "about."

* * *

Okay, i know this chapter was shorter than normal but the next chapter is the wedding. Yeah! and i didnt want to crowd it, or mush it together with a bunch of other stuff. Of course other things are going to happen. You didn't think i was going to make things too easy for my favorite couple did you? Don't worry i promise they will get married in the next chapter, however they might not remain happy for too long. ;)

Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for still reading and putting up with my slow posting speed.


	120. 45 Years Later, 2055-2059 (10th Section)

**Part Nine – Tenth Section**

 **2055-2059**

Jacob's Point of View

 _Dum-dum-de-dum. Dum-dum-de-dum. Dum-dum-de-dum, dum. Da-da-da-de-dum, de-dum._

Edward was playing what was probably a perfect, beautiful rendition of whatever this traditional wedding march song was called on his grand piano, and here I was, standing at the altar, sweating bullets, humming a bunch of dum-dums to myself. Fitting. Nervous wasn't a strong enough word for how I was feeling. I was so crazed with worry and fear I couldn't even hear the music. He was probably pissed at me.

I snuck a peek over, expecting to see Edward snarling as he played, but to my surprise he looked to be trying to contain his laughter. That was one worry down.

The other made about equally as much sense. I wasn't afraid of marrying Nessie. She was my soulmate and we had been together half a century. No. What I was worried about was her. Did I push her into this? Was she really going to show up? A small (maybe big) part of me was panicked that she had run out on me. Was I justified in my fears? Probably not. Edward and Jasper even tried to calm me down earlier. Jasper with his gift got rid of my jitters and I wasn't in danger of phasing or anything, but the thoughts still remained. His gift could do nothing for them. That's were Edward tried stepping in, saying that even he had been worried, sharing my same thoughts and fears, before he and Bella tied the knot. And as much as I hated it way back then, there was no doubt Bella loved him beyond compare, just as Nessie and I loved each other.

I was being ridiculous. I knew I was. But I was still worried.

I glanced at the clock on the wall again. 12:17. The ceremony was suppose to start 17 minutes ago. This was not like Alice to be behind schedule. Something was wrong. Nessie left. I knew it. She finally realized I wasn't good enough for her. She had come to her senses and -

"Here they come." David, my son and best man said, nodding to Felicity, whom Nessie had chosen as her Maid of Honor, as she appeared at the opposite end of the aisle. He had arrived late last night, with his wife and two of his three kids. My granddaughter, Sepideh, and grandson, William, were able to make the journey, but they felt that leaving the Makah Res without three of its wolves was too much, so Matthew volunteered to stay home. He would see the ceremony later through either his father's or brother's memories once they phased.

It was a small ceremony made up of just a few friends and family. The only other guests on my side were my nephew Belen - Rebecca's son, from the Grecian wolves, and a few of his friends, and Leah. Angelina was not here. She took off halfway through Nessie's Bachelorette party and no one had heard from her since. At least not at the house. Jasper has been tracking her phone and Leah and I both phased, trying to convince here to return. She said she would when she was ready. And lastly the ninth member of my party was Seth. I was shocked he came. He wasn't as young as he used to be, nearing almost 70 years of age, not that he looked it, having phased, and thus not aged for over 20 of them. But he still thought of himself as my Pack-mate and insisted on being here.

Nessie's side had quite a few more of course. The eight Cullens, Felicity (since she was Nessie's MOH) and Jennifer, the 5 Denali's, the 3 Amazons, Alistair, and the 3 from the Irish Coven. I would have thought that the Egyptian Coven would have come. Nessie and Benjamin had some special connection first formed when he witnessed for her in front of the Volturi, and we had stayed with them, much to my discomfort a few decades ago. Edward just shrugged when I tried asking him about it. I know the invitations were rushed, and mail, both paper and electronic, was not always reliable nowadays, but surely Alice should have seen a way to get the news to them. I know Nessie was disappointed they were not here.

Felicity just finished walking down the aisle. Despite Alice's frustration of not being able to _properly_ shop at some Paris boutique or someplace for her dress, like she had always done in the past (i.e. before the wars) my daughter looked beautiful in the handmade gown Alice ended up making for her, from some maroon fabric she repurposed from . . . I don't know where. It looked amazing, regardless. And Alice was so talented, it was probably made better than something bought in a store anyway.

Not choosing to have any bridesmaids, Nessie would be appearing soon. This was it! In mere seconds I would see my angel for the first time in her wedding dress and then we would be getting married. To prevent myself from hyperventilating, or grinning like an idiot, I chose to look someplace innocuous. I focused on the flowers my daughter was carrying. It was strange to noticed how nicely the dark fabric silhouetted the simple bouquet of white roses, picked from Esme's garden. I gave my daughter a quick peck on the check, took a deep breath and turned my attention to the far end of the room.

Alice had done an amazing job transforming an old bombed out castle into something suitable for our wedding. It was a good thing none of the guests would be affected by the weather . . . maybe Seth, since it had been a few decades since he phased, but he was wearing a long, heavily insulated jacket. And there were some heaters blowing, just in case. Though I wasn't sure how effective they would be with no roof or western wall to this place. But what was left standing was beautiful. Alice had sure outdone herself. She had draped the remaining walls in some ivory taffeta she had scrounged up from somewhere, the breeze was blowing them around so they appeared to be swaying, giving the place an ethereal wonder to it.

Is that . . . was Nessie wearing the same dress Bella wore? I gasped. I thought Bella had looked beautiful back then in it, but it was nothing compared to Nessie, my beautiful bride. Missing the actual wedding ceremony, I only briefly talked to Bella at the reception afterwards, before getting myself thrown out for my abhorrent behavior, but I was sure it was. The happy shock was probably apparent on my face, as Nessie now joined me at the pseudo altar, a moss covered platform surrounded by twisted vines woven into an arch for us to stand under.

 _Is it okay?_ She silently asked me with her gift.

I just nodded. My earlier attempt to not look like a grinning idiot now failing completely.

 _Alice had to lengthen it a bit and make a few alterations but it's essentially the same. I thought it would be . . . nice._

"Oh, so that was what happened. I thought it was odd for anything Alice planned to be off schedule," I kiddingly whispered into her ear, once I regained my voice.

Still holding my hand I instantly I saw, through Nessie's gift, the real reason for her delay.

" _Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Let's see . . ." Felicity said as Alice was styling Nessie's hair. "The dress is new, the ring that Jake bought decades ago will work for something old."_

" _No," Nessie argued, looking lovingly at her wrist. "This is my something old," she said, holding it up to show them that it still held the promise bracelet I had given her for her very first christmas._

I had elongated it over those early years as she grew, and wove and rewove it many times in the decades since when it would get worn and tattered, but some of the original still remained – the metal clasp, at the very least.

 _Here, you can borrow my earrings that I wore when I married Emmett last time." Rose said as she took them off her own and put them on Nessie's ears._

" _Now for something blue . . . um . . ." Felicity looked around and started to panic. So did everyone else._

" _There's nothing. I won't have anything blue." I saw Nessie gasp. "Everything for the wedding is Burgundy."_ Burgundy? That's the same as maroon right? _"Burgundy flowers, burgundy napkins, burgundy plate warmers,"_ (Why we even had tables with flatware and everything I will never know. Almost no one was going to be eating and it's not like we were trying to keep up appearances for a bunch of humans. The entire party was supernatural.) _". . . burgundy accents ," she went on. "I have nothing blue."_

It was true. Even David, Edward, Carlisle, who was honored we asked him to officiate the ceremony, and my bow ties and cummerbunds were maroon, err . . . burgundy,to go with Felicity's Maid of Honor and Bella's Mother of the bride dresses.

" _Oh, I . . . it slipped my mind," Alice looked like she would be crying if she could. "It's just so hard, I couldn't shop like I needed to, I had to make half the decorations out of old tablecloths and drapery we had in the attic. All the flowers were from Esme's garden. It's decimated now. Not that she isn't happy to let you use them for your special day,"_ she quickly amended _. "And the cake . . . ugg. On top of all of that, it's so hard not being able to see Jake. I feel like I'm blindfolded half the time."_

" _It's okay, Alice." Nessie now started to console her. The opposite of what I thought should be happening. "I don't need something blue."_

" _Yes, you do. I should have thought of it earlier. I'll be right back," Bella had said before turning to a blur and running out the door._

" _Oh, of course," Alice relaxed. "That will be perfect." Whatever she saw in her vision she didn't share with Nessie. Then Alice seemed to pull herself together and continued on with her hairstyling task. It only took a few more minutes so they all just were standing around for another 12 minutes when Bella returned with a box._

" _Sorry it took so long. I had to run home for this," she said as she opened the box._

Inside were two combs. The two I now saw Nessie wearing in her hair. The same combs I remember Bella wearing on her wedding. They were a gift from Charlie and Renée, once just consisting of diamonds they had added blue sapphires for their daughter's wedding, I think.

After that the rest of the wedding was a blur. I am pretty sure I said my vows, or at least an official "I Do" when prompted by Carlisle, and I saw that Nessie and I were now wearing our wedding rings as we walked back up the aisle, hand in hand, to where Alice had set up the reception in the room adjacent to this one. At least that one had a roof and four walls. The floor had not fared as well, but the Cullens had put a temporary one down, for dancing anyway, made out of cut stone, that they literally _hand_ cut themselves, from a nearby abandoned quarry.

The room was decorated similar to the other, continuing the same billowing fabric covered walls and burgundy color theme. Hanging vines interlaced the fabric, not only on the walls but the tables too, peppered with some kind of maroon, I mean burgundy colored berry, or pod, or something. I know Nessie choose this burgundy/maroon-ish color with me after I scrunched my nose at Alice's suggestion of pink for the wedding and reception. Thank goodness Ness said something about that color choice being too girly. If Nessie had wanted pink I wouldn't have objected, but that wasn't to say that I would have been too happy about it either.

Don't get me wrong, I might have imprinted on Nessie, magically driven to give her whatever she wants, but I was still a man, and I just wasn't one of those guys who could do pink. I liked the burgundy. It was both masculine and feminine at the same time.

After Alice insisted we stand for an official "receiving line" to welcome our guests, which I found ridiculous, since half of them lived with us, Ness and I made our way over to a small table set up just for the two of us. There were other tables, for everyone else, set up around the room, surrounding the dance floor where in just a few moments Nessie and I would have our first dance as husband and wife.

After I danced with Nessie, Edward cut in, to dance with his daughter, while I danced with Bella. Next I stole Felicity away from Jennifer, for one dance while Ness grabbed David, before everyone sat down to eat. Well not everyone, but everyone who ate did, while the others chatted and caught up with those whom they had not seen, some for decades.

And then they was the cake. We had told Alice what we wanted and she said she would take care of the rest. We really just wanted something simple anyway. We knew things like sugar and vanilla were hard to come by right now. Nessie said she even would be happy with a pie or something, since we had plenty of fruit from the garden to make that with. But I know Nessie was really hoping for a yellow cake, with a strawberry filling and a whipped buttercream frosting, it was her favorite. I don't know how but Alice did it.

And it wasn't a small cake either. After finishing our entrées Jasper wheeled out this massive four tiered monstrosity. The thing was almost as big as I was.

Alice had covered the entire thing with white frosting and more burgundy - sashes of colored sugar flowers encircled the sides of each layer. Nessie looked like she could cry, she was so happy. While I was happy that she was happy, it's extreme size did seem a little silly. Since there were only the two of us, plus our kids and grandkids, Jennifer, the Grecian wolves, Leah and Seth that would be eating it, we really could have made due with something much smaller.

Now I know, as a wolf I can eat a lot, but was Alice insane? I didn't planning on eating cake the entire reception and we were leaving for our honeymoon directly afterwards.

"Don't you know how this thing works, Jacob?" Why did Alice always have to look so irritated with me whenever I would get frustrated with her going overboard on something? Shouldn't it be the other way around? "You're supposed to freeze the top of the cake and eat it on your one year anniversary. It's good luck," she replied as if that explained why a dozen people, even if most of them were wolves, would need a cake that could feed a few hundred people.

"Sure, sure," I gave in. It was my wedding day. I was not going to get into a fight with the pixie today.

After the reception was over and Ness and I had changed out of our wedding attire, we bid farewell to everyone and drove to the airport were we would be flying to the southernmost tip of Africa. No planes flew to Antarctica, so a boat would be waiting for us there. Then a quick 2-3 hour drive, depending on how fast we could go in the snow and ice, and we would arrive at a formally abandoned research center. I say former because last week and then again right after the bachelor and bachelorette parties Rosalie and Emmett had gone and fixed the place up for us, only returning this morning, making sure the electricity worked, bringing a new generator, changing light bulbs, tinkering with the heating system (running 24/7 would only bring the temperature up to around 50 degrees, but that was warm enough for us) filling up the frig, and then doing the two most important things.

First they had hopefully installed a suitable bed for us. I was expecting some sort of wisecracks from Emmett but so far hadn't heard anything. That worried me. What exactly were we going to find when we got there? Knowing his sense of humor it could be anything from a pair of twin beds, to a kennel for me and crib for Nessie. At least with the twin beds, although they would be a bit too short for me, we could push them together at night.

The other thing that they did was bring a small herd of moose for Nessie to drink. It had cost me a small fortune to procure them from someone willing to hunt, capture and transfer them to a location where Rose and Emmett could get them, but as wedding presents go, I couldn't think of anything that Nessie would want more.

When we were done honeymooning in a month or so, Esme assured me that our new house would be ready for us to move in to. The three that she was having built were just about done now, and the family was going to be moving all of our, and their stuff, into them in a week or two. Having both of us being too caught up in wedding planning neither Ness or I knew where we were moving to but Esme said she would send me the address and had already arranged our return flight . . . whenever we were ready. I should probably look at the airline tickets, at some point, to at least get an idea of where in the world we were moving to this time, but I didn't really care at the moment. I had much more important, and fun things to think about right now. Getting Nessie and I naked, as fast as possible, being of the utmost important, at the moment.

* * *

We had been in Antarctica, enjoying our honeymoon getaway for about three weeks when I got a call.

Up until that point things were going great. The research facility was better than I had imagined. Nessie loved the moose, saying that they were delicious, but that she couldn't believe that I was able to get them. There was one male and three females, so she decided to only drink two of them, hoping to get another generation out of them. I was worried that only two animals wouldn't be enough to sustain her but there would be more than enough steak from them for us to share, along with the other food Rose and Emmett had stocked in the kitchen.

Those two had gone out of their way to make this place homey for us - decorating with some of our furniture, rugs and curtains, hanging pictures, setting up one of the TV's we had in storage, already loaded with over 200 of Nessie's and my favorite movies, and to my surprise and joy even hauling in a king size bed for us to use.

"Is something wrong?" Nessie asked me, seeing the worry that was left on my face as I got off the phone.

"Angelina." I huffed, as if that would explain everything. It did explain a lot though. That girl seemed to always be either attracting or causing trouble.

"Did they find her?"

"Not exactly, but they have been dealing with the fallout. I need to phase and see if I can contact her in my spirit form," I quickly said, not bothering to explain more at this time, before running outside. I didn't have enough details myself yet. But what Bella had shared had me worried.

Angelina, being just as much Nahuel's child as Leah's, had _accidentally_ bit some guy during another of her baby making schemes. She had never, to my knowledge, drank human or animal blood before, but must have liked it, because she apparently drained and killed the guy. Bella called me soon after she found out what had happened. It seems that Angelina at least had the good sense to let Leah know what had happened, calling her mother in the middle of the night to give her a heads up before fleeing the scene.

Leah went after her, but would not let the Cullens follow. Instead they rushed to the sight and cleaned up the evidence before the body was discovered. No one wanted the police or media to get word of what happened. They would make sure the body was discovered so whoever it was could have a proper burial and any family could say goodbye, but any evidence that his death had been anything other than an unfortunate accident would be erased.

Once in my spirit form I easily located Leah and Angelina. Angelina really didn't want to talk, but I at least got her to stop running long enough for Leah to catch up with her. I stayed like that for almost an hour, trying to reason with both of them, trying to get them to return to the Cullens.

Angelina, for all of her tough talk and attitude was actually terrified of what her mother would do to her. She had been in her mother's head, shared her thoughts, seen Leah's past. She knew the purpose of the La Push Wolves existence was to protect human life; to kill vampires. And now she had become what her mother hated most in the world - a blood sucking leech. Not that Leah actually said that to her daughter, or even thought it, that was all Angelina. Leah knew it was an accident, that she didn't do it on purpose, that Angelina wasn't a killer. Everyone makes mistakes, even giant ones like this. We tried explaining to her how most of the Cullens, as good as they were, or tried to be, had slipped up from time to time. Even Jennifer, when she was first transitioning over to animal blood would slip now and then, and Felicity still loved her. Hell, Nessie even drank from me on multiple occasions, when needed.

In the end Leah and Angelina continued talking. Angelina eventually realized that neither Leah, nor I, nor any of the Cullens were going to come after her for what she did. She had taken a life though and would need to deal with the emotional implications of it. She refused to go back though so Leah decided to take this _opportunity_ for the two of them to spend some time away from everyone and go off on their own, for a little while. I let them know that I would be checking in on them from time to time before phasing back.

Once I was back on two feet I immediately went to take a peek at the airline tickets Esme had gotten us for our flight to our new home after the honeymoon.

"Do we need to start packing," Nessie asked me.

"No," I replied, before explaining to her everything I had learned about what had happened.

"Then what's with the ticket?" Nessie asked.

"I thought I recognized the forest that Leah and Angelina were running in," I explained. "I just wanted to double-check if I was correct. I didn't think we were going to be going home so soon."

"Home?"

"Well almost, but closer than we have been in years. They were running in the woods, so i can't be certain but I think it was the Banff National Park in Calgary, Canada," I answered, "If that's where they were then that must be somewhat close to where Esme built our new houses." Looking at the tickets I saw that I was right. The tickets were destined for the Calgary International Airport. We were going home.

* * *

As you can probably tell the story is almost done. there are just the last 5 years left. but don't stop reading yet. they're the most exciting yet... I think.


	121. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (1st Section)

**Part Ten – First Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

Tonight was our one year wedding anniversary. Jacob said he had something special planned, so as I waited for him to pick me up after work I began reminiscing over the past year.

Our wedding had been wonderful. Alice had done an amazing job planning everything with us and while she still couldn't see Jacob, she was getting better and better at seeing around him. She noticed how much of a daze the guests thought he was going to be in for the ceremony. So while Jake and I had written our own vows to each other, Carlisle was the one to say them and all we had to do was verbalize an "I do" at the appropriate time.

His vows were beautiful. I loved them just as much as he did of the vows I wrote to him. Of course, at the time he was too . . . out of it, for lack of a better term. Thankfully, due to my gift I had replayed them for him, though to our first kiss as husband and wife, during the plane ride down to our honeymoon.

" _Jacob in the beginning you were Renesmee's friend and protector. As the years passed you became more. Through the ups and downs the two of you fell in love. You are her true counterpart. She promises to love you, hold you, and honor you. She will respect you, encourage you, and cherish you for all the days of her existence. She promises to love and care for you, and will try in every way to be worthy of your love. She will always be honest with you, kind, patient, and forgiving. She promises to continue to be a true and loyal friend to you. She loves you with all of her heart."_

 _Jake was all smiles yet still glossy eyed, but Carlisle continued. "So now, Jacob do you take Renesmee to be your wife for now and all of eternity?"_

 _After a few moments with no response, David subtlety elbowed his father, prompting Jacob to say his one line. "I do."_

 _A slight chuckle could be heard from various members of our guests._

 _Carlisle continued, while ignoring the rude laughter. "And Renesmee, do you take Jacob to be your husband for now and all of eternity?"_

 _I needed no reminder. "I do." I had beamed._

" _Wonderful. Well I think it's time for the happy couple to now share their first kiss as husband and wife. Jacob, Renesmee . . ."Carlisle had said before indicating for us to do just that._

 _Seeing me approach him, lips first, Jake seemed to snap out of it and Kiss me back._

I was still smirking at the memory when Jake finally arrived to pick me up for our dinner date.

"Hey, Nessie. The moose are mostly all back in the barn. Sorry it took so long. I found all but one. I would have looked longer but our reservations are for Seven. If we don't leave soon we'll miss it. I'm just going to shower and we can go," he shouted, the concern seeping into his voice, as he came though the front door. He didn't need to be that upset. I know he had given me the moose for a wedding present but losing one was not that big of a deal. The two I had refused to drink on our honeymoon had mated just like I had hoped producing another female moose. We were able to acquire a few more in the past year and were well on our way to a good size herd.

Sometime in the night those moose had gotten out. I only discovered it late in the afternoon when I went out to make sure their automated feeder was working. Jake had volunteered to go get them. I offer to do it, or even for the two of us to do together, but he said he wanted me to relax and enjoy the day. It was our first anniversary after all.

"Sorry it took so long." He really didn't need to apologize, " and that I couldn't find all of them. I know it sucks . . . hey what are you so happy about?" he asked, now close enough to me to notice the smile on my face.

"Just remembering our wedding." I smirked larger, knowing he couldn't exactly do the same. "I don't care about the missing moose. We can find it tomorrow, together."

"You are too good for me, you know that? You know me better than anyone else in this world and somehow still you manage to love me. There is still a part of me that cannot believe that I was the one you choose and that I finally got to marry you."

"Don't be silly Jacob. We are exactly right for each other. Not better or worse. Don't you remember? You told me as much on our wedding day." I then used my gift to replay his vows that Carlisle spoke for him.

" _Renesmee, Jacob has been your playmate, mentor, confidant, best friend, lover, father of your children, and Imprinter. But most importantly, he is your soulmate. The love of his life. As if you didn't already know he wants it said once again that you have made him a better person, as your love for one another is reflected in the way he lives his life. He wants you to know that he is truly blessed to even be a part of your life, which as of today becomes your lives, together. He promises to encourage your compassion, because that is what makes you unique and wonderful. He promises to nurture your dreams, because through them your soul shines. He promises to help shoulder your challenges, for there is nothing the two of you cannot face if you stand together. He promises to be your partner in all things, working with you as a part of the whole. Lastly, he promises to you perfect love and perfect trust, for all of time, for one lifetime with you could never be enough. This is his sacred vow to you, his equal in all things."_

"I remember," he agreed, taking me into his arms. "It's just a lot to live up to in reality. I wake up every day hoping that I'm going to be worthy of you." His attitude then took an about-face, suddenly becoming serious; his eyes losing the playfulness they just had. "You know what . . . screw the dinner reservations. I know you only agreed to go for me, but I also know how much you don't like human food. What do you say you slip out of this gorgeous dress," he smirked, pausing to playfully eye me up and down, "and change into something more comfortable, and we can go hunt down that last moose. I'm sure his blood'll be delicious and you'd enjoy the chase."

"B…but what a…bout y…you?" I stuttered. The idea of drinking some blood sounded really nice, but I didn't want him to go hungry.

"I'll have the leftovers."

"Jake, I know eating raw is not your favorite, we would be trading your food enjoyment for mine. That's not a solution."

"Well what do you say if we still go to the restaurant for dessert? I'll call and see if we can push back our reservations till 10. That should give us plenty of time to find your moose, and get cleaned up. I wouldn't mind washing down the raw moose meat with a little chocolate truffle cake afterwards, and I know you love their cream covered strawberries."

"Okay," I acquiesced. The strawberries did sound good.

Hunting was wonderful, even if it was sort of fake -raising your own animals to release and catch. Kind of a funny turn on the old "catch and release" phrase used to describe fishing, in the past.

It was such a change from when we lived all over Russia. I rarely got to hunt there over the decades. My family had needed the blood so much more than I did, but times were difference now. Things were getting better finally. I still didn't let myself indulge in our herds all that often, not wanting to kill off our stock before it got self sustaining.

Currently we were raising the moose, along with some boars, deer and cows. The cows didn't taste very good, and since they mostly just stood there I couldn't really hunt them, but Jake and I were posing as ranchers, so they were more for appearances sake. Still if I was really hungry . . . they would do. Despite the falsity of it I still enjoyed hunting, especially now that we were home and we finally had enough animals to spare.

When I was little, back when we first left Forks, WA, my grandfather explained to me how once the family left an area they didn't return for a generation, somewhere around 60 to 80 years. Imagine my surprise when Jake told me, during our honeymoon, that we would be returning home after only 50 years. I was expecting to remain overseas for another two to three decades.

I was so happy to be going home, not that we were actually back in Washington, but Calgary, Canada was the closest we have been to the States in so long. I was so excited; weekend trips to La Push were possible now. We could see our son and grandchildren much more often, instead of having to rely on video calls or Jake telling me about what he had seen while phased. And I couldn't believe how happy he was about the news, too.

Our early return was all possible because of the wars, unfortunately. The wars, well that and the fact that for awhile the planet seemed to be fighting back against all the crap humans had dumped into the air, water, and earth, trying to kill all life on it, and those two things combined had successfully wiped out almost everyone from that time, back when my family had been here before, so the chances of them being recognized by someone they knew were slim to none. On the upside North America seems to be doing better recovering from everything then some of Europe, almost all of Africa, and a large part of Asia were right now, which was another reason why the decision was made to move back. The fighting had stopped here over a decade ago and the rebuilding had been non-stop.

After Bella had called us in Antarctica, we stayed in there for another few weeks before flying to our new house.

Jacob and I had not been here a month when I got the urge to feed. I think the moose I had on our honeymoon had reignited my desire for blood that I had been successfully (attemptingly) suppressing for the past several decades. We had bought a few animals to start our cattle ranching business and Jake suggested I _sample_ one.

I had just finished draining the deer and was about to grab the carcass to bring it back to the house when something started buzzing in my ear.

"Jake do you hear -"

Crap, someone was coming towards us, and fast. By the time we heard the engine Jake and I just had enough time to drop the carcass and quickly cover it with some snow.

"Hey'a," the guy driving the snowmobile said as he approached us.

"Zdravstvuyte," Jake began to reply, but before he was able to fully get the word out, I grabbed his wrist. _No, not in Russian!_

Wow. We are going to have to get use to speaking English again. Especially Jacob. While his memory was as good as any Vampires now, it still didn't work as fast as ours. Slip ups like that one would be more prevalent if he weren't careful. At the time we had not thought it would be necessary. We had all grown up speaking English. Sure for the past few decades we had been living in France, Greenland, Egypt, and mostly Russia, but it wasn't like we had completely stopped speaking English.

"Err, Hello," he tried again. "Can we help you?"

"Me was 'bout to ask you da same thinky. Need any helpy, welpy?"

Two weeks ago, when we had first moved here, Jasper had presented all of us with a list of modern American slang and common terms. Baby talk. That's what teens thought was "cool" now? We had laughed at the absurdity of it.

Of course now I wished we had listened to Jasper.

I guess it made sense in some way. After decades of war and ferocious climate change, now that it was almost over, at least the war part, and the climate was beginning to stabilize, animals were starting to come back, either naturally or with a little help from scientists, zoologists, conversationalists, and other Jane Goodall types. Things were starting to normalize. Hell farmers and scientists were even getting better at figuring out how to grow more crops in today's crazily changing world.

Of course after all of this it's no wonder people would want to live in a world that was more innocent, more childlike. Though never in a million years would I have imagined that the youth of the world would have decided that the best way to put this into practice was though speech . . . slang, specifically.

I'm sorry, but anyone over the age of five talking like a baby was ridiculous. This guy had to be in his mid to late twenties. Why was he trying to sound like a two year old? I had heard whispers of it from some of the teenagers working at the ranch next to ours, but this was the first time I was actively having a conversation with someone using it. In truth I was having a hard time following what he was saying. Luckily it seemed that Jake had paid a little better attention to Jaspers notes than I had, or he had been use to talking to toddlers. Either way he was actually having a conversation with this idiot. At least enough that he didn't seem to notice anything too off with us.

Once he was gone Jake and I quickly grabbed the deer and raced back to the house.

This one incident aside, things had been going well. Mostly.

Leah and Angelina's house stood empty. Waiting for them to return, if they ever did. Jake said they were in the area, at least on the continent and were making their way to us, but had also started to head back three times already. Each time Angelina had run off, when they got close. I guess we'll just wait and see.

* * *

Sorry this wasn't the most exciting chapter, but i needed to get everyone back near La Push for what is going to happen next. Stay tuned and please review.


	122. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (2nd Section)

**Part Ten – Second Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

With the wars dying down people started vacating Isle Esme, and finally last month we got word that it was just about empty. With Jasper's contacts and the family's resources we were able to help relocate the last remaining holdouts into new homes, better than what they had left.

Alice was checking weekly and as soon as Esme found out that everyone was gone our things were packed and we all went to repair whatever the refugees had damaged.

Felicity and Jennifer stayed behind to take care of everyone's livestock and continue working on their wedding planning. At the rate they were going the century would be over before those two got married. But who was I to talk.

300 people on one tiny island could sure do a lot of damage. It took us over three weeks to fix everything, mostly due to the fact that we needed to wait for supplies to be not only delivered but ordered. There was no cell phone signal on the island currently, something probably had gotten screwed up due to the wars; there wasn't really any way to check, but it did slow us down.

Once it was back to the way it looked before, actually now it was better, Esme had central air installed, along with a few other upgrades, she surprised Jake and I by suggesting we stay for a month or two, saying she was sad we never got a real honeymoon. I was about to argue with her, I loved our Antarctic honeymoon, but Jake gave me a look that told me he really wanted to stay so I kept my mouth shut.

It was so nice being back here, just the two of us. Jasper and Alice had volunteered to look after our livestock, relieving our daughter and Jennifer, so Jake and I could relax and not have to worry about anything for a change.

The last time we were here was almost 30 years ago, and the time before that was back when Jake and I were first trying to get pregnant. The weather this time was so much better than back then, no thunderstorms, not even a cloud in the sky. It was perfect. Paradise. The way it was supposed to be. I still had to travel to the main land, like my family, to hunts every few weeks, but the animal population around here had fared much better than up north, not getting knocked out to the brink of extinction. And I had my choice of quite a few animals actually. If I were to guess I'd say that they were on the verge of an overpopulation problem on more than a few species, which I was more than willing to help out with.

The extra two months on the island were wonderful, yet over too soon. Before long we were on a plane and it was back to reality.

When we returned home Carlisle and Esme greeted us at the airport. I would have thought my parents would have been the ones to pick us up.

"I'm afraid they couldn't be here," Carlisle said. "We'll explain everything back at your house. There are too many . . . _people_ that could overhear." He was being cryptic, but whatever the reason it seemed that it was of the supernatural variety.

Once they pulled up to our house Esme began. "Your grandson, William has been phoning us in your absence. It seems that he tried calling you, but after a week and a half and you never calling back . . . him not knowing that you could not receive phone calls on the island, he began calling us. We explained that no phones on the Island were able to receive a signal, but apparently he continued to call you, hoping that you had returned. He has also continued to call us more than a few times looking for you. He sounded pretty upset and it seemed that whatever he wanted to tell you was urgent, but he wouldn't tell us any details at first, only saying that he needed to talk to you, directly. Felicity also tried, but he wouldn't even talk to his aunt. If we had known it was so serious . . ." she broke off, seeming too upset by whatever it was to continue. I wished she would just say it. This waiting was annoying. "He said he would only speak with one of you. He kept calling and we kept explaining to him that you were on a second honeymoon, unreachable by phone. Finally when he called again yesterday he told us what had happened. Bella and Edward left immediately to retrieve you, but you must have just missed them," Esme told us.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news," Carlisle continued for his wife, completely in his doctor mode, using the soothing voice he had perfected over the centuries, to deliver bad news to a patient. "There is no easy way to say this but . . . your son's wife, Janet, has passed away."

He let us process the news for a few minutes before continuing. "I spoke with the coroner over the phone. She said it was a heart attack."

What? But it's 2061. Who dies from a heart attack anymore?

Carlisle theorized that it probably had something to do with the bite she received from Stefan in her youth, and his partially botched attempt at preventing her change, injecting her with the anti-venom he had developed for Jacob. Her death, he said, had only been postponed. He felt awful, but it wasn't his fault, and I told him as much. Not that it comforted him. Or me. Or Jacob.

DAVID!

It had been decades since Jake had weekly check-ins with David and our grandkids in his Spirit Form. Now he only checked in about once a month. They had decided, collectively, that they no longer felt they needed him to keep such close tabs on them, all the time, like he was their babysitter or something, especially now that we were living closer and Jake and I could go visit in person.

At first Jake was heartbroken, he liked his weekly check-ins, but then eventually came to accept it. They were adults, they didn't need him checking up on them all the time. And besides, they had argued, they were also part-Wolf and part-Vampire, sort of. Sepideh wasn't a Wolf, she just carried the gene, but she was part-Vampire, though I wasn't sure how strong that part was. She was slightly stronger and faster than a normal human, but she aged like one. William did too, now that he had stopped phasing to grow old with his wife, Penny. Matthew was my only grandchild who was currently still a Wolf, besides David, refusing to give it up yet. Even after all these years he was still looking for his Imprint.

When Jacob last phased into his Spirit Form back on the island it must have been right before Janet died. Not knowing anything was wrong he had next planned to as soon as we were home. That mixed with the lack of phone service meant that it was a good four, almost five weeks between the time of Janet's death and when Jake and I heard the news.

If I had even thought it was a possibility . . . but people just didn't die of heart attacks in their late 40's, not with today's medical technology. I didn't think I had to worry about my son losing his wife for another 60 or 70 years.

But now Janet was gone, and unfortunately . . . tragically that led me to only one conclusion. At least I think. I was assuming that David had died along with her, or soon after. Sam and Jared had passed away around a week after their Imprints did, of seemingly natural causes, but they clearly had both died of a broken heart.

The same must have happened to David. Despite his failed attempts to try and grow old with his Imprint, to prevent such a thing from happening, even quitting phasing for two decades, he had too much Vampire in him and never started aging normally. Despite the grief I felt for the loss of my son, I was . . . _happy_ wasn't the right word, . . . relieved that he would not have the pain of existing without his Imprint. Death seemed like a better alternative than going on living without his soulmate. To me anyway.

Jake and I planned to make the trip back to La Push the following morning. It wasn't like there was any rush though. Dead was dead. Our grandchildren must have already held a funeral and buried them. But we planned to go and say goodbye.

"I'm going to call the grandkids and see how they are holding up." I told Jake as he paced up and down the room. Clearly the stress was overwhelming him and he was struggling not to phase, so I suggested that he do so. Why fight doing something that would help, I reasoned. I only wished I could do the same. I would be doing something similar - break down and cry, as soon as I got off the phone. But first I needed to make this call.

Just as I was punching in the last number for my eldest sons phone number Jake came running back into the house. What was going on? He had listened to me and had just run outside to phase.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Jake screamed at me. He seem both happy-ish, yet somewhat relieved, and also somehow also concerned. But I was only left confused.

"Who's alive?"

"David."

David? Jake's expression now made sense as mine now mimicked his. Relief, happiness, then confusion set in. How could that be. Technically no one ever said the David had died. Could it be true? He was actually alive? No, that'd be just too cruel.

"You talked to him? As a wolf?" I asked. "How is he doing? He must feel horrible losing his Imprint. How is he -"

"Woe, woe, woe. Renesmee. Slow down. I didn't talk to him. He wasn't phased. Matthew was."

"Okay so how did he say David was doing?"

"He didn't know. Actually he hasn't seen him in over a week. But if he was going to pass away from grief like Sam and Jared it would have happened weeks ago."

"You don't know that. He's part Vampire. It could take longer."

There was no use fighting over this. We ditched our former plans and left immediately. Driving through the night we were in La Push before the sun was up. Both of us were exhausted. Soon we would learn that our son was dead, along with his wife, or our worst fears for this whole entire situation would come true. Life without your Imprint was worse than death.

After pulling up to David's house and not finding him there, Jake tried phasing again with no luck.

"Now what?" Jake said. He wasn't specifically asking me, just talking out loud. We already had called the grandkids and the Pack on the drive, with no luck.

"If I had died, instead of Janet, where would you be?"

I shouldn't have asked that. Jake started growling and had to work hard to stop himself from phasing.

"Your grave." He eventually spat once he had calmed down enough to talk. Or so I thought. Jake was silent, not even a growl, the entire drive to the cemetery.

As we exited the car and approached Janet's grave we saw something worse than we thought possible - David's lifeless body draped across his dead wife's headstone.

I was right. David had just taken longer to die.

I started to cry. Though this would be better for him, I was going to miss my son. We just moved back, we were just starting to reconnect. How could we lose him now?

No. Wait . . . it can't be. Can it?

"DAVID!" I ran over to our son. He was not dead, just . . . unconscious. His heartbeat was faint. Weak. But still there. Somehow.

"Huh? Ness . . . err, Mom? Dad?" he stuttered, coming back to consciousness, seeing that we were there. He looked like . . . I don't know . . . like the walking dead. Except he wasn't walking. He was barely standing.

"Come on. Let's get you home," Jake suggested.

"No! I can't leave her." His scream was as weak as he was right now. If we tried he wouldn't be able to stop us from carrying him home. But we didn't. Jake and I helped him to sit on the ground.

"How could this happen?" David started wailing. His head was between his knees and he started rocking back and forth. "Why couldn't I have joined her? I've tried so many different ways now. Every single way I could think of . . . I've tried. I have stabbed myself in the heart, shot myself in the head, tried to drown myself in the Pacific, the moment she passed away I stopped eating, drinking. I just can't -"

"I'm so sorry," I said, grabbing our son into a tight embrace.

Suddenly he seemed to gather his strength and he sat up and looked us directly in the eyes. "Will you help me?" he asked us. "I thought of asking Matthew, or Sepideh, or William, but that just seemed . . . I mean I could not do that to my own children. I know it is a lot to ask . . . but -"

Could we really say yes to such a request? Could we really help our son end his life? I didn't think I could do that. Then again, he was just so distraught, so miserable. Was life really worth living without your soulmate? I knew the answer to that immediately, no it was not, but how could I take the life of my own son.

I was going to take the cowards way out. "Maybe you could go to -" I was about to suggest that he go to Volterra, when my daughter joined us. I had called her and my parents on the way here, letting them know everything we had found out. It wasn't surprising that she would show up. Or that Jennifer was with her. What did surprise me was that Leah and Angelina were with them. I hadn't called them and no one had talked to them in months, as far as I knew. Maybe Jake had when he had phased.

Felicity immediately went up and hugged her brother. It had been over a month since they had last seen each other. Jennifer had come with her on her last visit, but this was the first time Leah had agreed to come back to La Push in decades. And it was also the first time her daughter had been here as well.

How had they found us? I didn't have time to ask.

As soon as I turned to introduce them I saw something I was not expecting. None of the Tribal legends had said that this would be possible. For a Wolf to Imprint TWICE was unheard of . . . but I guess anything was possible. And Nahuel and Leah's daughter was immortal, the child of a half-Vampire, half-human father and a Wolf mother, just like David himself. He would never have to worry about being alone again.

But this had happened so soon. He was still grieving over Janet. Was he ready to move on? To love again? To be loved again?

No. No he wasn't. It would take time. Jake and I stayed in La Push for a couple weeks making sure everything would be okay, but it didn't seem necessary.

David's Imprinting on Angelina had mended part of his broken heart. Through his phasing Jake saw how our son was no longer suicidal over the loss of Janet. While he loved her he now had room in his heart for another. I guess you could love two people. And thankfully Angelina felt the same, so much so that she refused to leave La Push after that. Imprinting on David seemed to vanquish all of her _behavioral_ issues.

Angelina knew David had Imprinted on her, just as much as she had on him. A true two way Imprinting. And she had known, she felt, that he was not ready for their relationship to be romantic, not yet anyway. But she seemed prepared to wait. In time her patience may pay off. For now she became his best friend. A shoulder to cry on, a confidant to confide in, someone to cheer him up when he needed it. And then when he was ready she would wait some more, until they both are 100% sure. It might be years or it might take decades. But they had time, they were both immortal.

* * *

"What are we going to do with their house?" Emmett asked out of the blue.

Jake and I had gone to the _main_ house where Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Edward, Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper all lived.

As hard as it is for me to admit it but Jacob had been right when he said that we should live alone for a while once we were married. Though I do miss my family they're less than 20 miles away, a five-minute run at most, and it was so nice to have some privacy. In the past when Jake and I had lived alone it was out of necessity. This was before we got the idea to become ranchers and there weren't enough animals to hunt. It was more of a safety issue for those of us with blood to live apart from those who craved it. Not that my family would ever attack us, but tempting them was cruel. This was the first time we were living apart voluntarily.

The funeral and everything else had already been dealt with by our grandchildren, While Jake and I were still on Isle Esme, since David had been in no condition to do so. But now that Angelina and David had Imprinted other things needed to be addressed.

While Jake and I had been back from La Push for a week, Leah had decided to stay in La Push with her daughter. It was a shame. After all the work Esme put in to renovating the house in Calgary for her and Angelina and everything Alice had done to decorate it, the house lay empty. Leah and Angelina never even moved in. Never even saw it.

Instead they found a little house in La Push, near David's, to live in and thanks to my family's connections, were able to quickly buy it, pushing through the paperwork in record time. They had also shipped all of Leah and Angelina's belongings to them last week. If and when David and Angelina's Imprinting ever turned romantic one of them would need to move again, but that was probably years away.

In addition to finally settling down again Leah also thought it was time to stop phasing. I wasn't sure how easy that would be for her but she said that she was at peace now. Saying that since her daughter was happy, she was happy. I hoped that she would someday find her Imprint, but if she hadn't found him after almost 60 years we all knew the possibility was slight.

She wasn't the only one. Most of the La Push wolves had Imprinted, but not all. My grandson Matthew being one of them. He had refused to give up his Wolf in the hopes of finding her. He was so sure his Imprint was out there . . . somewhere, he just had to wait long enough and it would happen. Or so he thought. Leah seemed to be proof of the opposite.

"Should one of us call Ms. Bronte?" I asked. She was the newest Jenks. It was odd that no one had thought to have her sell the house while she was purchasing the La Push one for Leah and Angelina.

"Why would we do that?" Rose asked as if the answer was obvious. But I was confused. "Emmett and I will be taking it. Why should you and Jacob and Felicity and Jennifer be the only ones who get to live alone?"

"Rose, babe, err . . ." Emmett looked like a little kid who got caught stealing a cookie. "When I said I wanted to use it as a playhouse . . . I thought . . . well I meant, I thought you understood that I was talking about me, Jasper and Jake. And Eddie. Maybe even Carlisle if he's up to a little fun. I thought it could be a place where we could play. You know . . . table tennis, darts, and um . . . computer games - virtual, 3D, and holo. All the things Esme doesn't like us doing here." For some reason Emmett was giving Rose a look like he was confused at her confusion. "You know how she hates it when we break her antiques. Isn't that what we agreed to last night when I said I needed a place to have fun."

"I thought you meant a different kind of _fun,_ darling," Rose looked at her husband in that suggestive manner that was referring to more of the night time variety of activities between mates.

"Oh," he replied, looking rather dumb.

"Well, if you'd rather spend your nights with Jasper instead of me," her expression turned sour, "then that's what you can do!" Rose snarled at him before getting up and storming out of the room.

Hmmm, I guess that settles that. A few of us laughed quietly to ourselves, but we still did need to make a decision but it looked like it would have to wait until Rose calmed down and returned.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review.


	123. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (3rd Section)

**Part Ten – Third Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

"No, no, no, no." I hear Alice scream all the way from the back barn. I was out there refilling the water dispensers for our livestock when Alice came running up through the woods yelling way too loud. At that volume our nearest neighbors, two miles away, would be able to hear her. It must be urgent.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I dashed over to her. She looked so anxious. Crap! What now?

"I can't take this anymore. Nessie you have to help me with your daughter."

"Felicity? What's wrong with her?"

"What do you mean what's wrong with her? She's been engaged to Jennifer for five years now and they are no closer to finishing planning their wedding then they were a month after they got engaged."

That's not exactly true. They had made some progress. But it was taking them an extraordinarily long amount of time. "I know it's taking them a while but they just want to get everything right."

"Well I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore," Alice shrieked. "Let me help them plan this, or else!" she said, while stamping her foot. It would have been comical if Alice wasn't so terrifying when she got like this.

It really wasn't that much of a surprise. I was actually in shock that Alice had held out this long before blowing up.

"Alright." I gave in. "But what do you want me to do? It's their wedding."

"I know you can do it Renesmee." Do what? "If anybody can talk to her, it's her mother. You just need to her make her see reason."

Yeah right. That wasn't going to work, but I'd give it a try, if only to get Alice off my back, though I still wasn't sure exactly what she expected me to say. "I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises."

Alice agreed to finish my chores around the Ranch while I went and talked to my daughter, her saying it was a win-win for both of us. I wasn't so sure about that.

After cleaning myself up I ran straight to my daughters house, finding her and Jennifer snuggled up on the couch together watching some old movie. I was just about to sit down on the chair to their right when Alice came bounding up behind me.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're a genius, Nessie. I knew you could do it." Alice beamed with joy.

"Alice I haven't even started talking to them, yet."

"I know but I just saw," she said, pointing to her head, indicating she must have had a vision, "that I'm about to go back to the main house and grab all of my books so we can get started. Without further explanation she took off, back out the front door she had just passed through.

"What is she talking about?" Jennifer asked me.

"Apparently she had a vision that you two are going to let her plan your wedding." I confusingly replied.

"We are?" Felicity looked skeptical.

Jennifer gave her a look. I'm not sure what exactly she meant by it but two seconds later my daughter snorted a little under her breath and they both nodded before agreeing. I guess they were closer to letting Alice takeover their wedding planning than anyone realized.

A few minutes later Alice returned, arms full of wedding magazines, design books, sketch books, fabric swatches, and assorted other things. Pretty much everything she had when she help Jake and I with our wedding, only ten times worse.

"Thank you again, Nessie," she said, wrapping me in a hug after dumping all but one of her pile of books on the table. "Do you know what it was like for me? Listening to the two of them, day after day, NOT plan their wedding. It was driving me crazy. I needed to do something. It wasn't easy. Not being able to see Felicity, since she's part wolf, but I saw enough. Since I can see Jennifer, and most of the rest of us, . . . as long as I focused on the wedding before Felicity walked down the aisle . . . or arrived at the reception . . . it was slow going but -" Boy she was dragging this out, she had paused for dramatic effect for what, the third, fourth time? "Voila!" she finally exclaimed slamming a fancily decorated velvet binder onto the table. Everything was in it. From the exact shade of warm grey and cerulean blue interspersed with viridian green for the brides bouquets, to the china pattern of the table settings for the reception.

"This is our wedding?" Felicity asked her in disbelief.

"Of course. What else would it be?"

"Then what is all this?" she asked pointing to the gigantic pile of books and other things Alice had dumped on the table.

"That's just a few other options, just in case. You know I can't see you so I thought -"

"Oh, wow!" Jennifer shrieked. "This is gorgeous. Alice you are a genius. I love this, and this, and oh, this is nice too," she said as she flipped the pages. "Felicity, look at this," she said pointing to a picture of some elaborate flower arrangement, "wasn't this what you were talking about last week?"

"That is it exactly." My daughter exclaimed with glee. I don't remember her ever seeming so happy before looking at a bunch of flowers. I thought it was a little . . . no, a _lot_ over the top, but it wasn't my wedding. "Alice you are amazing." She continued as the two of them began flipping the pages together.

"I guess I'll just be getting going then," I said as I rose from the table.

"You don't want to stay and go over everything with us?" Felicity asked.

"I don't want to intrude. It looks like Alice has everything under control." Actually I was feeling bad that I had tried for years to help my daughter plan her wedding, to no success. I was her mother, shouldn't I know what my daughter liked? I had failed her and felt horrible. I just wanted to leave and crawl under a hole.

"Yeah, you're the Mother of the Bride, you should be here for your daughter," Jennifer added.

Great now I felt worse. "Okay," I said, plastering a false smile onto my face and sat back down. "What's left to do?"

"Not much," Alice replied. "If the two of you like everything here, then there is just a few details to hammer out."

Over the next hour Felicity and Jennifer went through all 147 pages of Alice's book and made a few minor changes, before attention was turned back to the other details Alice had mentioned. I could not imagine what they could be. It seemed that she had already planned everything.

"Alright, now Felicity did you want to have Jacob walk you down the aisle?" She nodded. "But Jennifer, um . . . did you want to be waiting at the end for her or . . . err-" she trailed off. "It's just that since Joham is well . . . um-"

"I was thinking of asking either Edward . . . or maybe David to do it," she said, cutting Alice off. "Renesmee would you mind if I asked your father?"

"Of course not. I'm sure he would be honored."

"Great, now that that is settled, who wants to walk first?"

Felicity and Jennifer just looked at each other, neither replying.

After a minute Jennifer spoke up, "could we go at the same time."

"While holding hands?" Felicity added.

"We'll have to widen the aisle. Four people won't fit the way the church is now, but I think it can be arranged," she winked at them. "Okay last question . . . when? Here is a list of dates that the church is free," Alice said as she quickly wrote down 17 dates and times, at her normal super fast vampire speed, on a scrap of loose paper.

"What years are these for, you only wrote down months and days."

"This one, silly." Alice chuckled at my daughter.

"But these are all within the next few months," she gasped.

"Calm down, you know I can't see you, Felicity, so I can't be sure about the exact date but I'm pretty sure that's when it takes place based on the flowers in bloom and a few other things."

"How do you know it's this year though? Jennifer and I have been engaged for years now."

"I didn't think you wanted to wait any longer. Isn't that why I'm here now? I thought so," she said, answering her own question.

But I had one for her. "Alice are you sure that no one has booked anything during all of those times?" That seemed strange. Surely there were other weddings, funerals, baptisms, and what not.

"Mostly," Alice now looked guilty. "There are a few things going on some of those days, but it's nothing too important that a little money wouldn't convince them to switch to a later date."

"Alice, I'm not forcing another couple to move their wedding for ours. Which days?" Felicity asked.

""Fine," Alice sighed, "but that is going to dramatically limit our choices." Alice then crossed out 11 of the dates.

"Not just the weddings, we wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone," Jennifer added which cause Alice to sigh again and cross out another 3 dates.

Three choices left:

Sunday, September 12

Sunday, September 19

Saturday, October 9

"Okay, Jen, which one do you want, I'm good with either of the September ones but think October might get too cold for some of the human guests."

There were going to be humans at the wedding?

"I agree, so what do you think about -"

"Oh, no." Alice cried, as she crossed off the one of the September dates. "Funeral," she mumbled under her breath.

"I guess that settles it. Are you both okay with September 12th?" I asked.

"It's only five weeks away," Jennifer beamed at my daughter. The smile even bigger on her face than when she was looking at the flower arrangements.

"We're getting married," Felicity screeched, jumping up and down with excitement, Jennifer quickly joining her.

I guess they were okay with the earliest date.

I stayed for another hour as the wedding plans got further finalized, now that the date had been set. Alice called the church and figured out how to temporarily widen the aisle in a way that wouldn't cause permanent damage. And the first fittings for the wedding gowns, bridesmaids dresses, and ushers dresses and tuxes were scheduled for the following weekend.

Most of the decorations that Felicity and Jennifer settled on could be bought locally or ordered in time for the wedding, but there were several things that would need to be made.

Alice was so excited. She found out about a vintage fabric store 60 miles away and already saw herself purchasing the most gorgeous fabric to use for the table clothes, or so she said.

* * *

"Jake, I'm home," I said while walking through the front door, 4 hours after Alice had appeared this morning.

"Mmmmmm, there you are. I missed you," Jake had come up to me and wrapped me in a hug with a few quick pecks on the cheek as soon as I crossed the threshold. "Alice called to say that she was stealing you, but I didn't think it was going to be for so long. What did she do, take you shopping?"

"Not this time. She actually got our daughter and her imprint to set a date for their wedding and we were finalizing all of the plans."

He looked at me in disbelief. "You're kidding."

"Nope. September 12, 2060 at 2pm," I replied, still a little in shock myself.

"So everything's really all set?"

"Mostly, but it's an ALICE wedding so you know it's never going to be simple. And Felicity and Jennifer seem to have some major plans now that Alice is in on it." I was going to have to tell him what I did, he wasn't going to like it. I mean he might, but probably not.

"And what does that mean?"

"Err . . . that means that there's going to be a lot of work to do, in a very short amount of time, and the entire family is going to be pitching. In including us." I added in at the end.

"Of course we would help. It's our daughter's wedding. Anything she needs, I'll do. What's up with you? Your fidgeting." He said, then saw my worried expression. "Why do I have a feeling this is going to be something beyond what is the normal father of the bride stuff?

"Because you're so smart," I replied with a wave of my hand. Okay, so I was shamelessly trying to butter him up. It couldn't hurt. I was the one who agreed for the two of us, after all. "And you, my wonderful husband," oh how I love saying that. I never thought I would, but I do. "You know that with Alice nothing is ever that easy," I smirked back. "We have been volunteered," I say, using air quotes around the word _volunteered,_ "to carve . . . um, _some_ votives for the wedding reception."

"Okay, what else?" Jake asked. I guess he missed how I avoided giving him an exact number.

"That's it," I said, turning my back to him, not wanting him to see the concern in my eyes. I really don't want to tell him the amount of candle holders we were going to make, just yet.

"What else is it?" he pressured.

"Nothing else," I hesitated, "It's just that we have to make . . . a lot of candle holders." I chickened out again.

"And by a lot you mean . . . ?"

"168." I blurted out. His eyes bulged out, and I wasn't even done. I guess it would be better to get it all out there at once. "In the shape of roses. And then stain them grey to match the wedding color theme. And Alice would like it if . . ."

"One hundred and sixty eight roses!" Jacob gasped. "That's going to be tight. I guess if we started right away . . . what kind of wood did they want?"

"Err . . ." I hesitated again. "Purple Heart," I whispered, hoping he didn't hear me, yet knowing it would be impossible for him to miss it.

"Purple Heart? But I thought their wedding colors were shades of teal?"

"It is. But Alice wants to add some gray tones in and I guess Purple Heart comes in some light shades of gray. That's another reason why we need to stain them. She gave me a map of where we can find the right kinds of trees. It can't be ordered, we have to go get it," I say, while handing him the piece of paper that she drew it on.

He looked at it skeptically. Did he know that those types of trees didn't grow around here? "I don't recognize any of these landmarks. What part of the forest are they in?"

"South America," I squirmed.

"South Amerrrr. . . aughhhhhhh. Fine," he huffed. "I'm assuming Alice booked us on a flight already."

"She did. Our plane leaves in two hours."

"What?" he growled, not at me, but still I knew he was going to be upset, just not this upset. But then he took one look at me, and how upset, his being upset was making me, and calmed down. He even attempted to put a smile on his face, which I instantly mirrored. "I guess we could look at this like a vacation."

After we quickly packed a bag and raced to the airport, we made it just as the gate was closing.

Clearly the choice of wood for the votives was Alice's doing, well before she even . . . somehow managed to get Jennifer to suggest it. I only realized this when Jake and I were heading to the airport. She had shoved some papers into my hand as I was leaving Jennifer and Felicity's house. At the time I assumed they were our boarding passes, which they were, but that was not all. The pile of papers also contained a small stack of envelopes - wedding invitations.

I guess I couldn't be that upset. I knew that Jennifer would wants Huilen, Nahuel's Aunt, and the Amazon coven coming to her wedding. So did I. And what better way to give them the invitations then them being hand delivered by Jacob and I. Most likely they wouldn't get delivered any other way.

I just wish I knew how Alice had done all of this – she had written the wedding invitations out, with the date and time, and though they were sealed I guessed they were on the paper and design that Felicity and Jennifer just agreed on this morning. All without being able to really _see_ , since Jacob, and Jennifer's wolf side, blocked her vision.

Once in the air Jake turned to me, "Nessie, you know that even if we find enough of this wood to use, it's almost impossible to carve. This is going to take forever."

"I know."

"I don't think you do. It may not be possible to do them all. The wedding's only 5 weeks away. Maybe if we had a few months or if the rest of your family was helping . . ."

"They can't. Alice has them doing a whole list of other things."

"Well we'll just have to tell Alice that it can't be done. 50 maybe, but . . ."

"You want to say 'No' to Alice?" I cut him off, in my astonishment. He know how Alice was when she was in her party planning mode. "We can't do that. Plus Felicity would be so disappointed and she's never asked us for anything before."

"I know you're right," Jacob sighed. "Well if we're going to do this we better started carving, as soon as we return. I hope you are all caught up on your sleep." He smirked over to me.

I was glad he was in a better mood. I hoped it lasted.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review and give me some inspiration to finish this... ;)


	124. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (4th Section)

**Part Ten – Forth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

A smile immediately took over Jacob's face, as soon as our plane landed I know we had just left Isle Esme only few months ago, but he really did love the warmer climates here, than back home, whether he could really be affected by the cold or not. I knew he preferred the warm humidity of Brazil to the cold dampness of Washington (or Calgary Canada where we were currently residing). It didn't seem that different to me, other than the sunlight but I guess he was right; this place just had a feel to it that was cheery. Even if it wasn't home.

"Renesmee, my dear," Huilen greeted me with open arms. "I've missed you. S'been too long since we last spoken." Then she turned to my husband. "Jacob," she spat, quickly acknowledging his presence, as well. Nahuel's initial dislike of him was passed on to her. The fact that Jacob and Nahuel eventually grew to be . . . not exactly friends but, civil to each other, seemed to have escaped her notice. "Tell me, is everyone enjoying themselves up north?" I nodded. "And this one," she said indicating Jake, " _he_ treating you right?"

Jacob quietly growled under his breath but didn't say anything.

"Of course Jacob is wonderful to me," I defended him. How could I not? I knew I was beaming with pride at my new wonderful husband. "We have something for you," I said as I handed her the invitation to Felicity and Jennifer's wedding.

"Should I open it now?"

"Yes, please. I'm sure you'll be very delighted by what's inside."

Huilen was indeed happy with the news that my daughter was marrying Jennifer. Jennifer and her sisters had been one of the few visitors for Huilen and Nahuel in the past, and they'd always enjoyed each other's company, Jennifer especially since she was the closest to Nahuel and less influenced by their father.

Jake could see that Huilen and I were going to be in a conversation for a while so he excused himself to go run around the jungle as a wolf. I didn't mind. I knew he could smell Huilen's mate approaching. The fewer red-eyed Vampires around Jacob the better.

* * *

"I'm afraid we can't stay," I told Huilen a few hours later when Jake returned. I had caught her up on all of the latest gossip from back home and got to get to know Joffery for the first time. We had met a few times before this, but today was the first time we had really talked. He was nice enough, I could see why he and Huilen had become mates, they suited each other.

"Our flight home is scheduled to depart on Tuesday and we still have to find the Amazon coven to give them their wedding invitations. And do one more thing before we leave. It's wedding related," I assured her, so she wouldn't feel bad that we were leaving so soon.

"Nonsense. You just got here," she argued. I shook my head. We were on a tight schedule. "You've been traveling all day. At least stay the night and then get an early start tomorrow so you won't be exhausted. You're just like Nahuel. He never wanted to sleep, always trying to stay up with me during the night," she chuckled sadly. "Secretly I always wished that I could sleep and dream like he did. There is not a lot but I miss that part of my human life. Nahuel's bed is still here. You are, of course, welcome to it," she continued.

Argh, this wasn't helping. Despite their eventual . . . there's no way Jacob would want to sleep in Nahuel's old bed.

I gave Jacob and apologetic look. I couldn't think of a good enough reason to object that wouldn't hurt her feelings. I know she missed her nephew and I was the closest thing she had to him, in a way, being one of the only three half vampires left in the world.

"Of course. We'd love to," Jake surprised me by saying.

I knew he didn't mean it, but there was no backing out now, I guess we were staying.

As we settled into bed I could see that Jake was having as big of a problem with our current location as I thought he would, even though he hadn't said a word. His tossing and turning were speaking volumes for him. I tried to take his mind off of it.

"So aren't you going to tell me what you did today as a wolf? See anything exciting in the forest around here?"

His face instantly brightened for a second before getting serious. I guess that was better than disgusted, if only a little. "I ran around for a while. Then I phased into my Spirit Form for a bit, just to check up on David and Angelina. I'm worried about those two."

"Didn't the Imprinting take care of any issues? Like when you got over my mother when you imprinted on me." He had told me many times about how all the hurt and pain he was in after losing Bella just went away when it happened to him. Wasn't the same true for our son and Leah's daughter?

"Not exactly. I wish it was that easy," he huffed. "You're right though, as far as I can tell they are gone now for Angelina. But David is another story. He had imprinted on Janet's so now that he has re-imprinted . . . well," he struggled for the right words, "while he's not _suicidal_ anymore over Janet death, he's still partially tied to her, and . . . well, both of them, and it's going to take awhile for him to be ready to move on. But Angelina's helping him through it as best she can."

"Wow. I didn't realize."

"Sure, sure," he said, the way he did whenever he wanted to end a conversation. "Leah was also phased at the time," he added, surprising me.

"I thought she was giving up her wolf?"

"That was the plan but I guess there's been some Nomad Vamps around the area that she was asked to help out with.

"Is it serious? Do we need to call the rest of my family to come down and help?"

"No. It's all over," Jake assured me. "I watched them get taken out, through Leah's eyes. It was kind of fun actually. I haven't gotten to do anything like that in decades myself."

I wasn't hurt by what he said, passing Nomads were a danger to everyone in La Push, including my grandchildren. Never-the-less I thought I would have a little fun with him and make him think I was. It might brighten his mood. "Jake, how could you say that?" I wined, overdramatically. "Most of your friends are Vampires now. Your family are Vampires, your _wife,"_ I said pointing to myself, "is Half-Vampire, your children are Quarter-Vampires. You're saying in a Vampire's house tonight," I cried, even forcing out a tear.

"I know, I know, but these are the bad ones." He got all apologetic. "Our friends and family are the good ones. It's different. They don't eat people. At least most of them." He eyed the door, to where we knew Huilen and Joffery were just on the other side.

"I know," I broke into a smile, letting him know it was all an act. "Any other news?" I asked, changing the subject yet again.

"Nothing too major, but it seems that . . . um . . . yeah this is probably something we should talk about later," he broke off quickly. I wonder what it could be that he did not want to tell me right now.

The next morning Huilen surprised us by having breakfast ready. I had planned on hunting, and so had Jacob. We were going to just eat whatever we could find in the area but I guess we were eating human food this morning. If you could call it that. It looked like she had charred some roadkill over a fire. Yum.

Jacob and I ate as much as we could, to not make Huilen feel bad, while dumping most of it among the leaves. No doubt she knew we were doing this with her enhanced senses of smell, and eyesight, and all, but she never said anything to us. Really what she cooked was inedible. We said our goodbyes as pleasantly as possible, assuring each other that we would catch up again during the wedding and then Jake and I took off.

"I think we should head for the Amazon coven next and then pick up the wood on the way back so that we don't have to lug it along with us," I suggested when we were a few miles out.

"Agreed," Jacob said. "But first I think I smell some yummy deer by a stream over there," he pointed to the west. "What do you say we get that horrible taste out of our mouths?"

Instead of verbally agreeing I took off on a sprint to where Jake had pointed. After I drink the thing dry, Jake ate about two-thirds of the meat until he was satisfied and we resumed our trek, looking for the Amazon coven.

Alice had given us directions to the location she had seen them in before we left, but there was really no way to be sure that they were still where she had last seen them. Even if we went to the spot and they were no longer there it wouldn't be too hard to track their scent and locate them again.

On the way I asked him again what it was that he hadn't told me the night before.

"Well it seems that Leah might finally be moving on from Nahuel."

Oh I can see why Jake wouldn't want to bring that up last night in Huilen's house.

"Really who?"

"Do you remember the doctor that tried to help you deliver Felicity?"

"Of course, he's Paul's brother, he fainted during the delivery."

"That's right."

"Leah is interested in him?" That didn't seem right. He was such a . . . wuss, for lack of a better word.

"No he must be in his seventies by now, Leah still looks like she is in her early twenties. And emotionally he's not right for her in any way. He's also already married." Jake said shaking his head and chuckling a little bit. "But he has a son, he had him late in life, and the two of them seem to be hitting it off. I'm not saying it's going to turn into anything and she didn't Imprint on him. It could just be a short little fling or lead to just friendship or something but it's a start. Finally."

He was right. This was good news.

By the time Jake had finished his story we found the Amazon Coven. Luckily for us they hadn't moved and though we had lost some time last night it was easily made up this morning.

We arrived at the Amazon covens current location just after noon and we had a repeat of the previous day's events where Jacob went off on a run, not wanting to be around the red-eyed Vampires any more than necessary, while I caught them up on everything that has been going on in Canada. Only this time they didn't ask us to stay the night, which was more than fine with Jacob and I.

Alice had told us that the Purple Heart trees grew on the east and west coast, so we would have to run half war across the continent. After seven hours of running we were halfway there, but it was getting dark, I was exhausted and I could tell Jake was hungry. The blood I drank earlier meant I was good for at least a week or two, but Jake went off and found a small fox or something. We spent the night camping out amongst the stars. It was beautiful. Jake built a fire and we told stories. It reminded me of the Pack meetings his father use to host in La Push.

The next morning we woke at dawn with the sunrise and set out to run the rest of the way to the coast. The trees were right where Alice said they would be.

"We're going to have to find some branches that have already been knocked down, Nessie," Jake told me. "If we're going to be carving these weren't going to need wood that's already dried out, not something that's just been cuts and still moist."

"It's probably illegal to cut one down anyway. If it's not it should be," I said I eyeing the majestic trees around us. There was one, tall, so tall, towering high above our heads, rising close to two hundred feet in the air, it's leaves not present until the very, very top. There would be no way for us to cut off a branch or two even if that was an option.

It was strange, I expected to see a tree covered with purple bark or at least a normal looking tree, like back home with purple leaves or some purple somewhere but despite their height, and the fact that their leaves were only at the top, leaving a dark baron trunk the entire rest of the way up there was no purple to be seen. I knew that Purple Heart trees only took on its strong purple color when it oxidized after being cut or fell, but still . . . I thought that maybe there would be a hint of it somewhere that I could see with my enhanced sight. I was wrong.

Eventually after some searching we located a few logs that would be suitable to use.

"Do you think we should grab a couple more. I don't want to have to come back here if we run out." I said.

"Good point. But do you see any more?" Jake shook his head from side to side, looking for any more branches. "We don't have to head back to the airport for another few hours. Let's take another sweep and see if we can find any," I suggested.

* * *

"Not gonna let ya bring dat on da plane, illegal da take out of country," our taxi driver said, pointing to the bag we had gathered the wood in.

"Of course not, wouldn't even dream of trying to," I smiled at him, attempting my father's famous dazzling technique, while zipping it shut.

It seemed to work. He shook himself out of the daze before pulling up to the airport curb, let us out with a smile and a wave.

"Did you know about that?" Jacob whispered to me, too low for anyone around us to here.

"I had an inkling."

"So what are we going to do, try to smuggle it on to the plane? They have scanners that look at every piece of luggage. How are we going to get it past security?"

"The way the Cullens do anything, of course," I smiled back up at my lovely husband, showing more confidence than I felt. "With money. Anything can be done with enough money."

I was right. Airport personnel - security, flight attendants, baggage handlers, all could be bought for the right price, to look the other way, and I only had to dazzle one self-righteous security guard, who thought himself too good to break the law. I didn't feel too bad. It's not like we were trying to smuggle in weapons or drugs, just some wood. We hadn't broken any other laws. We hadn't cut down any trees, the logs were already lying on the ground, and we weren't hurting anybody, so what was the harm? I didn't see any.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please, Please Please review.

I know this wasn't the most exciting chapter, but please hang in there. everything is building up to a dramatic ending.


	125. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (5th Section)

**Part Ten – Fifth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

Notch, scoop, twist, turn, repeat.

Notch, scoop, twist, turn, repeat.

Over and over. Again and Again.

Another 36 repetitions and the petals for one votive would be marked. Then I would need to carve them out. After that I had to scoop out a hole in the middle for a tapered candle to fit in, carve out all the surrounding petals, and finally sand everything and I would be done. With this one. There were another three at my feet that I had already finished and Jake was almost done with his forth. But it was slow going. Purple Heart was such a hard wood, even with Jake's and my superhuman strength it was not easy to carve, and our knives and other carving tools needed to be re-sharpened in between each votive, sometimes sooner.

When they were all done Jake and I would still have to stain them grey using a three step process, Alice had decided on, to match Felicity and Jennifer's wedding theme.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Jake was struggling with the piece he was working on.

"Something wrong?" I asked him.

"No," he grunted back. "There's just a knot in the wood that I can't seem to get through." He was gritting his teeth, trying to twist the blade further into the unyielding piece of timber.

He hadn't gotten very far on that one so I just suggested he try a new piece of wood.

"I'm not sure if we have enough, extra," he replied. "I don't want to run out and be caught short. We don't have enough time to go back to Brazil." I saw his arm muscles flex as he try to force the blade into the wood again.

"Ouch!" Jake screamed, as the blade slid through his index finger.

Grabbing a nearby cloth, I had been using to whip dust off the votives, I quickly applied pressure to his bleeding finger. It wasn't the cleanest, and probably not the best idea on my part, but I didn't have anything else readily available, and his finger was squirting blood. "Oh! Jake are you okay?"

"Don't worry about it, Ness," Jake assured me. "Look it's already healed." He used his non injured hand and took mine off of his, then removed the cloth, showing me the lightly faded scar that now ran along the length of his finger.

While injuries to Jake's muscles and bones healed miraculously fast, his skin still showed the signs of all of those wounds, each leaving its own scar in its place. His body was covered in them from bite and claw marks from horsing around with his wolf brothers, to the bullet and dart holes Joham and his daughters had shot him with, to a few knife wounds he had gathered over the years - some I knew about, some I was not so sure of their cause.

I love him and don't care about what he looked like but his body was showing its age, not in physical years, but scars. Even with him being immortal the years were taking their toll on his body nonetheless.

"I guess we should be more careful. Red with completely class with the weddings teal color theme." I could tell Jake was trying to downplay his injury, not wanting to seem week, so I thought it would be good to do the same.

"Well, you don't need to be worried about me. I can't get hurt by a knife," I reminded him as I thrust the blade to my leg, watching it crumple halfway down, then stopped myself before the thing was completely destroyed. "Oops! I guess I shouldn't have done that," I said, as I pinched the blade between my finger and thumb, running in up and down its length, attempted to smooth it out as best I could. It was still a little crumpley so I sharpened it on a nearby stone.

"Show off," Jake chuckled, as we got back to work.

Three votives later my phone started buzzing in my pocket.

"Jacob, we need to go to the main house," I said, holding it up so he could see the text I just received from Carlisle. He must have gotten it as well because instead of looking at mine he took out his own phone to read the entire thing.

We had only been working on the votives for a little over two hours today. If we kept getting interrupted we were never going to finish.

Now that Alice was involved with the planning, and Felicity and Jennifer had finalized the guest list, we at least had a fixed number for the amount of votives we had been requested to make. But after a week we were only done with 33 of them and still had another one hundred and thirty-five to go. And the wedding was less than a month away.

"So what do you think the disaster is this time?" Jacob asked me as we ran over to the main house.

"Don't be so negative. You don't know it's something bad. Maybe Felicity and Jennifer decided to elope or something."

"I don't know about you, but personally, as her father, and Felicity being my only daughter, her running off and eloping would be pretty bad to me. I mean, not as bad as some of the other things we've been through but it would not be one of my top ten happiest things I'd like to see happen."

"Okay so then what do you think it is?"

"Who knows. Too many possibilities. With Alice it could be anything. So how about we instead think about what it's probably not."

"Okay, you start." I needed a moment to think.

"Well, since everyone is either a Vampire, Wolf, or some combination I doubt anybody got sick."

I rolled my eyes. That was obvious and boring. Hmmm. "I don't think Carlisle contacted us to let us know that Alice and Jasper ran off and joined the circus."

"You don't know that. Alice would make an awesome fortune teller at a carnival," Jake laughed, as I had intended.

"You're right they probably did join the circus."

"Or maybe Emmett got a little too rowdy and now his new playhouse is a pile of rubble."

"I thought it was decided that he and Rose were going to move into it and not use it to play games?"

"Well," Jake winced, "Rose and he did move in and they are definitely having fun playing in it. That's why I'm not so sure if it survived."

Eww. Now I was sorry I asked.

Jake and I theorized more possibilities the entire run until we reached the main house, each getting more bizarre and extreme . . . less plausible, yet more hilarious than the first. By the time we got there some combination of aliens, dinosaurs, and anal probes had been brought up at least three times.

"Renesmee, Jacob, thank you for getting here so quickly," Carlisle said as he greeted us at the door. "Everyone's in the dining room. We're just waiting for Rosalie and Emmett."

"I wonder what those two are up to?" Jacob chuckled to me, under his breath, knowing perfectly well, as we all did.

Once they arrived, Alice was the one who began explaining what we were all doing here.

"I'm not sure what it is yet but Caius is definitely up to something. Again."

"He's playing with the holes in your visions." Bella snarled. Anything to do with Caius meant trouble – most likely directed at me. He never got over not being allowed to kill me when I was just a baby.

"He might not be. He might not have finalized his plans, whatever they are." Jasper cut in.

"Either way he continues to change his plans and none of them are good for us." Alice said.

"And what are some of these plans?" Jacob growled.

"There's so many -" she shook her head.

"The top ones then," Esme suggested. "What have you been seeing more than once?"

"Let's see . . . he's thought about somehow poisoning our livestock."

Rose snickered. "Drinking from a sick deer wouldn't hurt us." Some joined in the laughter.

"No but if he kills all of them then we won't have anything to feed from."

Everyone went silent except Emmett. "So we ration until we can get more deer. It won't be the first time. Not that big of a deal. What else?"

"Sometimes he's been thinking about trying to catch us all individually and take us out but he knows where all paired up and how unlikely that would be."

"So he's working alone. That's something." Jasper almost looked like he was getting excited.

I guess that was true. "But he has forever to _make_ new friends." Wait a minute. "Why isn't he working with the rest of the Volturi? There are dozens of them that could be helping him. He must be blocking you about that too." I started to panic. We could be surrounded even now.

"No, the rest of the Volturi want no part of this."

"What?" I relaxed but still didn't understand.

My father tried to clear up my confusion. "He was outvoted. Two to one."

But Aro is dead. Only he and Marcus are left.

"There are still three leaders of the Volturi, Aro was . . . replaced."

 _By who?_ I mentally asked my father. He didn't answer this time, so either my mother was now blocking me for some reason, but that was not likely, he just answered my previous questions, more likely he was choosing to ignore me for some reason.

Alice went over a few other possible scenarios that Caius was considering, but Jasper was in a much better, more confident mood, now that he knew Caius would be vastly outnumbered. He began strategizing how we would _handle_ him. He was still a member of the Volturi, but if the other two (whomever the third was - I gave my father a dirty look, which he ignored) were against him, it was agreed that if we ended up killing Caius they most likely would not retaliate . . . probably.

We still didn't know when or where he would strike so it was agreed that until things were more certain none of us would go anywhere alone, and not without a phone. Alice was going to step up her vision watching and all of us were going to begin patrols, making sure he wasn't lurking around. That was Jake's idea. Alice assured him that she would see him coming when he finally made up his mind, but Jake wasn't convinced.

* * *

"Why couldn't we do this during the day. Doesn't my family know we sleep at night?" We had been patrolling, looking to make sure Caius was nowhere near, for almost five hours and I was getting tired. Staying up past 1am was not something I was use to.

"I made the schedule," Jake said.

"What? Why would you do this to us?"

"Because during the day we still need to carve another 127 votives. Remember."

Argh. He was right. I was the one who had given in to Alice and agreed that Jake and I would do that. But I still thought this was unfair. Couldn't we patrol and carve at the same time. In the daytime. When the sun was out. Not in the middle of the night when I was supposed to be in bed. Hmmm my bed. I miss my bed. So soft, and comfy. I could feel my eyes closing. Maybe if I just took a little nap.

"NESSIE!" Jake's voice boomed and I instantly was alert.

"What is it? Is it Caius?"

"No. But be thankful it wasn't or you could be dead by now. Were you sleeping?" He looked not exactly angry. More upset . . . concerned.

"No." I huffed. He gave me a look. "Yes, I'm sorry, but I'm not a full Vampire and I'm not a wolf. I don't have mystical magical energy that lets me never get tired and stay up all night long. I need my sleep."

"You're right," he sighed. "Tomorrow I will adjust the schedules, and we can patrol during the daytime only. For tonight how about I phase and you can hop on," he said tilting his head behind him. "Do you think you can stay awake if you don't also have to run?"

I wasn't sure but agreed anyway. He phased and I climbed onto his back, almost like he was a horse or something. I wasn't sure if sitting up here, with the wind still in my hair as Jake ran, but not running myself, would make my drowsiness worse or not. Jake's Wolf self was so comfy, I loved falling asleep on him in both forms, but this one was just so big and warm and . . .

* * *

I wasn't sure how many hours Jake had run that night. I must have fallen asleep soon after I climbed on him.

"What time is it?" I asked as I opened my eyes and saw that we were in our bed.

"Just after eight," Jake replied. I patrolled for a couple more hours, but it was getting harder and harder to run, without jostling you. I was afraid you might fall off, so I ran to the main house and mentally filled Edward in. He and Bella covered the rest of our shift."

"That was nice of them."

"Yeah, well, they only switched times with us."

"Oh. When was theirs suppose to be?"

"In about thirty minutes."

I groaned.

"Come on," Jake said, pulling me out of bed. If we get up now, we'll have time for a quick shower and breakfast."

"How about we stay in bed," I said pushing him back down, with me colliding on top of him, "and do something much more fun. We can grab a meal on the go later." We were bound to run across a few bunnies or a fox while patrolling.

"Mmmm," Jake smirked, before rolling us over.

* * *

Bella and Edward had to take a few more of our patrol shifts over the weeks that followed in order for us to finish carving the votives, but they were more than willing to do it in order to help us make their granddaughters wedding dreams come true. In all that time no one had spotted Caius, and Alice still had no idea what his true plan was. She said her visions of what we was going to do kept changing day by day, sometimes hour by hour. I was starting to think that that was his plan. To never actually attack us, just drive Alice, and by proxy all of us nuts, by continually change his mind forever on end.

Right now I didn't care though. We had done it. We carved 168 votives out of the Purple Heart wood. Actually we had one extra because in order to finish on time Jake and I had turned it into sort of a contest between the two of us and we were racing at the end to finish number 168.

Jake won of course, but I couldn't leave a half finished votive out there so I put the final touches on number 169 before we started staining all of them. The wedding was in three days and we would need every second for the stain to dry. I still don't truly understand why we couldn't have just used a different wood that was already the right color without having to go through such elaborate staining methods, but what Alice wants, Alice gets. Whether it's her wedding or not.

"You owe me a new set of carving knives," Jake said to Alice, as we delivered the finished votives to her, two days later. The wedding was tomorrow and we were going to go to the church early in the morning to set everything up. Right now everything was just being loaded in the trucks before the rehearsal _dinner_.

"Already ordered," she smirked back to him. "They'll be here on Friday."

* * *

Everyone was at the church for Felicity and Jennifer's wedding in La Push. After once again catching up with the Amazon coven I made my way over to where Jake was talking with Seth. He was in a small group with his wife and children. As he turned I could see that he was holding a small baby. This must be Emma, his granddaughter. She was looking as lovely as she did in the video phone chats I had seen her on.

After exchanging some pleasantries I grabbed Jake and we headed over to David and Angelina. They were building a solid friendship, but I could tell that David still wasn't ready to move on from Janet. I hadn't expected him to so soon anyway but it was good that they at least had come together today.

A few of the other original wolves from when I was a child were here, all of the remaining ones at least. On days like this I was reminded that Sam and Jared and their wives were gone. But their children were here. And Leah had come with Paul's nephew, Joffrey. They really did look cute together. I hope it will work out for her; she deserved to be happy.

It looked like Joffery was trying (and failing) to interject himself into a conversation with a couple of Jennifer and Felicity's friends they had met in Australia. I knew he wasn't a Wolf, but Joffery must have know by their red eyes, pale skin, and modelesque beauty that he was trying to talk to a pair of mated Vampires, didn't he? Surely Leah or Paul, or someone in La Push would have told him.

A glance over to my father didn't help. He was busy calming down some of the new Wolves. I hadn't seen what had happened, but could see Carlisle on the other side of the room, reasoning with Charlotte and Peter. They were growling, but no one was fighting . . . yet.

I think Jake and were going to have to go over and rescue Joffery. Leah was in the back with Felicity, since she had asked her to be one of her bridesmaids. They were all getting dressed and having their hair and makeup done by Alice. Felicity had also asked my granddaughter, Sepideh to be a bridesmaid as well as Jasper and Emmett, flipping tradition on its side and having men and women for bridesmaids, or I guess bridesmaids, and bridesmen, in this case.

Jennifer had done the same asking Rose and Bella, along with some male Nomads that she must have known previously over the years. I had never met them before but they seemed nice enough, at least as far as I could tell in the few moments I had met them last night at the rehearsal dinner. Huilen who was acting as Jennifer's Mother of the Bride was in the church greeting all of the wedding guests with me and Jacob. Bella had already sent word out that both of them were ready back there so we were just waiting for the rest of our guests to arrive and the ceremony would begin.

"Joffery, I think the ceremony is going to start," Jake had grabbed him away from the Australians before they could bite his head off, literally. He looked a little confused, but he would get over it. We sat him down next to Rachel and Rebecca. It was a nice reunion for the two of them. I don't know when the last time was that those two had seen each other, but Rebecca had brought her husband, Solomon all the way from Greece, as well as their son, Belen. And it looked like most of the Grecian wolves were attending the wedding, as well. Some of them seem to have brought dates with them, too. I wondered if any of them were imprints but didn't want to be rude and ask.

My father would probably know and I could ask him in private later. I looked over to him again. The incident between the wolves and Jasper's old friends seemed to have been resolved and he was back playing the church organ. All was well and he gave me a slight smirk and head nod.

Good, I would drive myself crazy trying to reason out who was an imprint and who was just a friend/girlfriend.

Looking around the room again I could see that some of the Wolves were getting a little agitated. I couldn't blame them. While it seemed that Jake and I were content with a small wedding, Felicity and Jennifer had invited almost everyone they had ever met, and some that they had not. I could see that almost every single vampire who had come to witness for me when I was a baby was here. There were of course a few exceptions - the Egyptian and Irish covens were missing. And Alistair, being such a loner, was naturally not here. But I spotted Mary and Randall keeping to themselves in a far corner, as well as a few other Nomads, some whom I never met before, but obviously knew Jennifer and/or Felicity. And the Denali's were here of course, as well as a few other covens we had met and became friends with over the years.

Jake and I made two more circuits around the room. We talked to everyone we had known and introduced ourselves, as the parents of the bride, (well one of the brides) to those we did not. Huilen had done the same as Jennifer's Mother of the Bride proxy. And my father, who would be walking her down the aisle and giving Jennifer away, had even torn himself away from the organ long enough to do the same, when I had offered to take his place after my first loop.

The wedding was supposed to have started over an hour ago. We were still waiting for William and Penny. Matthew had arrived 40 minutes ago, apologizing profusely for being late and letting us all know that his brother, and sister-in-law would be here soon.

"I thought they were right behind me. I don't understand what happened."

"Alice do you think you could look and see if you can give us an idea of what is keeping them?" my father asked her, after no one could get in touch with either of them by phone.

"We're in the heart of Wolf country. And William is a Wolf. Even as much as I'm able to see around that, you don't really think I'd be able to see anything here do you?"

She had a point, but twenty minutes later after another round of attempts to call them failed, and two of the Wolves phasing to talk to William with their telepathy turned up nothing, Edward implored his sister to try again.

"Alright, alright," she sighed, "but don't blame me when I come up with nothing." She searched for a second and then gasped. Followed closely by something being crunched into kindling by my father. "I don't know what happened . . . we need to get to . . ."

"The hospital," Edward finished for her.

* * *

Dun, dun, dun. . . .

* * *

Happy Inktober.

Please review. and thanks for reading.


	126. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (6th Section)

**Part Ten – Sixth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

William's wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Littlesea, who thought of our son as William's younger brother, instead of his father, road with David, Angelina, and Carlisle to the hospital. Followed closely behind by Jacob and I, along with Sepideh and Matthew.

William and Penny's twin daughters, Eryn and Krissy, were teenagers now and had driven themselves to the church. They wanted to come with us to the hospital but we thought better. There would probably be no news for hours, and being stuck in a boring Hospital waiting room would not be fun. They could worry just as easily and more comfortably at the church.

That wasn't to say that we were dismissing their feelings for their parents, we were all concerned about the couple. We just didn't have any answers for them right now.

Alice and Edward were only able to tell us that they had been in some sort of car accident, as far as Alice could see. She couldn't even see William, so she had no idea what happened to him, not that we were too worried about him. He was a wolf, if only a former one at that, having given up his wolf decades ago, to grow old with his Imprint wife. Still, we didn't think a car accident would really hurt him. But Alice saw that Penny was severely injured and had been brought to the ER.

They had stayed at the church to let the guests know what was going on, at least as much as they were able to. And to tell everyone what Felicity and Jennifer decided – to put the wedding on hold, but everyone was more than welcome to go into the reception area. And those who ate were going to do just that, while the Vampires in the group most likely would be disappearing into the local Woods, not wanted to be cooped up with a bunch of humans and Wolves any more than necessary, not if a wedding wasn't going to take place today. They promised to stay in the area, at least for a little while, to see if the wedding would be rescheduled for sometime soon or not. It would all depend on how severe Penny's injuries were, I guessed.

"I'm going to go see if I can find out what's going on," Carlisle said as he headed off to the nurses' station and the rest of us tried to get comfortable in the stiff waiting room chairs. He didn't work at this hospital but was known in the area and would be able to find things out faster than the rest of us. Even though he was whispering with the nurses I could hear everything he was saying, while I tried to comfort Penny's parents.

"Would it be possible if I were to just look over her charts?" I heard Carlisle ask one of the nurses, probably flashing one of his dazzling smiles, to get her to do whatever he wanted. It always seemed to work for everyone in my family.

There was a few vending machines nearby and bought the Littlesea's some coffee and a selection of chips and candy bars to choose from. They took them and had a few sips of the coffee, but didn't touch the junk food.

Even though I couldn't see him, since he was around the corner, I heard pages wrestling, meaning he had achieved his goal.

"And could you direct me to the other cars occupant, I would like to speak with him." Carlisle added, trying to find out what happened to my grandson, William.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, doctor," the nurse replied.

"And why is that?" Carlisle asked, laying on the charm.

"Well . . . I really can't . . ."

"I assure you, you won't get into any trouble."

"No, that's not it . . . it's just that he is no longer . . . Err . . . You see the young man isn't . . . He didn't . . ."

"He wasn't brought to this Hospital?" Carlisle offered, trying to help the suddenly tongue tied nurse.

"No he was . . ." she broke off again. "It's just that now he . . ."

"Did he leave?" Carlisle asked trying to lead her again to get her to answer.

"No . . . No he . . ."

"Where is he?" Carlisle raised his voice. It was only slight, and the nurse probably hadn't heard the difference, but I could. It wasn't like him to get so agitated. I had missed something.

She must have pointed or shown him something because I didn't hear another word out of her, just of her footsteps walking off and Carlisle's coming back to us.

When I saw his face I knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Penny!

"Did you find anything out? Is Penny going to be alright?" I asked for her parents sake, already knowing that she most likely was not.

Carlisle spoke directly to them, but I knew it was for all of us.

"Mr. and Mrs. Littlesea, I'm afraid I have some upsetting news for you. And I need you to prepare yourselves." Mrs. Littlesea had been pacing around the room but now was huddled in the chair next to her husband. Carlisle continued, "The injuries your daughter sustained, in the car accident, were severe. They are going to be bringing her up to surgery in a few minutes." He continued to explain what was wrong with their daughter, after Mrs. Littlesea stopped crying long enough for her to hear him, but I could see him shaking his head so infinitesimally that only one with sharper than human eyesight would be able to see, that there was really no hope for there their daughter.

"Why don't we leave the Littleseas, for a moment, to process this information," Carlisle told the rest of us. It was just a cover, though. Really we needed to go find William.

"I think we are going to stay here," Sepideh spoke for herself and her brother, Matthew. They all lived on the Reservation together and were good friends not only with Penny, but probably her parents as well. Their brother being missing wasn't as upsetting at the moment to the fact that their sister-in-law was dying.

"Sure, sure," Jake understood. "We'll let you when we find him," he added too low for the Littlesea's to hear.

Where was William? I couldn't imagine why he wasn't with his wife. I hope he wasn't out tracking down whoever had been in the other car. The ER seemed rather quiet and it didn't look like anybody else had been brought in, so whoever it was, must have walked away from the accident relatively unscathed.

"Were you able to find out where William is?" David asked, as soon as we were out of earshot.

"I'm taking to you to him now," Carlisle said as the five of us piled into the nearest elevator and he hit the last button I would have expected.

M

* * *

"Why are we going to the Morgue, Carlisle?" David growled.

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you at this moment. Please do not jump to any conclusions, but according to the nurse, William was found already deceased, when the ambulance arrived." David was struggling not to phase in the elevator. Jake wasn't doing that much better.

What other conclusion were we supposed to jump to other than William being dead?

"BUT," Carlisle yelled trying to grab Jake and David's attention. Angelina and I did what we could holding our Imprint's hands – my touch always calmed Jake down. "The thought of him, a Wolf, dying in a car accident . . . it just seems so unlikely . . ." David and Jake seemed to calm down, at least they stopped shaking and were no longer a risk of phasing in the tiny metal box, "I'm hoping that his body went into some sort of vegetative state, like Vampires do under stress. He is part Vampire after all. It is . . . possible, and in such a state the paramedics might have confused this frozen state with death, if they were unable to detect any life signs."

Yes, that made sense. It had to. There's no way a simple car accident could have killed him. No! There was no way my grandson was dead.

We all nodded our heads in agreement, some looking more convinced than others, as we continued our decent down into the basement.

The elevator opened right into the morgue. There were no winding hallways, not even a set of doors to slow down my son. David rushed out of the elevator and straight towards a woman who had the unfortunate timing to be in middle of washing William's body. A quick glance told me that that was all she had done. She hadn't performed an autopsy, not that I was even sure if she would have.

"Take your hands off of him!" David yelled, slapping the sponge out of the poor woman's hand.

"I beg your pardon!" she yelled back, probably accustomed to dealing with grieving and angered family members. "You're not allowed down here and I would appreciate it if you did not interrupt my work."

"Please pardon the interruption, Ms. . . . Shade," Carlisle said, reading the morgue employee's name off of her ID badge, in his most diplomatic tone, while simultaneously stepping between the two of them so that David did not hurt her, intentionally or not. "You must excuse my friends behavior. You see, the man on the table is his . . . err. . . brother."

Angelina grabbed David's hand and also placed herself between him and the woman, adding more distance between them, turning him around in the process so he didn't see his son lying on the table.

Carlisle did the same. Not with his hand but positioned his body in a way that made Ms. Shade turn, not only to face him, but also away from William.

With Ms. Shade and David distracted, I went and examined him, looking for any signs of life. Jake joined me. He seemed to have calmed down and was back in control.

Carlisle really was the one who should be doing this, but he was busy, and I had enough medical training to see not only if someone was dead or not, no matter how faint, but also, in some cases, determine the cause. But that was about it. If William was alive I would have to tell my grandfather so he could revive him, if needed, and then we would have to deal with Ms. Shade. But after looking him over I realized that would not be necessary.

He wasn't breathing. And even with our enhanced hearing neither Jake or I could detect a heartbeat, not even a faint one. Moreover we could easily see the bones in his left tibia and fibula, his right forearm, and his left clavicle were broken. With a little poking and prodding I could feel that most of the bones in his neck had also been broken. This was probably the cause of death.

I shook my head, letting Carlisle know. When William's body was released Carlisle would probably want to do a more thorough examination. But we had found out what we had came here for. He nodded back in understanding.

In the meantime the morgue employee was still talking to him. "I do understand all too well." She sounded slightly less agitated, but I could tell she was still pissed off. "But family is not allowed down here. You'll have to leave. When everything is done the body will be released and you can see it then." Her responses were cold and harsh. She didn't seem to be very good with people, probably why she worked with the dead.

"Of course." Carlisle seemingly acquiesced. "I was just wondering . . . they didn't seem to know upstairs, but can you tell me what happened to the person in the other car? We'd like to make sure that they are all right."

"Other car?" She seemed confused. "What other car?"

"We were told that William was in a car accident, we assumed it was with another vehicle."

"No," she replied, then went and grabbed a chart off a nearby table and began flipping through the paperwork. "It seems that the car's driver . . . oh, it looks like that was him," she said pointing to William, " _he_ lost control of the car and wrapped it around a pole or a tree. Funny thing though," she started to chuckle before stopping herself, poorly attempting to cover it by clearing her throat, while flipping more pages, "according to the police report they couldn't find the tree."

Her sense of humor was verging on the stranger side which told me that she probably had been working in the morgue a little too long. But that worked for us now.

That was strange. Not only the missing tree part but the thought of William losing control of the car . . . his Wolf reflexes should have made that nearly impossible. Something wasn't right.

"We should go back to the scene of the _accident._ See if we can learn anything more there." Jacob said, I think he was talking to me, but it was starting to sink in that my grandson was dead and all I could do now was stand frozen over his dead body. For how long - I didn't know. Eventually Jake dragged me out of the room. I didn't want to leave, but he was right, we needed answers.

I started to wake up more, halfway up the elevator ride. I was standing in between Jake and Carlisle.

"Where are David and Angelina?"

"David ran out just after you let Carlisle know William was gone. Angelina followed him. Don't worry. She'll take care of him," Jake told me.

"I should go inform Sepideh and Matthew," Carlisle told us as the doors opened back onto the Emergency Room floor.

"Maybe you should take a walk with them outside first, just in case," Jake suggested. He was right. The danger of Matthew phasing was too great in the hospital.

Carlisle agreed. "Would you like me to call Edward and let the rest of the family know as well?' he added.

I hadn't thought of that. Of course they would need to be told, but we also needed to go to the crash site. We needed answers.

"No, we'll go there before we head over to William's car." Jake replied.

"What if everything is cleaned up by then? I think we should go directly there. Alice has probably already seen . . . something, and between her and Edward, everyone already knows, or soon will."

"You're right," Jake agreed with me. "But Carlisle is it alright if we take you up on your offer, just in case."

"Of course," Carlisle told us before we took off. I felt bad dumping it on him, but I was worried there would be nothing left and we would never get any answers.

* * *

With our car's doors closed we hadn't smelt anything as we drove to the crash site. But once we opened the car doors we were immediately assaulted by Caius' scent. This was no accident. He had attacked them.

"Careful, Caius could be hiding anywhere," Jake told me, when I began following their car's skid marks. The car had managed to end up off the road and a good thirty-two feet into the woods.

I didn't see Caius anywhere in the area. He wouldn't be stupid enough to hang around. His odor must have lingered from the initial attack on William and Penny. "Why would Caius come back here? He must know we would kill him for what he's done."

"I don't think he ever left. His scent's too fresh." Jake growled, then his expression changed and he almost smiled . . . almost. "William must have caused almost as much damage to him as he received. Caius could be lying around here in pieces."

"You think William di . . . you know," I choked, unable to say the words yet, "before he was able to light that SOB on fire?"

"Let's go find out." Jake said as he followed me towards the car.

"Do you smell that?" As we walked deeper into the woods, I could smell two other Vampires a little further away. Were there more waiting in the woods? My eyes begin scanning the trees, the horizon line, around rocks. I didn't see anything, but that meant nothing. Caius' friends, subordinates, allies, whoever . . . could they be out there? Waiting? Hiding?

We both froze. It was a trap. Instantly three Vampires stood before us, with Caius at the center. He wasn't dead. He didn't even look like he had been injured.

My hand had instantly dove into my pocket the second we had first smelt Caius and was still there now. It was part of the plan we had come up with over a month ago to keep everyone safe, when Alice first had her vision of Caius planning something - always stick in twos, have a cell phone with you, and call for backup at the first sign of trouble. I was glad we had come up with that now because I only had an instance to dial before Caius became aware of what I was doing. The only problem was I couldn't take my phone out of my pocket to look at it and see if the call went through, or if I'd even dialed the right number. Nonetheless I nonchalantly took my hand out of my pocket and gently grazed Jacob's arm letting him know what I had done. I left the call open. If it had gone though they would be able to hear everything.

"Caius! Our grandson never did anything to you." Jake screamed. "Why did you do this?" We needed to get him talking, to give my family time to get here. Three against two were not the greatest odds.

"Do you have any idea what it's like back in Volterra, you ruined everything!" Caius hissed back, taking the bait. "Once Aro was gone, his wife, Sulpicia tried to seize power. I didn't think she had it in her; she's been so _docile_ this past millennium." He had been standing on a high rock, some 30 meters away, but had jumped down, vertically, 22 feet and was now 12 meters closer. I had never seen him so animated. "But then I guess it was Aro's own fault," he continued, stepping closer with every unnecessary breath. "He had grown overconfident over the centuries, with Chelsea by his side, thinking he could control everything. But once she and Aro were gone the spell Chelsea had over his wife was broken and her true personality began to reemerge.

"Well her and that other one, Tia," he spat her name as if even the sound of it was an insult to his ears. He was now a mere 18 meters from us. His two henchmen even closer. "Did you know that the two of them became friends over the years. They're still there, you know." He seemed disgusted at the mere thought. "Benjamin and Tia. In Volterra. Benjamin has no desire to lead. But the other two," his disgust grew, "together with Marcus, their little trio seems to think that _they_ will become the new Volturi. Not like that's going to happen." He leaped another 7 meters closer, "I'll get Marcus back on my side and together he and I will find a new third . . . perhaps Amun, he was always good at controlling Benjamin in the past. I'm sure he'll be able to get him, and his mate, to do his bidding once again. Of course this time **I** will be the center, the heart of the Volturi, the NEW Volturi, like I was always meant to be."

"You know what Caius, I think we have heard enough." Jake yelled back at him, "because frankly my wife and I stopped listing a long time ago." I liked how Jake referred to me as his wife to Caius, instead of Renesmee, or Nessie, or even Ness. I knew as he did, that it would upset Caius simply because he hated Wolves and thought Vampires miles above them, and me being only half, mated and married to one, was still far above my husband, in his eyes. The thought was simply revolting to him. Internally I snickered at his revoltion.

"You got kicked out of the Volturi. Boo-Hoo. Nothing you have to say is any interest to us. No one cares about your stupid sob story." Jake's face grew angrier. "You killed our grandson and now you will die for that," Jake finished yelling, before leaping and phasing midair, catching him completely off guard. He managed to catch Caius right in the midsection but was able to quickly throw Jake off easily, having previous experience in the past with real werewolves.

Four more Vampires, one of whom I recognized from the group Aro had tricked into joining the Volturi, appeared from somewhere in the woods. They must have been hiding just out of our eyesight and downwind so we did not catch their scent.

It was now seven to two. We were now completely outnumbered and my family was nowhere in sight. They should have been here by now. I was starting to think my phone call to my father never went though. Did I dare take my phone out of my pocket and redial his number? Making sure the call went through this time.

If I did someone might see and stop me before I was even done dialing. But if I didn't even try, Jake and I surely wouldn't have a chance. Not against so many. I had to risk it.

Jake had Caius and another busy for the moment. He was holding his own, but two others were near, looking like they were eager to get in on the fight. The other three were circling me. Backing me further into the woods. My hand swooped in and out of my pocket in a flash. But I was seen and one of Caius' henchmen grabbed the phone out of me hand.

"Look at this," he held it up for Caius and the others to see. But I could too and I saw that my call was still open, my father's name and number lit up on the screen. He must be hearing everything. "The little half-breed called her daddy for help." He started laughing then held it to his ear. "Say goodbye to your daughter," he snarled into it before crushing my phone in his hand, and tossing it aside.

Turning to run, the other two grabbed me before I could move an inch. Not being able to overpower them, my only shot was to be able to use my gift and trap them in one of my tactile visions, like I had with the guards in Volterra years ago. My hands snaked around and around. They probably thought I was trying to break free, but really I was attempting to find a piece of exposed skin, yet every inch of them, besides their face was covered, and the way they were holding me, I couldn't reach up that far. They were also wearing gloves, and whatever material they were dressed in, I couldn't seem to rip, though I tried.

Of Course. Caius was there last time, he had seen what my gift was capable of doing and had his men prepare for this possibility.

"Bring her to me," I heard Caius say.

Jake!

He had been fighting Caius, but now Caius was twenty feet in front of me and still did not appear injured. Where was Jake? Was he dead?

As Caius' goons dragged me toward him I searched to my left where I last saw him. Nothing. I heard some rustling and growling over to my right. There he was, further away, barely a blimp on the horizon. They had separated us, but Jake was still alive, still fighting. Yet now it was three against one, and it didn't look like Jake was holding his own anymore. The last I saw was him go flying into a tree before one of the ones holding me, threw me down at Caius' feet.

 **To be continued . . .**

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review. The next chapter should be up next wednesday.


	127. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (7th Section)

**Part Ten – Seventh Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

Wrapping his fingers around my neck, Caius lifted me off the ground, so that my eyes were level with his. He was the same height as me, 5'9" but was on higher ground and also standing on a rock. My feet were now dangling inches above the ground, with his grip so tight, that it was cutting off my oxygen, that unlike him, I needed.

I tried to scream at him, but only a gurgling sound came out before I ran out of air. He seemed to find that funny. With my hands busy, uselessly trying to pry Caius' fingers from my neck, my feet swung wildly, also having little effect, as the result of each kick to his shins barely registered on Caius' face. I may as well have been tickling him with a feather.

I was starting to see stars from the lack of oxygen to my brain.

"Now the justice, that should have been dispatched 50 years ago will finally be carried out." With a jerk of his arm, Caius yanked me to him. One hand released my neck, enough so that I could take a single gasping breathe before he readjusted and tightened his other one. Things were getting fuzzy, but I could feel his free hand pull at my hair, forcefully tilting my head to the side, exposing my neck. Caius opened his mouth. This was it. I was going to die.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!"

Finally.

It didn't seem like my father's scream deterred Caius at all. He squeezed tighter. Things were going black but I could still feel his razor sharp teeth on my neck. Just as they pierced down, into my skin, we were both knocked to the ground.

Having been denied oxygen for too long, I wasn't able to do much more than fumble around, hacking and gasping for air, as I tried to catch my breath and crawl away from Caius. I wasn't sure what happened, but was just conscious enough to know I needed to try to get as much space between us as possible. Thankfully that wasn't necessary. It took me some time, but as I began to recover I realized what had happened - Jasper had tackled Caius . . . well both us.

The two of them were now wrestling, flipping around in a blur, moving too fast for even my eyes to catch everything.

"Where's Jake?" my mother screamed to me.

I was still coughing too much, from the damage Caius had inflicted on my throat, unable to talk, so I just pointed over to the far hill where I had last seen him. Half my family – Carlisle, Rose, Emmett, and Bella, ran in that direction. Esme, stayed to help and protect me, while Jasper continued to fight with Caius, and Edward and Alice took on the other three Vampires that were here with him.

A few minutes later it was all over. I had been too out of it to see exactly what had happened, but did see some tree branches torn down and thrown into a pile, where a fire was started. Body parts were thrown on and purple smoke soon filled the air.

When it was all done my father came over and started examining my neck. It was probably bruised, from the force Caius had used, not to mention the bite mark that was still healing. "How are you feeling? Caius' venom . . . are you . . ." His face and voice were full of concern.

None of us knew what venom would do to me, but I already had venom in me and though it stung I seemed to be fine. I tried telling my father that, but my voice was hoarse. Luckily, with us, I didn't need to talk out loud. And with my accelerated healing any damages to my vocal cords should correct itself quickly.

A few minutes later Bella, Rose and Emmett carried the disassembled pieces of the vampires Jake had been fighting and added them to the bonfire.

Wait, that was only six bodies being dumped on the fire. One was missing.

"Caius got away," my father answered my erratic thoughts. "Don't worry. Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie went after him. He won't get far," he assured me.

I hadn't even seen them leave.

 _But you don't know that for sure. What if he has more allies with him and manages to get past them . . . or worse._ I didn't want them to get hurt. _He could be anywhere. What if he goes after others?_ My mind was racing, picturing the faces of all those he could kill - my family, the wolves, and especially all of the defenseless humans who came for the wedding.

"Don't worry. The Wolves are at the church guarding our human guests, in case Caius makes another appearance."

 _Okay,_ I relaxed. _Can you tell Jake that . . ._ Suddenly I realized that I didn't see him anywhere and he hadn't come back with Bella, Rose and Emmett. Neither had Carlisle. _What happened?_

"Carlisle is with him. We need to leave quickly. Jacob's been bitten and several of his bones have been broken."

Oh no!

* * *

After piling into the car and racing to the main house Carlisle injected Jake with the anti-venom he had developed years earlier and then got to work setting his broken bones.

One good thing about Jake being bit was that the venom had prevented Jake's accelerated healing from kicking in and his bones had not mended themselves in the wrong positions. As soon as the anti-venom worked its way through Jake system I could hear his breathing even out and his heartbeat slow down to a more normal rhythm.

Once Jake's arm, leg and ribs had been reset and wrapped tightly (they would heal quick enough that putting on casts would be pointless) something still seemed wrong.

Felling around Jake's abdomen, Carlisle ascertained that his spleen must have been punctured by one of his broken ribs.

"Aren't you going to operate?" I asked when I saw that Carlisle was not setting up for surgery.

"I'd like to wait and see, for now. He's in no immediate danger and I have a feeling that Jakes own healing abilities should fix any internal damage on its own. Unless something changes my cutting him open would only slow down his recovery." I gave him a skeptical look. "I'll keep an eye on him but he should be good as new in a day or two," Carlisle assured me.

Thank goodness.

With nothing to do but let Jake sleep I had a few questions for Edward. Specifically regarding what Caius told me about how Benjamin and Tia were now part of the Volturi. He heard me and came to me so I wouldn't have to go search for him.

 _Why didn't you tell me about Benjamin and Tia before?_ I mentally ask my father once he entered the room. It had been over an hour since Caius' attack, but my throat still felt off and I didn't want to risk slowing down its healing.

"Honestly I didn't know. Alice had only seen Benjamin trying to persuade Tia to leave Volterra."

 _What else did you hear?_ I needed to know everything. My grandson was dead and I needed answers.

"We didn't want to tell you until we were certain." He sighed apologetically. "Alice has been seeing little glimpses . . . Benjamin didn't want to stay in Volterra. Yet, at the same time, refused to leave his mate, Tia. The _decision_ to stay wasn't . . . finalized until a couple months ago. We were going to tell everyone after the wedding. You're not the only one who was kept in the dark," my father explained to me.

 _So why did Benjamin change his mind?_

"It was made impossible for him not to. Sulplica and Tia killed Caius' wife, Athenodora. I only heard what Caius knew, and only because it's all he can think about. It seems that Sulplica and Tia originally wanted her to be the third Volturi leader instead of Marcus. But when she refused, telling Caius their plans, it left Sulplica and Tia no choice but to try and kill them both. Apparently there was . . . a sort of _civil war_ in Volterra. Caius and Athenodora, and some others, tried to take back control of the Volturi from Sulplica, Tia, and their supporters.

 _So the Vampires here with Caius tonight . . ._

"Those who escaped the Volterra battle, loyal to him and his wife."

My father's mode momentarily seemed to lighten. "Marcus seems to have backed the wrong side. He probably hoped to have died in the fight. But he was on Sulplica and Tia's side." Then his smile disappeared. "Now he's going to have to go on living, without his mate for who knows how much longer."

His expression sunk even lower. "Benjamin's hand was forced. He had no other option. He had to stand with Tia, against Caius, and thereby her decision to lead the new Volturi. With Benjamin, and his gift, on their side they easily won, even with being outnumbered 3 to 1. Caius and the others you saw today barely escaped." My father then took an unnecessary breath. "I'm assuming that is why he showed up here, now. He wants revenge and seems to have started with our family."

 _But we didn't kill his wife. This is insane. W_ _hy is he coming after us? We're not responsible for his wife's death._

"He feels that everything in his world started going wrong once he met us. If Aro had not become so obsessed with obtaining Alice, me and your mother, for our gifts, then none of this would have happened, and his wife still would be alive. It was just chance that you and Jacob were the ones who arrived at the crash site first. He would have taken anybody out who showed up. William's death was just the lure he used to get any one of us there."

But I still didn't understand. How could he have been sure any of us would have gone? He made it look like an accident. He could not have been certain we would have gone to the crash site. This was crazy.

"Yes, but so is Caius," my father replied. "Losing his mate seems to have pushed him over the edge. And made him mad, in more ways than one.

 _But David . . . Marcus, they both shut down, went catatonic with the loss of their mates. Why didn't the same thing happened to Caius?_

"Everyone reacts to grief differently," my father replied. "His seems to be almost the same as Victoria's when she lost her mate. She was hell-bent on revenge, trying to kill your mother, after I killed her mate, James."

He didn't need to explain further, I had heard the story of what happened, years ago.

So that was it. Sulplica, Tia, and Marcus were now the new rulers of the Volturi, and all of us, I guess, with Benjamin as their main Weapon of Mass Destruction. He wasn't evil and sadistic like Jane had been. Hopefully the centuries of enforcing Vampire law wouldn't warp him into something he wasn't. He always seemed to want to do what was right. It was one of the reasons we had become friends.

 _Can they help us? Against Caius, I mean?_ Benjamin's my friend, he would come if I needed him.

"That's an interesting idea. But I'm sure that we can handle Caius on our own. And I doubt he is in any position to do anything right now. From what I saw in Caius' mind, Volterra is probably going to be in a state of chaos for a while. There are plenty who did not back Caius, him not being very loved, but also did not side with Sulplica either. There's probably still a lot of fighting going on there."

Oh.

I wanted to go to bed and forget this day ever happened. But I couldn't. There was still so much to do. William's funeral needed to be arranged. Penny was in the hospital, fighting for her life, though Carlisle seems to think it was futile. My daughter, Felicity's wedding was ruined, it would need to be rescheduled. All of the out of town wedding guests would need to be housed somewhere at least for tonight. Argh . . . I hadn't even talked to Felicity since we heard about William. I'm the worst mother of the bride ever.

Oh no! I glanced over at my Mother-of-the-Bride dress that I had thrown on a nearby chair. It was not only wrinkled but had been ripped and torn, covered in mud in the fight with Caius. And Jake's tux had gotten ripped to shreds when he phased. Alice was going to be pissed. At least my family had the good sense to change out of their wedding clothes into regular ones, sometime between the canceled wedding and coming to rescue us.

"Don't worry about all of that. Everything is being taken care of. You were injured and need time to heal. Just rest now," my father told me.

 _No,_ I tried to object. I wasn't a child. _I have responsibilities. My family needs me._

"Right now your responsibility is to get yourself better. You can't do anything in the state you're in." He said pointing to my throat.

 _Fine_. But I don't know how he expected me to sleep. Caius tried to kill me and my husband. He was successful with my only son's eldest child, and soon his daughter-in-law, and their children would soon be orphans, and all this on the day of my only daughter's wedding.

"Do you want me to wake you when Alice and the others get back after having taken care of Caius."

 _You're awfully confident_. I wasn't. _What if he comes here?_

"I'll hear him," my father said, pointing to his head, "before he gets within four miles of this place. But he won't. He'll be dead soon."

Where was all this confidence come from? Did Alice see his death in a vision?

"She didn't need to." I could see now the anger that, up until this point, he had done so well in hiding from me. "He killed one of our family. We are not going to let him get away with that. He will pay for what he has done."

 _And if they don't get him tonight? If he attacks again . . ._

"You are safe. been taken care of. Your mother and I won't leave your side until he's been taken care of."

I knew that. I wasn't worried about myself. But the wedding guests, the human ones . . .

"Caius is alone now. And there are three Packs – La Push, Makah, and Grecian, all perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, as they escort the wedding guests home. All of the tribes members are safe. Four wolves are also in the woods, guarding the hospital."

What about David? He didn't know anything that had happened after running off in the morgue. If he came across Caius now . . .

"Relax. David's safe. It took some time but Angelina got him to go home. They're with Sepideh and Matthew, and William's daughters, Eryn and Krissy, now . . . planning the funeral."

That's good. I finally started to relax.

"Any word on Penny?" I asked out loud. Ow. I shouldn't have done that. My throat started to burn, and not from hunger.

He shook his head, to answer my question she must have still been holding on. Then he added, before disappearing, "I'll get you some blood. It'll help."

A few seconds later my father was back. He handed me a glass of blood. Even without tasting it I knew it was human. Carlisle always tried to keep some on hand for emergencies, just not normally to drink.

 _Thanks_.

"There isn't anything else to do tonight. Try and get some sleep," he said again, as he kissed my forehead like he did when I was a baby, before turning to leave for the night. Then he paused by the door. "Are you sure you are okay on that chair? There are plenty of beds?" I shook my head, my father knew I would not want to leave Jacob's side, but asked anyway. I knew he would when I first planted myself in the chair by Jake's bedside. He was knocked out from a massive dose of morphine in Carlisle's office, turned, all too often makeshift infirmary, to keep an eye on his vitals.

Carlisle came to check on Jake a few times over the night. He was impossibly quiet, as to try and not wake me, but for that to work I would have had to go to sleep in the first place. I couldn't.

My father never came in. That meant Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett never returned with news of Caius' demise.

The next morning brought the sunrise and the sound of Jake's snoring. A couple hours prior Carlisle assured me that Jake's spleen was good as new. And that there was nothing to worry about. Good.

I was tired but wanted to know what I had missed during the night. Not wanting to wake Jake I quietly slipped out to find everyone else. It wasn't too hard. Carlisle and Esme were sitting in the living room with my parents. No one was talking. Just sitting like statues. Not a good sign.

"Edward Why didn't you even come to give me an update on Caius?" I asked, joining them. My voice was strong and clear, my throat seemed completely healed. This should have made me happy but I was still worried. Learning that the party hunting Caius had succeeded would have helped that.

"I'm afraid Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett have not returned yet. If they had, you know I would have, darling," my father assured me. "I'm sorry I don't have better news for you.

Oh. That was disappointing.

"Well I do." Carlisle said, trying to brighten my mood. "Jacob is doing much better. All traces of Venom have left his system, his spleen has mended itself, and his vitals are almost completely back to normal. He will be a little weak for a while, but his bones are mending nicely and should be good as new by tomorrow."

"Maybe even quicker than that," Jake said, coming up behind me, before collapsing onto the sofa. He had hobbled in, using one of the crutches left in the bedroom for him.

"Jacob, you should still be in bed."

"I'm fine." he shrugged off Bella's concern.

"Liar, you can barely stand."

"Do I look like I'm standing." He had her there. "Besides I can lay down just as easily on this couch as I could on that hospital bed. And the couch is more comfy."

That seemed to put an end to the discussion, because neither of then brought up the matter further. And everyone started discussing yesterday's events. That was, until Carlisle's phone rang. As he answered it, so did Jacob's.

There were two different callers, but the message was the same, as I was able to hear both sides of the two conversations, with my enhanced hearing, as could everybody else in the room.

Carlisle was speaking with someone from the hospital. As a professional courtesy they had honored his request to be kept up-to-date as to Penny's condition.

Jacob was talking to our son. David was relaying the same news as the hospital - Penny had passed away earlier this morning. Penny's parents had called David letting him know about his "brother's" wife, and the hospital was only calling now to give the family some time to grieve, and not jump on the news.

Carlisle thanked the hospital for the information and hung up but Jake was still talking to our son. David wanted to have Eryn and Krissy come live with him but so did the Littlesea's. There's little chance of them phasing into Wolves, so it wouldn't be that bad if they did live with their grandparents, but Penny's parents knew nothing about Wolves, or Vampires, or anything supernatural; but Eryn and Krissy did.

Great. A possible legal battle over custody was just one more thing to worry about.

At least they all lived in La Push. And the twins would be eighteen in less than a year. By the end of the phone call, David was still unsure. He loved his grandchildren but conceded that as long as the twins wanted it, that they might be okay, even happy living with their other grandparents.

"They're going to get together and talk about it some more," Jake told us as he ended the phone call. He knew we all heard, but wanted to say what he thought on the subject. "Despite the progress he and Angelina have made, David is still getting over Janet's death. Having Sepideh and Matthew live with the Littlesea's would probably be for the best."

"Yeah," I agreed, not sure what else to say. "How about some breakfast?" I wasn't hungry, but was sure Jake would be. He readily agreed. Food always cheered him up. He was still weak and I didn't want to over do it, plus he wouldn't be able to cut anything with only one working arm, so looking over the food in the kitchen here I settled on toast and scrambled eggs.

Jake ate the entire plate, and was hungry for more. I was in the middle of cooking up a second helping when the front door burst open.

* * *

 **To be continued . . .**


	128. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (8th Section)

**Part Ten – Eighth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

Setting aside the eggs that I had been in the middle of cooking for Jacob, I rushed to see who was at the front door. There could only be a few options as to who it was, but at the rate my mind worked, I was able to think of all of them, as I walked from the kitchen in the back of the house, through to the front.

I immediately ruled out it being Caius – Edward would have warned us all that he was in the area, long before he would have made it to the house, no matter how fast he ran. And if my father somehow got distracted and missed him, or Caius somehow hid his thoughts, Jake would have immediately phased, no matter his physical condition, and I would be hearing him growling, which I currently did not.

My next thought was that it was one of the hunting party that had gone after Caius, bringing news of their progress. But that wasn't likely. It would make more sense for them to call, instead of coming all the way back here.

Perhaps they were victorious and Caius was a pile of ash now. No, that couldn't be it. I saw no sign of happiness, or satisfaction, or relief in my father's eyes, when I got up to make more eggs for Jacob.

It could be David, or one of my grandchildren, come to talk about the funeral. But I think they would have rang the doorbell instead of just walking in.

That probably ruled out one of the wedding guests stopping by, too.

But everyone was used to Felicity and Jennifer coming and going as they pleased, living only a few miles away themselves. It must have been them, come to check on Jacob, or talk about rescheduling their wedding, or the loss of their nephew, William, or his and Penny's funerals, or all of it.

Yes that must have been it. I couldn't think of anyone else that it was more likely to be.

Having settled on Felicity and Jennifer, imagine my surprise when I saw Caius' hunting party – Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett, all come in.

"You're back." I raced over to hug them all, relieved that Caius was gone, and everyone was safe.

"Yes, but not with good news. Caius is still out there." Rose informed me. "We didn't . . ."

"His scent disappeared 28 miles east from where he ran." Jasper seemed pissed, but I couldn't tell if it was directed towards Caius or at himself for losing him. "There was a dead woman lying by the side of the road with her throat torn out. It was made to look like an animal attack. Caius must have taken her car after he fed."

"He doesn't seem to have a plan right now, so I can't tell where he's going," Alice sighed. We searched and searched, running halfway to the east coast, but came up with nothing.

"Keep checking," Jake growled.

"Of course. As soon as I see anything, we'll head back out," she assured us. "In the meantime," her mouth forced itself into a smile, "I have to go. There is a wedding that needs to be rescheduled."

"But Alice . . . William and Penny's funeral . . ." How could she be thinking about the wedding now?

"I'm _not_ saying we are having the wedding today, but you don't want them running off to a Justice of the Peace do you?"

"Are they thinking about that?" Jake's question was directed towards my father.

"I think it was floated around more as a passing thought than an actual option," he replied.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, I just hope I can finish it by 4:18 this afternoon."

"What's happening at 4:18?" Bella asked.

"Sepideh will be arriving to let us know about the funeral details," Edward answered for her as Alice ran back out the front door.

This wasn't the news I wanted to here, yet there was nothing I could do about it. I went back to cooking Jake's eggs, but my mind was elsewhere, worrying about Caius, and they ended up burning.

"Renesmee, I told you that you have nothing to worry about." My father had come up behind me, dumped the ruined eggs in the trash, and was starting a new batch. "Why don't you go back to Jacob, while I do that. I'm sure he would appreciate the company. He's still on the couch, refusing to go to Carlisle's office while he gives him a checkup."

 _Is something wrong?_

"Not in the least. Carlisle just wants to make sure Jacob's bones are all setting correctly."

We spent the rest of the morning reminiscing about and mourning William. We talked, we laughed, we got angry, and those of us that could (mostly me) cried. And cried. And cried.

* * *

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't we?" Rose asked Alice, as she returned, with Felicity and Jennifer, at 4:16.

The entire family had gathered in the living room, waiting for Sepideh to arrive. Actually, Jake hadn't left his spot on the couch. And except for showering and getting Jake a few snacks and some lunch, neither had I. At one point, over the past seven hours, the rest of the family had busied themselves with various tasks, including Carlisle and Esme turning my grandfather's office back into an office. The removal of all of the medical equipment was the only part I cared about. It meant that Jake was better and I didn't need to worry about him anymore. I knew he said he was fine, and Carlisle told me there wasn't anything to worry about, but until he put everything away, it had me feeling uneasy; that by it's being there, meant that Jake could take a turn for the worse at any time and it needed to be at the ready . . . just in case. I knew it was ridiculous. One way or the other. He could still get worse whether the equipment was set up or not. Likewise it could be set up for another year with Jake completely healed in an hour. Its location made no difference to Jake's actual health.

At various times during the day Edward had gone to the piano, as he did when under stress, my mother next to him to make goo-goo eyes, or whatever it was that she did for hours on end, as he played.

Rose and Emmett retired to their room for . . . well . . . you know. And Jasper and Alice set up the chess board to play a game but ended up getting lost in each other's eyes for a few hours.

While they were all busy, Jake had decided I needed a distraction. Something to take my mind off of everything that was happening. He had started by using his one non-broken arm to give me a back rub.

"Jake you don't need to do that. If anything I should be rubbing your back," I had argued. But honestly, it did feel wonderful, and I didn't want him to stop.

"There is nothing wrong with this arm and you're my wife, I'm supposed to be taking care of y. . . " he stopped, suddenly.

"Jake? Are you okay?"

"Nessie . . . I . . . Oh . . . I . . . are you okay?" he gasped.

Jacob must have finally noticed the scar from Caius' bite on my neck. I was wondering when he would. Not that I intentionally tried to hide it. But my hair had been down, partially obscuring it from view.

"Perfect," I lied. "I already have venom in me. It's just a scratch, really. Or 'Battle Scars' as Jasper would put it. Now we match," I said trying to make light of it as I pointed to the one on his arm, that he had received yesterday. He had been bitten three times. The other two were on his left ankle and midsection just to the right of his bellybutton.

He was trying to be secretive about it, but I saw him raise his eyebrows toward Edward, sitting across the room at the piano. My father didn't look back, but slightly shook his head, as he continued to play. Jake must have asked him some sort of question, but not being able to hear it, I wasn't exactly sure what or how to respond . . . or react. It probably went something along the lines of "Is she telling me the truth?" from Jake, to which my father responded in the negative. But Jacob didn't press the matter further, so neither did I. Strange. He must have asked something else.

That was good, because we had other things to concern ourselves with. He continued to rub my back for an hour before I insisted I do his and we switched, me rubbing his for almost the same amount of time, until a few minutes before Sepideh was due to arrive.

"So when in the new date for the wedding?" Jacob asked our daughter.

"We don't have one yet. Everyone needs time to grieve. Who knows how long that will take."

"We've waited this long," Jennifer added. "We can wait a few months . . ."

". . . or years longer," Felicity finished her fiancé's sentence.

"That's right," Jennifer agreed, pulling her into a hug. They seemed happy and sad at the same time, with their decision. Resigned. No. Content, I guess was the best word for it.

"She's here," Alice then announced a second before the doorbell rang.

She came by herself?

"There's two Wolves, in the woods, that accompanied her over," my father told me. "They want to wait outside."

It made me feel better that my granddaughter recognized the risk, but wished the Wolves felt comfortable enough to come inside as well. I know my family didn't smell very good to them, but it wasn't like we would hurt them.

"I'm sorry to just drop by without calling," Sepideh began, after Carlisle opened the door for her. "Oh! You're all here," she said. The somewhat happiness of surprise apparent in her voice, was not masked by the tears she was fighting back, we saw as she had turned the corner and got a view of all of us in the living room. "Of course," she added, shaking her head, realizing that Alice would have seen her coming. "I just wanted to drop by and tell you the date of the funeral, but you probably already know," she said while still looking at Alice.

"Actually, we don't," Alice responded. "There's too many Wolves. I couldn't see that, just that you would be coming over now, since you're not a Wolf, yourself."

"Oh, well . . ." Sepideh begin to fumble, "well, then . . . in that case . . . it was decided that William and Penny's funerals will be held together. There's an opening at the church this Sunday the 19th, at 11 a.m." she said, breaking down, unable to contain her tears any longer.

Esme and Bella rushed over to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry." Sob. "I . . ." sob, "um . . ." sob, "really need to be getting back, now," she cried as she broke away. "There's a lot of stuff still to plan and . . ." she broke off, trying to once again regain control and hold back the tears. But they were building in her eyes again and everybody could tell that she wanted to get out of here.

"Of course, my dear," Esme said as she handing her a handkerchief, while steering Sepideh towards the front door.

I hadn't move an inch though. Actually Jennifer, Felicity, Alice, Edward, Jacob and myself all wore similar expressions of shock. September 19th. That was the date Alice had crossed off from the list of days the church was available, that Jennifer and Felicity could choose from for their wedding. I clearly remembered she had mumbled the word "funeral _"_ as she did so.

Alice had seen William and Penny's funeral over a month ago and never said anything.

"She didn't," my father shook his head at me.

"Yeah right!" The anger was boiling inside me. "How could she not!" I screamed.

The rest of the family turn to stare at me. Looks of confusion, surprise, and shock, were on their faces. They didn't know why I was so upset but I didn't care. My grandson was dead and it was preventable, yet Alice had done nothing to do so.

"You know I can't see the Wolves," Alice tried explaining to me, but I wouldn't hear it.

"You saw that their funeral was today. You must have known," I argued. How could she not? Her visions were so annoying sometimes. She keeps telling me she can't see Wolves, but then she sees enough around them when she wants to. Enough to have her life be all nice and happy. She gets everything she wants. She could have seen around then enough to see this.

"I saw a funeral was going to happen in the church. I didn't know whose, I just saw the caskets being set up, but they were closed."

Alice and Edward continued to try and convince me that she had not known what would happen, but I wouldn't hear it. She just hadn't tried. She wanted to plan a wedding so she found a way to see around the Wolves to do it, but she couldn't be bothered to see if it would actually take place. If she had, this could have all been prevented.

I would never speak to her again.

* * *

On Wednesday, once Jake's broken bones had completely healed, we drove to La Push, with Bella and Edward. I couldn't imagine what David was going through. We needed to check on Matthew and Sepideh too. I had spoken to all of them on the phone several times since Sepideh had come over the other day. She at lease was able to get through a few minutes at a time without crying, but wanted to see her in person again.

"Now's not a good time," Angelina stood in the doorway, blocking our way into David's house.

"There is never a good time to talk to someone about the loss of their child." Edward replied. "But we are still coming in."

Hesitantly she moved aside. I was shocked, figuring we would be in for more of a fight.

"That's not going to make any difference," she sighed, more to herself, than us. David was passed out in the middle of his living room floor.

"What happened?" Bella asked her.

Looking around to try and determine the cause of what happened to David, I found none. There were no empty pill or alcohol bottles lying around anywhere. I didn't think he was attacked. There wasn't any sign of a fight. None of the furniture was broken. There were no holes in the walls. Not even any weapons, not that that would be necessary. How did this happen?

"He and Matthew got into a fight, and knocked each other senseless. I found them passed out on the front lawn. I dragged David in here, and called Sepideh. She should be here any minute to get Matthew."

Quickly re-scanning the room I didn't see him anywhere either. "Where is he?"

"In the backyard," my father scowled.

"They were both acting like idiots," she called to Jake as he ran out to our grandson. A minute later he was back, and placed Williams unconscious form on the couch.

"Should we call Carlisle?" Jake asked at the same time I asked a different question.

"Has David ever done something like this before?"

It wasn't really director to her but she answered me anyway. "I don't think so. You know how when Janet died, that was all he wanted for himself, until me. With William he just wants to forget."

"They will be fine," my father then answered Jake, after he had checked on both of them. "No broken bones. What were they doing? I don't see any healed claw or bite marks."

"They weren't fighting as wolves." Angelina explained. "I didn't see the whole thing, but what I did see was a fist fight that de-evolved into the two of them just head butting each other until they both passed out. I was going to try to stop them, but I think they just needed to get it out of their system.

"I was thinking of taking him away from here. Maybe go to Isle Esme for a few months. Take his mind off of everything," she continued.

"You can't," I shouted. Didn't she understand the danger? Caius had already killed William and Penny, and who knew how many others of our deaths he had planned. I would not let her put David's life in danger. "You would be sitting ducks out there on the island all by yourselves."

"Then come with us," she said to me. "Between the four of us we can handle him. Or maybe Matthew and Sepideh, or Leah . . . any one of them. Surely that would be enough of us to take care of him."

"Absolutely not," Jacob growled. "Ness is right. It's too dangerous and you are not putting my family in that kind of risk." Angelina was technically in his Pack, but while he didn't Alpha order her not to go I could see that he wanted to.

Thankfully my father was more level headed, at the moment, and was able to convince her why that was a bad idea, at this time. "If it is alright with you, we will continue to come by, and visit; talk to him and see how he's doing. Matthew and Sepideh too. They all have been affected deeply by William's death," he added quietly to Angelina, as we were leaving a few hours later, after meeting with everyone. It wasn't really a request, even though he phrased it as such. We would be back, whether she liked it or not. They were rightly and expectedly all upset and we wanted to help, in any way we could.

* * *

"Nessie, please listen to me. I didn't . . . I couldn't . . ." Alice kept trying to explain. Over and over, day after day, every time she saw me, but I wouldn't hear it. I refused to listen, to even be in the same room as her anymore.

The 19th had rolled around and everyone was at William and Penny's funeral, including Alice. I was livid. How dare she have the audacity to show her face. Their deaths were as much her fault as Caius'. I still refused to speak to her.

After the services were over I offered my sympathies to my son and two remaining grandchildren and then left quickly. Being in the same room with Alice was just too much, right now.

Caius was still out there, somewhere. Which meant that I couldn't go running off into the woods like I wanted to. But I, at least wanted to get back to the house. I just needed some alone time. Jake of course came with me, followed quickly by my parents. This was as alone as I would get right now. At least Alice wouldn't be there. For awhile anyway.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on Alice?" Jake asked me, as we walked through the front door of the main house. "It's not like she's the one who killed William."

"No, but she didn't do anything to stop Caius, either." I hissed back, shaking his hand off of my arm that he had grabbed. I hadn't meant to take my frustration out on Jake and felt horrible about it. I was just so depressed at loosing William, and pissed at Alice. I just couldn't control my feelings. I was angry and sad and . . . I don't know. I just couldn't calm down. Couldn't drop it. Couldn't let it go.

"Just give her some time," I heard my father tell him, as I ran up to my parents bedroom, that Jake and I were using while we were staying here.

But he was wrong. Time would not lessen my pain. It would not bring my grandson back.

Time, and talking, did seem to be working for some other members of the family though. We continued to visit and after a few weeks David seemed to be a tiny bit better. Not happy, but less depressed. He hadn't tried to knocked himself unconscious or pick fights with people again, so I guess that was progress. And Sepideh wasn't crying as much.

I would like to say that Matthew was beginning to realize that Williams death wasn't his fault. But the way he saw it, was that out of the two of them, he was the brother who was still a Wolf, responsible for the tribes safety. The one who let the family and La Push down, and got Penny and William killed. Of course it was not his fault, but no one seemed to be able to get through to him . . . yet. He was currently the La Push Pack's Alpha and was _dealing_ with his misguided guilt by pushing the other Wolves . . . hard. Too hard. Longer patrols, longer training hours, longer tactical and strategizing sessions.

* * *

Alice kept getting glimpses of Caius here and there. As soon as she saw him, in one of her visions, the family would rush out to try to kill him, but he would always be gone before we got there.

Edward picked up his thoughts once, when he and Bella were out picking up a grain shipment for our livestock. They had driven 60 miles away when it happened. They immediately abandoned the truck and tracked Caius for awhile, but somehow lost him. Judging by his thoughts, Edward didn't think Caius was even aware of them following him. If he had he would not have thought in such detail of his plans for Jake and I.

Edward refused to tell us what they were but from that point on Jake and I were pretty much prisoners in the house, leaving only to hunt, and even then only when accompanied my two other family members. I didn't like it, but Jake couldn't stand it. He argued that he could protect himself, and didn't need to be babied.

It worked for awhile. He went with my family, after Caius a few times, but then Alice complained that she couldn't see when he was around and that must have been the reason why they kept losing him. He said he didn't care, that he needed to "find the bastard that killed his grandson and tried to kill his wife," not even mentioning that he was almost killed by Caius, too. But it didn't matter, however. My parents and family argued that he needed to put his pride aside this time. When that didn't work they reasoned that he should be home with me, in case Caius slipped past them somehow and made it to the main house. Even with Edward and Bella, or Rose and Emmett, or Carlisle and Esme with me, one more person, or wolf would offer me that much more protection. I think they said more to him while I wasn't around, or asleep or something, because he eventually gave in and agreed.

Yet, even with Jake staying home with me, Alice, and the rest of the hunting party, still managed to let Caius slip through their grasps, again and again. I was starting to doubt her visions even more than I had before. What was the point of them? They seemed to be useless.

Though Edward said he only heard our names in Caius' thoughts, the same safety measures were put in place for Felicity and Jennifer. And our family in La Push. In fact all of La Push was constantly being guarded by the Wolves 24/7, who now patrolled in groups of four or more. Even the Grecian Wolves, not having returned home yet, joined in.

This went on for months – Alice would get a Vision, the family would rush to where she had seen Caius and turn up empty. Time after time, always the same. My family was getting annoyed and Jake and I, along with whoever was left to babysit us were getting restless.

Eventually Caius' appearances became less and less frequent. Days, weeks, eventually months would go by and there would be no sight of him. We all started to relax.

Perhaps he had given up.

Either that or he was planning something big.

* * *

What do you think Caius is up to? Please review. And see you next Wednesday for Section Nine.

Thanks for reading.


	129. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (9th Section)

**Part Ten – Ninth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

It had been eight months since Caius killed William and Penny. And no one had seen or heard from him in over two. Alice had no idea where he was . . . not that that was a big surprise. On a good note David was doing better getting over his son's death, so were Sepideh and Matthew.

So on June 8. 2061, on a Wednesday morning I woke up and showered, feeling happier and more excited than I had in a long time. Today was going to be a wonderful and joyous day. Today was the day that my daughter was finally going to get married.

Everything was all set. The guests had been re-invited, the caterers called, flowers reordered, tents and tables taken out of storage, along with all of the same decorations, tablecloths, place settings, votives, chairs and whatnot for the reception.

Oh, no! I suddenly realized that I had nothing to wear. My Mother of the Bride dress from their first wedding attempt had been ruined during my fight with Caius. I couldn't wear that.

Jake was all set. He had a new tux hanging in the closet that, though he never said anything, I assumed was made by Alice to replace his shredded one.

I had meant to go shopping at one of the local stores around here, to find a suitable replacement, but I had wanted to focus on the positive, happiness of the wedding and forced all of the unpleasantness of that day from my mind, the ruined dress being one of them.

Now what was I going to do?

There must be something one of my relatives had that would do.

Jake was still sleeping. We had a long day yesterday, helping set up everything and while I had gone to bed at a reasonable time, Jake wanted to keep going, setting up the benches and Alter and everything else for today with the rest of my family. But they didn't need to sleep. Jake did. I finally heard him come to bed sometime after midnight.

Sliding out of bed as quietly as I could I made my way over to my mother's closet. After rummaging around for a few minutes for something that might be suitable I found nothing. Maybe Rose had something; we were around the same size.

I was about to go down the hall to her room but before I even stepped a foot into the hallway I saw a mannequin dressed in an exact copy of my Mother of the Bride dress.

How? Who? What?

Of course I knew. Alice had made another one. What I didn't understand was why she shoved it on a mannequin and left it in the hallway.

Well maybe I did. I still wasn't speaking to her. I didn't trust her anymore. And was terrified that this wedding would be a repeat of the last. This time I wasn't taking any chances, and would not be relying on her visions to assure everyone would end up safe.

Matthew had relaxed patrols a few months ago and eased up on his Pack, but I talked to him to temporarily beef them back up for the week leading up to today. He readily agreed. There was no way Caius would get through the lines. All the human guests that knew of the supernatural world had been made to promise that they would be escorted to the wedding by either two wolves or two vampires. Those who didn't were told a story about a lack of parking spaces and the need to carpool. And since Caius seemed to be directing his attention to me and my family, everyone in my family had to stay in groups of four, myself included.

Everyone went along with it, but kept telling me I was going overboard. I didn't care. I would rather be seen as a little eccentric then lose another family member's life.

Thankfully the wedding went off without a hitch. There weren't as many guests this time since some of the human ones had to work and couldn't get the day off since it was in the middle of the week, but Jennifer and Felicity decided that they couldn't wait forever and would rather have some of their friends here than wait another year for the next time the church had an opening on a Sunday.

They did however agree to put their honeymoon on hold until after Caius have been found and dealt with.

The wedding seemed to set off a new period of happiness for the family. Caius hadn't been seen or heard in months, not even a whisper of him on the horizon. Edward didn't hear anything and Alice said she didn't see anything, which didn't really mean anything in my opinion, but the rest of my family relaxed considerably.

But how could he just give up like that?

"So that's it he's just giving up on coming after us." I didn't think Caius would do something like that. Alice had to be wrong, she wasn't looking hard enough . . . again.

"He's not, giving up," my father replied, "he's biding his time. Planning, scheming, something.  
Caius is ancient, over 2,500 years old. Time works differently for him then it does you or I. Or even Jasper and Carlisle. Months and years to him are like hours and days to us. He is immortal and he knows that he has forever to come after us. Time has no meaning for him. It could be twenty years before Caius attacks again, but even though you don't believe it, Alice will see when he decides and we will be ready."

Two months later Alice got a _vision_. Claiming it was clearer than all the others. She said that Caius had made a decision. But he wasn't going to come after someone in our family. He decided to kill our friends, starting with those who first witnessed for us against the Volturi 54 years ago.

"Who is he going after this time? We should call and warn them." Bella spoke for everyone at Alice's news. Even if she was wrong, we couldn't take the chance.

"The nomads seem to be first on his list. If everyone stays on the path they are on he's going to come across Mary first." She suddenly gasped, shaking herself out of the vision and looked sadly over at Jasper. "Peter and Charlotte will be next."

"Mary doesn't have a phone. When will Caius and she cross paths?" Carlisle asked Alice.

"It's too late. We won't make it in time even if we leave now."

"It looks like she was already on her way up this way." Edward added.

"She was coming here?" Emmett asked, his voice a mixture of surprised at the news and sadness for the loss, or maybe he was upset that he wouldn't be getting the chance to fight Caius.

"No, just in this general direction."

Rose looked as upset as her husband. "There has to be something we can do."

"There isn't," Alice looked so defeated. She should. This was yet another death that could have been prevented it she had only been paying better attention. "But it's not too late for Peter and Charlotte . . . if we leave right now."

"Alright, let do this," Emmett yelled, while pumping his chest with his fists.

"NO!" Jasper yelled. "Alice and I will handle this." He looked at me, when he spoke, as if to say that this would be there way of making up what Alice had done.

"It may take more than the two of you to take out Caius," Carlisle warned.

"We'll find Charlotte and Peter first. The four of us will be more than enough." Alice replied.

* * *

"How did you get that detail so small in there?" I asked Jacob, looking at the latest wolf carving he was making.

We have been on the back porch carving different things for the past hour; just little knick-knacks, nonsense really. Just something to pass the time. I had been so caught up in trying to get the tongue of my own wolf that I hadn't looked over at his for seventeen minutes. I had been working as carefully as I could as not to snap the tiny thing, but even though I had years . . . decades of practice, mine was nothing compared to Jakes. His looked as if it could be real. I could see individual furs on its ears.

"It's these new knives that Alice got me," he replied, holding them out so I could see. They were beautiful, sharp, with probably surgical precision of course, but I couldn't help the growl that escaped my mouth. Everything now just seemed tainted by Alice.

"Nessie . . ." Jake started, in his scolding tone.

I stared right back, daring him to continue. I know what he thought - that I needed to forgive her, that it wasn't her fault that William died, but . . . nope, it wasn't going to happen.

"Yes, well thank you for letting us know," Carlisle's voice broke us out of our staring match. He must have just come out of his office, or bedroom; some soundproofed room with a closed door so that neither of us had heard what his phone call was about. "Could everyone please gather in the dining room." His voice had not raised I the slightest, yet he was talking to the entire family scattered in and outside of the house.

Oh no, family meeting. These never brought good news.

"That was Jasper," he announced once everyone was seated.

He had been calling regularly to keep us apprised of what was going on. They had been gone three weeks now. The first time he called was just two days after they had left, to let us know that he and Alice had met up with Charlotte and Peter.

"He called to inform us that Caius is still alluding them."

"Did we all really need to drop what we were doing for you to tell us nothing has changed?"

Emmett was right. Every few days Jasper called with the same news. Alice would get a vision, the four of them would rush to where ever she had seen and . . . no Caius. The same as what had happened here. Only this time there were no wolves around for Alice to blame for screwing up her visions.

"This time something has," Carlisle rebuffed his son. "They caught his scent." Really? I started to get excited. "Once." My excitement waned. "But they lost it." And it's gone. "He seems to be playing the same cat and mouse game he had done with us. They are going to try something new next time, they think he's escaping in a car. That must be the reason why they lose his scent so often." Why would he do that? He's a vampire, he can run very quickly. I know cars can go faster than vampires now, if there is an open stretch of road and not a lot of traffic, but why if not just to avoid them? Why not confront them directly? What was the point?

"He has one," my father told me "We just don't know what it is."

As we pulled up to David's house, a few days later, for one of our weekly check-ins to see how he was mentally doing, my father's face suddenly dropped. He wasn't growling or anything but it still made me worried.

"What is it?" I asked looking around for Caius. It was silly to think he actually make it onto the Reservation but he had eluded us before.

"David and Angelina have something to ask you, something they want to talk to you about," my father replied. "Bella, let's you and I go for a walk. Don't worry we'll stay on the reservation," he assured all of us.

"Okay," she and I both hesitantly agreed.

As Jacob and I made our way to the door David was already there to greet us. He looked apprehensive, but sort of happy, I think.

"Where's . . ." he started to ask, seeing Bella and Edward walk away. Normally they came in with us.

"They just decided to go for a walk this time," I said. It's the only reason I could give him, since I had no idea what was actually going on.

"Edward said you wanted to talk to us about something." Jake was always more direct.

"Right, of course he did," Angelina said from behind him as we made our way into their living room. and everybody sat down.

"I guess I'll just get right to it and tell you then," David began with a shrug. "We need to leave La Push. Well I do, and Angelina wants to come with me."

"Why? Has something happened? It's not because of Janet's death is it?"

"No," David began, before Angelina I elbowed him. "Okay, partially. But only a small part the real reason is that . . . well you know how I've been moving back and forth between here and the Makah reservation every decade or so?" We nodded. "Well you know how I first moved to La Push and then ten years later moved to the Makah Reservation before anybody noticed I wasn't aging. Then another decade later when I move back I pretended to be my own son and did it again when I moved back to up North. Well now that I'm back again, pretending to be my own grandson, it's not working so well this time. People are starting to talk. I know that here with all the other Wolves people haven't been as questioning with us not aging, but I think if I were to try to do it again at the Makah Res, them having less experience with Wolves . . . well it's not going to work this time. It's time for us to leave. Leah has agreed to come with us. So have Felicity and Jennifer."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I had to make sure. You're just not acting out of grief are you?"

"No, I had actually been discussing it with Janet, we just never got around to it because of her health, but now there's nothing really stopping me," he added, smiling and squeezing Angelina's hand.

I offhandedly wondered if something starting between them.

"They don't need me here. Matthew is doing great as Alpha, and he and Sepideh can lean on each other. The Cullens are not that far away if they need anything." He was right about that. "And Embry's grandson has been leading the Makah Wolves for four years now.

He seemed to have thought of everything. "Well, if that's really what you want then I'm very happy for you both. You know you can go wherever you want, live where ever you want. You have more than enough money in the bank, thanks to . . . Alice," I tried not to put the anger that I still felt for her into my voice, but I have a feeling it slipped through.

"Yeah, I know. I've seen the bank accounts."

"And you'll have to move about every 10 years, or sooner."

"Yes, Mom. I know," David replied, emphasizing each word.

"Good to hear," Jake said interrupting my mom moment. "But Edward said there was something you wanted to ask us."

"Yeah, well," he took a deep breath, "we were wondering if you would like to come with us?"


	130. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (10th Section)

**Part Ten – Tenth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

Jake and I left David's house with a lot to think about. He and Angelina, along with Felicity, Jennifer, and Leah were planning on leaving La Push for good sometime within the next few months. I worried, as any mother would, about my children's safety. But the five of them, all together, would be fine, even if they came upon Caius himself, if we for some reason hadn't gotten him by then.

Jake and I had lived with my parents, and the rest of the Cullens, for almost six decades, but had only had a handful of years together with our children. And if Jake and I did leave with them it was not like I would never see my parents, aunts, uncles or grandparents again. This wasn't going to be forever. And we did have forever.

Yes, we had a lot to talk about.

A month later Jake and I were still discussing the matter. My parents were obviously against it, thinking it would be too dangerous, having Caius specifically naming me, us in his evil plans, not that Edward would tell me what they were, but he said that if I knew I'd agree with him and stay under the protection of the Cullen house.

Though we had already talked many times Jake and I were once again going over possibility of the move when Jasper called. He, Alice, Peter and Charlotte had finally engaged Caius. Since he had been continually somehow managing to elude them, Carlisle told us how they had decided to split up to encircle Caius.

Peter was the one who had first found him. He had been around for almost two hundred years and was a very good fighter. That's one of the reasons why Maria had kept him alive for so long back when he was part of her Newborn Army. The way Jasper always spoke about him I would have thought that he should have been able to at least do some damage to Caius, if not kill him all by himself, if not hold him long enough for the others to arrive. But Caius had, once again, somehow managed to escape.

It seemed like a failure, but Carlisle told us that Jasper thought of the encounter as a success. They had engaged the enemy, something they had been unable to do up until that point. Their plan had worked. Now all he had to do was make a few small adjustments and next time Jasper assured us that they would get Caius.

I don't think all of us were as convinced of that as Carlisle said Jasper seemed to be, but with his level of determination it could be possible. Caius couldn't hid forever. Battle strategies were Jaspers strong suit. Even if it took longer than Jasper thought I knew he would be victorious . . . eventually.

Meanwhile back at home we had some good news. Wonderful really. David and Angelina had start dating. It was three years, four months and two days after they first laid eyes on each other that David asked Angelina out on their very first date.

Jasper continued to call with updates. The four of them were still chasing Caius back and forth, up and down, crisscrossing the continental United States. Occasionally they would engage him, but mostly he managed to slip away. Sometimes they would be following Alice's visions, others the trail of bodies he left, mostly human's that he fed from, but also some Vampires. Despite their best effort to prevent it, Caius managed to kill Charles and Makenna, two nomads who had spoke against the Volturi, back when they came to destroy me as a baby.

* * *

Almost half a year later, seven months and three days - to be exact, David and Angelina's twin daughters, my newest granddaughters, Jeanette and Julia, were born. I had only the babies on video chats, but still . . . they were beautiful. Angelina's pregnancy had altered their moving plans. David and Angelina, with Jeanette and Julia, Felicity and Jennifer, and Leah had left La Push as planned, months ago. (It seemed that Leah's relationship with Paul's nephew Joffrey was not meant to be.) But while the move date had not changed, the location had. Instead of wandering around for awhile, as Nomads, they decided to go somewhere where they wouldn't have to worry about the babies safety. They moved to Greece. The Wolves there would offer enough protection and an actual home would offer stability.

Once Caius had been dealt with Jake and I were planning on joining them. He continued evading Jasper and company, which meant, among other things that Jacob and I were still living with my parents, and Carlisle, Esme, Rose and Emmett. Not that I was complaining, but Jake and I had decided to leave once Caius was dead and it was taking longer than I had thought possible. I wanted to see my children and grandchildren. And I was getting restless.

Calgary was fine . . . if you liked raising cattle and nothing else. Jake and I understood that being immortal meant that there were bound to be dry periods, where not everything was exciting. Not everything had to be an adventure. But nothing ever happened here. Rose and Esme said that that was a good thing. Drawing attention to ourselves was not what we wanted. Staying hidden, not drawing attention, blending in - that was the goal.

Seventeen days later Alice called with another vision. She saw Caius going after Randall . . . in what she thought was Minnesota. Caius must have taken a flight to get up here so fast. We were closer than them and she thought we could get to him first. But even though Rose, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme chose to fly it was still a 6 hour flight. If Alice's timeline was right, they would just make it on time to save him.

* * *

While they were gone I decided to feed. I had been putting it off and off. But now I was at the point that my thirst was no longer bearable. Even after draining one of the boars, we raised in the pens, I thought I would have been satiated, but my throat still burned, and I missed the chase. I wanted, no needed to hunt. My Vampire side was screaming to be let out. I released a deer then went into the house to find Jake to see if he wanted to go with me.

"I just let it out," I explained to Jake. "If we leave now, as fast as we run, I'll catch it before it gets outside of my father's hearing range. We'll be perfectly safe. I need this Jake. We've been cooped up for so long in this house. I need to run, to hunt."

Jake's face looked troubled, then relaxed, and I think I even saw a hint of a smile. "Sure, sure," Jake agreed.

It was delicious. Not as delicious as the boar, but herbivores never were, yet I relished in the taste just the less. Now that I was done though I think I should have taken my time, enjoyed it more. We would have to head back to the house now, were we had been cooped up for months.

I started walking towards home, but didn't get very far.

"Wait," Jake pulled me back. "Let's just go over here for a second." He was gesturing in the opposite direction of the house, out of my father's hearing range. "Don't worry, I already mentally told Edward while we were still at the house, if he thought it was a bad idea he could have said something then, or called either of our phones anytime between now and then." That was right, we did have our cell phones. "We can call for help if any big bad Vamps shows up," Jacob mocked doing a poor impression of my father's voice.

I agreed and we took off.

Twelve miles later Jake slowed down and after he looked around for . . . something we stopped.

"Okay, now that you brought us to the middle of the forest would you mind telling me why?" I looked around and there was nothing here. Trees, rocks, fallen leaves. This place was hardly different than the bit of woods we had just left.

"I just thought," Jake began, stepping in front of me, "that we needed some alone time as husband and wife." He moved in closer and gently kissed me on the mouth, before moving down to my neck.

Mmmmm, I forgot how good this felt. Not that Jake and I never got intimate anymore, since moving back in with my family, but it was different now. Even with soundproofed rooms we still tried to be quiet, but even that didn't stopped my father. Bella refused to block our thoughts from Edward, worrying that if Caius attacked and he didn't hear him right away . . . anyway it was just hard to really get into things without any privacy. Now we were finally free to explore and amuse and arouse each other as much as we wanted. Which we did . . . twice. One hour and 47 minutes later I was searching for my pants as Jake was looking for his shirt.

"AAAGH!" Jacob screamed. Whipping around I saw that he had collapsed on the ground, and was grabbing his right ankle. Trickles of blood were running through his fingers. A second later the boom came some high-powered rifle or something. It must have been fired from miles away for the sound to just be catching up with us now. Not that that mattered. I raced over and clapped my hands around the gushing wound.

"Did you see where I came from," he shouted to me.

"Who cares. Let's just get you out of here before they fire at us again," I said, while trying to block his body, with as much of my own, as I could. This was eerily familiar to the time Joham had attacked us, but that time it wasn't bullets that were fired at Jake, it had been darts. Those had only knocked Jake out. If a bullet hit him in the heart or head it could kill him.

Agreeing, Jake tried to stand, putting as much of his body weight as he could on to me. I was stronger than a human, but Jake was still almost a foot taller than me and about a hundred pounds heavier. I could lift him, but it wasn't easy.

We started to run, but it was more of a hobble, and only got a few steps before another shot rang out. This one must have been fired from closer because I heard it before the bullet got to us.

It had missed us this time. I didn't want to push our luck.

"Whoever they are, they're getting closer. We need to move!" I screamed. I tried getting Jake to go faster, but he couldn't put much pressure on his ankle and we fell to the ground. With my help he got back up and we attempted to run again.

"JAKE!" I screamed as he hollered, hit by another bullet - in his left shoulder this time. As much as I tried to hold him up, he still went down again. Diving down myself I tried to cover him with my body, to act as a human shield, but no more bullets came . . . for now anyway.

"We need to get out of here. Can you run at all, maybe if you're a wolf, on three paws . . ."

"No, Ness," he said between grunts, "I can't . . . my shoulder . . . it won't . . . You go, save yourself." He tried to push me away.

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you, come on," I said, picking him up once again, but quickly fell back down, both of us collapsing under his weight.

"We need to call for help." Feeling quickly I didn't feel my phone in my pocket. Where had it gone? Scanning the ground I searched until I saw a heap of broken metal and glass a few feet away from where I was standing. The second bullet hadn't missed after all. It had blown a hole straight through my phone, shredding one side. "Where's your phone?" I asked Jake.

"In my pants," he replied, but he wasn't wearing them. We had ran in the opposite direction from them. They were 20 feet behind us.

"Stay down," I instructed him. "I'll be right back." It would take me only a second to run there and back.

"My, my, my. What do we have here?"

I had only gotten halfway there when I heard his voice. I knew that voice. Caius. Looking up I saw him smirking about 20 feet away. In an instant he was standing above me. Without another word he kicked me straight in the jaw and I went flying backwards.

Ouch. I went crashing into a tree. My lip was bleeding from where his foot had hit it, and my head started to ache, but other than that I think I was okay. And the longer Caius was attacking me, the longer, the more Jake was healing. I tried to get up but before I could Caius was over me again and with another kick sent me flying once more.

This time I landed in a bush. It would have been a soft landing if not for the thorns. They didn't pierce my skin yet the prickles were not very comfortable. Caius' foot had landed on the other side of my head, next to my eye. The socket began to swell and my vision was compromised, but was well enough to see Caius appear again, kicking my around the forest once more. I could hear him laughing. This was fun for him.

His next kick was to my ribs and I was pretty sure at least three of them broke. The following one fractured my left arm. And the rock I landed on shattered it the rest of the way.

On the next kick I landed on something that wasn't a rock, tree, or bush. It wasn't something that I would expect to find in the forest. Blood was heavily clouding my vision but I could just make out Jakes pants. Not that that did me much good. Before I could grab them I must have passed out. Caius must have turned his attention to Jake because I awakened, in the same spot, to the sound of Jake screaming.

"Argh!" "Noooo!" "Aaahhh!" I heard Jacob yell again and again. Looking over I saw that Caius was poking his finger into the bullet wound on Jacobs shoulder.

"Leave him alone," I yelled. I didn't think it was likely but maybe I could distract him for a minute.

"Ah, you're back," Caius happily sneered, standing above me now. I tried to move my body enough to obscure Jake's pants from his view. "What do you have there?" he sniffed, probably smelling Jacobs scent emanating from them. Caius flung me out of the way and easily found Jake's phone in the pocket, pulled it out, and laughed as he smothered it to pieces in his hand. "There will be no help from daddy this time, my dear."

"Take care of her," he then barked to someone. "And remember what I told you," he added before going back to Jacob who had now managed to phase. Good, that must have meant that Jake had healed, at least somewhat. The two of them were fighting but Jake seemed to be holding his own. He seemed to be able to stand without falling over. I hoped it was enough because there was nothing I could do to help him now.

Though I hadn't seen anyone around before my nose was hit with an aroma that I had not smelt in years.

No, it couldn't be! Yet here he was, standing right next to me. He looked to be in his late 50's or early 60's. I guess that would make sense. Collin hadn't phased in decades, not since Jared's first Alpha order prevented him from doing so.

If Collin had been working with Caius, then that must have been how he was getting past Alice's visions. If I lived through this I owed her an apology.

"You don't look so well," he said pointing his gun at my head. "That's ok, I got quite a nice look at you earlier."

Eww. Did he just imply that he had watched Jake and I as we had sex? He was so pathetic it was probably as close as he would get to having a relationship of his own. If I had been in better shape, thinking clearly I probably would not have, but in my current stat it didn't even occurs to me not to. I started chuckling, thinking back at some of the stories I had heard over the years of how his life had gone downhill after he had teamed up with Vladimir and Stefan.

"Not scared?" he asked, misunderstanding the cause of my laughter, while smugly cocking the gun. "Why is that?"

I guess laughing, no matter how little it had been, wasn't the best thing to do at the moment, but I couldn't help myself. But it didn't really matter. "It just so happens that I'm bulletproof, thanks to my vampire side. Didn't you know that?

"I didn't," he said, tossing the gun aside, "but luckily for me it doesn't matter." He was the one to snicker now. "It seems that in all of the emotional _trauma,_ of your dear grandson's death, your son, and _remaining_ grandson, forgot to transfer the Alpha command to not allow me to Phase any longer," he smirked before phasing into a Wolf.

The Wolf dove at me and locked his mouth around my hands. I managed to kick him off of me before he bit them completely off. They were still attached but badly damaged; mangled, broken and bleeding profusely.

So that was what Caius had meant. I wasn't sure my gift to trap him in a tactile memory would have even worked through all of that fur, Jake and I had never tried. I guess we should have. I might never know now.

Collin leapt at me again and I defended myself as best I could, getting in a few shots here and there. He did too. I thought I was holding my own pretty good, only being able to use just my feet, but then he went left when I thought he was going right, and ended up chomping down around my midsection, taking out a good bite of my side. I was bleeding, the pain unbearable, and wasn't sure what to do. Then I remembered the gun Collin had tossed to the side. I was bulletproof, but he wasn't. Looking around I found it just to the right of where we were. He saw it the moment after I did and we both leapt for it.

I managed to grab it a second before he did, but he was right on top of me. Using all the strength I could muster I kicked him off me, throwing him back a few feet, giving me a second to readjust the gun into a useful position and slipped my ring finger, the least mangled of the bunch, onto the trigger, while praying that the gun was loaded. My hands were so badly damaged I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull the trigger. Using my other hand I grabbed it and forced my finger and the trigger backward, screaming as the action caused pain to shoot up through my arms.

It fired, hitting Collin square in the chest. He fell and didn't get back up. I collapsed in what I thought was relief, but was probably more due to the fact that the wound at my side was bleeding more and more.

"Jake? Jake!" I tried to call over and over, but my voice was fading. Collin was dead (I think) and Jake was still fighting Caius. My head was pounding and the loss of blood from the wound at my side . . . I could see the pool beneath me growing bigger. Soon everything started to get fuzzy, then dark.

* * *

To be continued . . .

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review. We're almost at the end. Just two chapters left (and the epilogue)


	131. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (11th Section)

**Part Ten – Eleventh Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

My hands and arm felt like they were burning, but that was nothing compared to my side. It took me a moment for my head to clear and remember but once it did it all came rushing back to me. Everything that had happened. My broken arm, mangled hands, and the gouge taken out of my side by Collin's bite and the kicks to my head and ribs from Caius. I felt almost as bad as I did when David phased out of me during his birth.

"She's waking up," I heard someone quietly say.

"Carlisle she's in pain, can you turn up the medication?" That was my father's voice.

Ah, relief. Carlisle must have done it.

"Sweetheart, can you open your eyes?"

It took me a second, my eyes stinging from the harshness of the light. I must have been asleep for awhile. But I was back home in my own bed, not my parents one that Jake and I had been staying in. Bella, Edward, Carlisle and Alice were surrounding me. We were safe.

"How did you find us?"

"I saw you," Alice whispered, "and called Edward."

"You saw us?" I was confused. Alice had been trying for years to be able to get a vision of Jake and until now had ever been able to. Thank goodness she finally found a way. I didn't want to even think about what would have happened if she hadn't.

"No, Nessie," my father corrected me. "Alice was only able to see you after Jake was . . . gone."

"Gone? But . . . where did he go?" A second later it dawned on me what my father had meant. "NO! Not Jake, my Jacob. He can't be dead. No . . . no . . . no -" I only stopped screaming when I begin choking on my tears.

"Let's give her some time," I heard Alice say as everyone got up and left my room, leaving only Bella who climbed into bed with me, wrapping me in her arms.

I spent the next 17 hours alternating between crying, screaming, begging her to tell me that it was some kind of horrible practical joke, and bargaining with any and all deities that I could think of to bring him back to me.

The next morning Alice and Edward returned.

"Everything's all set," Alice said, barely above a whisper to my mother. What was she talking about?

"The funeral," my father responded, his voice void of emotion. "We dug a grave for him in the backyard, by the flower garden. I hope that's alright. It's been a week -" A week? I had been asleep that long? He nodded. "We kept him on ice, until you had healed enough, but we can't exactly bring him back to La Push for a regular burial, not in the state he's in."

Huh? Why did everything seem so confusing right now? I didn't understand. Why couldn't we fly Jake's body home? He would want to be buried near Billy, and his mother, and all of his ancestors.

"He never phased back into his human form. He's still in his Wolf body, dear," my mother explained. "If you really think we should . . . err, I guess we could somehow smuggle him onto the Reservation -"

"We thought you would want him here," my father added.

"No . . . I . . . you're right. The backyard is . . . appropriate." My voice was robotic. Void of emotion. Probably because I was beyond grief at the moment. Maybe I was in shock.

Walking from my room, threw the house, down the stairs, outside to the backyard I was like a zombie. Unfortunately thanks to my Vampire side I was unable to forget what I saw, no matter how much I wanted to. Without my permission my mind was recording every single detail of this horrible, horrible day.

My family purchased . . . no he was too big, his wolf being the height of a horse, but bigger, thicker, more muscular. My family must have _built_ a coffin large enough for Jake's Wolf to fit in. They had done an amazing job. It looked like a normal coffin, just four times the size. The mahogany they used had been sanded and polished until it shined. On the top, where one would put a cross or star if they followed one religion or another, lay a relief carving of a Wolf. It was beautiful, and appropriate.

Carlisle said some words, a few prayers. I didn't have the energy so my mother spoke on my behalf. So did David and Sepideh. I hadn't even realized they were here until I heard my son's voice.

Throughout the ceremony I could barely look at Jacob's body and I was glad that Emmett closed the casket quickly. They were about to lower him into the ground when I remembered something.

"WAIT!" I screamed. There was only one thing that was still on Jake's body after he phased, not including the shorts Alice made him, and I wanted to keep it. My father saw what I had in my mind and retrieved it for me. Thank goodness, because I didn't think I would have been able to do it myself.

Once the funeral was over I returned to my room. I didn't say a word to my family or any of the Wolves that had shown up for the service. I didn't even acknowledge they were there.

Hours . . . days . . . weeks . . . passed. I didn't know how long, nor did I care.

The funeral seemed like a dream, no a nightmare. After awhile I noticed that I began chanting over and over again to myself. "He's not dead. He can't be. He's not dead. He's not -" But he was.

"She's not getting better, if anything the opposite is true," I could hear my grandfather say from somewhere downstairs. Straining my ears, I heard that everyone seemed to be gathered in the living room, I think, and apparently talking about me.

But don't they know? There was no way to help me. No one could help me. My soulmate was dead.

And I was dead too. On the inside, at least . . . for now. I tried killing myself already. Last week. At the last second my father heard my plan and stopped me.

After that I was moved from my own house to the main one, where the entire family could watch me. And I assumed Alice has been using her gift to watch, and my father listened, for anymore of my suicide attempts. And then there was Jasper, I could feel him trying to lessen my pain with his gift, but my emotions were too much for him and I think it was having the opposite effect, bringing him down, instead of him comforting me. I didn't see the point though. They wouldn't let me join my Jacob. It was cruel really. What was the point of living without him? I can't do anything without my heart, and that died with him.

The only thing I had managed to do since then was plant myself on the floor by my parents bed, wrap myself in the fetal position, and rock myself back and forth. That was on a good day. Most days I just went catatonic, like a normal Vampire under stress. While natural for the rest of my family, this had never happened to me before, and Carlisle seemed freaked out for a while. I wasn't sure why. I was unfortunately still alive.

They tried bringing me food, which I refused to eat. They brought me deer blood. Somehow they even found cougar blood. I wouldn't touch any of it. I tried hiding it from my father but when I turned down the human blood he realized my plan. If they wouldn't let me slit my wrists, or set myself on fire, I would starve myself to death. It hadn't worked for David but maybe I just needed to give it more time than he had.

"I don't know what to do . . . how to help her," I heard my mother say to someone downstairs. Whoever had last been in my room had left the door open a crack, allowing me to hear their conversation. "There has to be a way for her to move on, to be able to beat this. Is there anything we can do for her?" I heard only silence. She was right though. I couldn't go on like this anymore.

Eventually, I don't know when (time has lost all meaning for me, all I experienced now was pain . . . it was all consuming and I would say "heart wrenching" but that was already dead) my family brought me downstairs to try to talk to me. Try to reason with me. I know they loved me and would miss me when I was gone, but they still had their mates, they would deal.

"I know," I cut them off before they even got a chance to try futilely once again to _reason_ with me, "but I just can't. It's not like before when I drank wolves and I thought my Jacob had . . . left me. He's dead, gone. This is permanent. I can't live without him, and I don't want to. There is no way he is ever come back.

"I . . . need to get out of here, I need to leave." I announced, cutting off the arguments they tried to make. "I can't take it here anymore. Everything reminds me of . . . _him_." Though we had our own house, Jake and I had stayed at the main house long enough that there were too many memories of him here for me.

Did they know what I was planning or maybe they thought that I was just going to go back to my house? My father would have heard the truth in my mind, but I was grateful he didn't say anything or try to stop me. That would only be postponing the inevitable. But the sadness in his eyes made me falter in my resolve _._

 _Alright. I won't do anything right away but I can't make any promises._ I told him in my mind. _But I do need to get out of here._

As I turned to leave no one said a word. There was nothing left to say. Jacob was my life and he was gone. They all knew it was true and most just watched me walk out. Others eyes fell to the floor in sorrow. As I walk out the door I heard a single voice ask me to come back when I was able. I wonder if they knew how unlikely that was? A twang of guilt hit me as I realized the voice as Felicity's. But I can't worry about her. She was grown, she had her soulmate, she had her brother and grandparents, and the rest of the family. She would be fine. I kept walking.

"Goodbye," I whispered to my family. My voice was so soft, so quiet. Did they even hear me?

In the weeks that followed I wandered around the snow covered plains of . . . where was I? Southern Canada? The Northern United States? Somewhere near the Midwestern border between the two, I think. I had been traveling for I don't know how long. Weeks, possibly months.

Though I had promised my father I would try the deer population had not bounced back to what it had been at the start of the twenty-first century. Finding food was hard. Not that I really cared, but as time went on I noticed how weak I was becoming. I can't remember the last time I ate or drank anything. If my family were here they would have suggested I find a restaurant or store somewhere by a nearby highway or town but I just didn't have the desire to.

It was only now, that I thought I was close to the end, that I wondered if Half-Vampires could even die due to starvation. Or maybe something else was going on. All of the Imprinted Wolves simply lost their will to live after their Imprints died and passed away themselves but I think I was the first Imprint (not including Penny who had already sustained life ending injuries), at least in recent memory, where the Wolf died before the Imprint, so maybe that was just what was happening with me. I would just fade away due to the loss of my wolf, my soulmate. My husband. My other-half of my heart.

Some more time passed and I knew that I was getting worse. I could feel the cold now for the first time in my life. Never needing one, I hadn't thought to bring a coat. Now I was shivering, the snow and ice that fell from the sky cut into my skin. Both stung. I was tired, exhausted really, but couldn't sleep. That would only bring more nightmares.

After a few more days of endless wandering I was still holding on, but barely. My mouth was bone dry, my lips were cracked for the first time ever, my strength was gone. I couldn't run. It was a struggle to even stand, let alone walk. Even my eyesight was failing, everything was getting dark and fussy. I knew the end was coming soon and I welcomed it.

Squinting to get a clear view I realized that I was standing at the edge of a forest. Could it be that spring was coming? Maybe I was hallucinating. Either way I saw (or imagined) flowers popping up through the snow. I could hear the soft crashing of waves from a nearby river. In the distance birds were chirping. This place was beautiful. The irony that life was coming back to the area as mine was ending was not lost on me.

My Jacob. Finally we would be together again. I began playing with my bracelets. On one wrist was the promise bracelet that Jake had given me for my first Christmas. On the other was his wedding band. When my father retrieved it from Jake's casket I tried but in its collapsed state it had been too big to even wear on my thumb. I had had to pull it open, expanding it to where Jake would wear it in his Wolf form and slipped it on my wrist. A matched set. I was glad that I could have this part of him with me now.

I was about to lay down and go to sleep, never intending to wake up, when I heard some sort of animal lapping up water at the edge of a nearby river, maybe a mile or more away. Mentally I was done, but my Vampire instincts took over and I found myself going closer. As I approached I could make out that it wasn't just any animal. It was large. If I drained it, it would probably sustain me for who knows how long. I've gone without feeding for so long at this point that it'd probably pick me back up to just starving, not dying.

Just thinking of the warm blood sliding down my through, easing the burn, stopping the ache in my stomach, lifting the dullness that was fogging my brain . . .

Yes! I wanted it, if only to have one last drink. Just like inmates on death row getting their last meals. Then I would be ready to die. To join my Jacob, wherever he was. Together forever.

The wind was coming toward me so there was no way it had caught my scent. I edged closer. Careful not to make a sound. If it fled there would be no way for me to catch it.

I had to squint to see. And even then I wasn't sure what I was approaching The animal was large, I could tell that much. But what was it? A bear? No. A deer? I didn't think so.

I needed to get closer.

No! This can't be. Of all the rotten luck. The animal by the river was a wolf. For a second I thought I lost my mind and was hallucinating that it was Jacob in front of me. But of course that wasn't possible and this wolf didn't even look like him, not really. It was big yes, but not as big as my Jacob had been and it's fur was the wrong color.

But even if it wasn't him, that it was a wolf was enough to stop me dead in my tracks. As hungry as I was I couldn't do it. There was no way I could drink from a wolf. After all of the decades I experienced with my love, my Jacob I couldn't, I wouldn't. I know in the past, as I had reached maturity, I drank dozens of them but maybe, in some sick way this was some sort of ironic cosmic payback.

Defeated, I began backing away. Only when it was too late did I realize that while I couldn't kill the wolf it looked like it had no qualms about feeding from me. It made sense. There really was nothing else to eat around here. I hadn't seen any white-tailed deer, or elk, or Caribou. Not even any foxes or tiny little bunnies. There was nothing to eat, not that I had seen anyway.

But now there was . . . me. The wolf had seen, or possibly heard me. Either way it had started running towards me at full speed. It went faster than I would have thought possible, or maybe I was just so weak, my mind working so slow, that it just looked that way. At this rate it was going to be here in under a minute.

I braced myself. In my weakened state I probably would only get one shot to try and take it out before it killed me. I wouldn't want to kick it in chest or anything, That would only stun it at most, and only for a second or two. No, I would have to go for the jugular . . . literally. If I bit it's neck, hard enough and deep enough I might survive.

Could I do that? I just thought that I wouldn't be able to drink it, not after everything Jacob and I had shared but would I really want my death to be this way? Killed by a wolf? At least then I would get to be with my Jacob.

I was warring against myself. One part fighting to stay alive, to live for Jacob's memory and feed. Another also fighting for Jacobs memory, but this one not to. It was wrong. It was one of his brothers or sisters. How could I do that? It would be like killing him all over again.

At the last moment, just before the wolf reached me I realized that Jacob would want me to live. He died fighting, risking his life for my own, so that I could live. I wouldn't tarnish his memory, his sacrifice by giving up now. I crouched down slightly, getting into an attack position. Just as the wolf was about to crash into me, I open my mouth and slammed it shut around the side of its neck and tore.

The impact of the crash was more than I was expecting. I was not able to withstand the blow and ended up flying backwards into a large rock.

I must have blacked out because the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that there was a sharp pain in my arm. My eyes snapped shut. Ouch! It was probably broken. My mind was so fuzzy. What happened? Oh, the wolf! I wasn't dead, so it must be. But where did it go? Slowly I reopened my eyes. Where I expected to find the dead body of the wolf I now saw a human one. Quickly thinking back to the attack I realized that the wolf had not growled, or snarled, or did any other menacing sort of behavior. It just ran towards me.

Damn! I must have wandered farther west than I thought. He must have been a new La Push or Makah Wolf. How could I have been so stupid? He probably knew who I was from one of the other Wolf's memories and was just coming to say "Hi," or something, and I killed him.

I needed to at least find out who he was, so I could tell their family. Even though we must have been at most only a few hundred miles away from the Reservations there was no way I'd be able to carry the body back in my condition. My left arm was healing, but not correctly, not that that was important right now. Using only my right hand I grabbed the man's shoulder and begin to flip him onto his back so I could see his face.

NO! THIS CAN'T BE.

JACOB!

But . . . ? How? It can't be him. I . . . He's dead! We buried him. But now he's back. And I killed him . . . again!

WAIT . . . No. He's . . . breathing, barely. It's shallow but I could definitely see his chest rise and fall and I had to listen hard but there it was . . . his heartbeat. It was weak, but it was there.

His Neck!

I needed to stop the bleeding. Looking around I didn't see anything that I could use. Jacob was naked, I only had the clothes on my back and they were filthy. Ripping off my shirt I made sure to press the inside that was little bit cleaner to Jacob's gaping neck wound. "Please! Please! Please!" I chanted, over and over and over again. "Please let this work. Please let him live. Please." A few minutes later it looked like the wound was well on its way to being healed. Thank goodness for accelerated Wolf healing.

Fourteen agonizing minutes later Jake's eyes slowly began to flutter open. "Ness -" Jake tried to talk but ended up choking on his own blood.

"Oh, Jacob. I'm so sorry. I . . ."

He coughed some more, expelling more blood, but it actually seemed to help. A few minutes later he tried talking again. "Nessie . . . are you . . . What happened? Oh, your hurt!" he gasped, as his eyes traveled from my head down, resting on my arm.

"What?" I know I wasn't in the best shape. I was sickly thin and probably resembled more a skeleton than girl. Add to that I could also feel a trickle of blood coming down my forehead and I'm pretty sure I had a few other minor injuries from the impact with Jake and the rock, probably some bruised ribs and what not. But how could he even care about me at a time like this? I had almost killed him. "Who cares about me. Jake, you're alive. How?"

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Yes. Of course I am." How could he think that? "But you . . . died. We buried you." I thought I had already cried myself out, but those were tears of sadness. Now I was crying for a different reason. Joy. Overwhelming joy. If I had the ability to make any tears right now they would have been gushing from my eyes.

But I couldn't. I couldn't cry. I was too dehydrated from lack of blood, food, water, sleep. I had gone too long without . . . everything. I couldn't even keep my eyes open anymore.

Maybe this was it. I had gotten to see my Jacob one last time and now I could die. Maybe he was never even here, just my subconscious working overtime in my delirium. Everything was going dark and I was gladly, happily sinking down into the abyss.

* * *

Almost done. Only one chapter left and then the Epilogue. I wrote it in Bella's Point of View - thinking that since this story started with her it should end the same way. What do you think?

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	132. 50 Years Later, 2060-2064 (12th Section)

**Part Ten – Twelfth Section**

 **2060-2064**

Renesmee's Point of View

I was warm, the wind was no longer cutting into skin, and I could feel a soft bed under me. The burn in my throat was still there but not as bad as it had been and my stomach had stopped rumbling. I needed to open my eyes.

Where was I?

Was I back at my parents house after the fight with Caius? Was it all a dream?

"Jake?" I croaked. My voice sounded wrong. Dry, strained. "Jacob, are you . . ." I had to know if it was real or not. Was it all a dream? Or a nightmare?

"You're awake. Nessie you had me so worried."

It was him. He _was_ alive.

I tried sitting up. Looking around I saw that this wasn't my bedroom. Or my parents. Or any of the Cullens. It looked like a filthy, cheap motel room.

"Easy there, I don't want you passing out on me again," my Jacob said as he gently pushed me back into the bed. "Are you thirsty? Do you need more blood?"

"Yes," I replied, as the burn in my throat intensified.

I was also very confused. I didn't exactly understand what was going on. Where were we? How did we get here? Where did Jake get the blood? Was Carlisle or any of the rest of family here? And most importantly how was Jake here . . . alive?

But I was still weak and hungry so it would have to wait. There would be time for my questions later.

"Here," Jake said before biting his own wrist and holding it up to my mouth.

"NO! I can't," I screamed as I pushed his hand away. With his accelerated healing it was already starting to close but some drops splattered onto the bed.

"Ness, you need blood, and I have been feeding you this way while you slept for the past two days."

Two days?

"Just drink," he said again as he re-bit his wrist. Jake was a little more forceful this time as he shoved his arm towards me. As soon as the blood got close I lost control and began drinking, my Vampire instincts taking over.

"That's all I can give you," Jake said after less than a minute as he pulled his arm back. For a second I lunged forward after it, but after a brief struggle to regain control I forced myself to lean back toward the headboard. "When you're up to it we can try hunting. I'm sorry."

Jake was apologizing?

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a minute.

"Better," I replied. "Good as new even." It was an exaggeration, of course, but I didn't want him trying to offer me anymore of his blood. I couldn't imagine he had any to spare after what I had done to his neck.

"Good, because you're not going to like what I'm going to have to do next."

What? He was leaving me again? "No!" I started hyperventilating. "You can't . . . I can't lose you . . . Not again . . ."

"Relax, Renesmee. I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you again."

I immediately did what he said and relaxed. Before I could ask him what he had meant he explained that my broken arm had healed wrong and he was going to have to re-break it to set it properly.

He gave me a towel to bite down on as he did it, but I didn't need it. Having Jake here with his hands on me, once again, was all the anesthesia I needed.

Once that was over it was time for my questions. I needed answers.

"Jake you were gone, dead. I never thought I would see you again."

"Never say never," Jake replied.

"But how? You were . . . we had a funeral."

He looked sad, but for some reason not shocked. "Do you really think anything on this earth could keep me from you?"

"But how . . .?" I asked. Without me having to ask anything else he told me what had happened since he . . . died.

"I passed into my Spirit Form right before my body died. It was completely involuntary. I think the Wolf in me knew and somehow . . . Anyway . . . I'm sorry it took me so long to come back to you. There are not many wolves around these parts. None actually. It took me awhile to find one who agreed to sharing his body. I searched everywhere, finally finding one in Mongolia. Some guy there was keeping a few of them as part of his own personal zoo. It was horrible. Breaking out of the cage, then evading the guards . . . let's just say it was quite an experience, but not as bad as trying to swim the Pacific. I couldn't exactly buy a plane ticket without clothes or money and I tried stowing away on a few ships headed this way but everything nowadays has been fitted with so many sensors, cameras, and other security measures, from the wars, that the one ship I actually made it on, I was quickly found and . . . err, it added some time to my journey," he explained without going into further detail.

What had happened? Had he been arrested? Shot? Tortured? He didn't look like he was going to say right now. So I asked, "you swam across the entire Pacific Ocean?"

"It was worth it to get back to you. But I didn't know where you were. I went to our house but it didn't smell like you had been there in months. So then I tried the main house."

"What did my parents say when they saw you?" They probably freaked out as much as I did.

"They weren't there either. Their scents were fresher, but were at least a week old. I've been wandering around looking for you since, terrified that something had happened to you. To all of you. Nessie, why you were out in the woods by yourself, in this state. What happened to you? Are the Cullens . . . did something happen to them? Was it Caius?"

"Don't you remember Jacob, you killed Caius." My parents had told me that they found Caius with his head ripped off. They had to burn his body, but the kill belonged to Jacob. He had saved me.

"Yeah I thought I had, but then why were you out there, alone, looking so -"

"Horrible. It's okay. You can say it. I know I looked pretty bad Jake. "

"It's not that I can't say it, Ness, it's that I don't know why. Why aren't you with your family? They should have been taking care of you while I was -"

"I couldn't. Life without you. . . it was unbearable, Jake. I didn't -"

He stopped short, pulling me into his chest. He understood that I wanted it all to end. "Hey, I told you I would always be there for you, Renesmee. That I'll always love and protect you, forever. And I always keep promises to you, don't I?"

"Yes, but . . . I didn't expect you to come back from the dead for me."

"Always." He just smirked.

While I was happy that I had Jake back, a new concern arose. What had happened to my family? A week meant it wasn't just for hunting. If Alice had been looking she might have seen my future disappear when Jake found me and assumed I was dead. They wouldn't want to stay in that house with memories of me anymore than I did when Jake was gone.

"Jake why didn't you communicate with David, or any of the other wolves, once you were here?" He should have been able to when he was within 300 miles of them.

"I can't. I don't know why." He shrugged sadly.

"Oh! Well we need to contact the family. We should go home as soon as we can and call them from there. They won't believe it when they see you Jake."

"Let's call them now. David, Felicity . . . who knows what our kids must be going through. We shouldn't prolong . . . hurt them, or the others, anymore than they already have been."

Jake was right. That would be cruel. But . . . "I don't have a phone on me." I doubted he had one either.

"There's one in the room," he said, pointing to an old land line attached to the far wall. It had to be at least 80 years old. Did that antique even work still? "You'll have to be quick though, and we're going to need to leave right after. I didn't exactly rent this room. The outgoing call will probably alert someone that we are here."

Oh. Okay. Neither of us had any money at present. He was right.

I didn't want to tell our son or daughter over the phone that their father was alive. The shock . . . no, it would be too much. Instead I dialed my mother's number.

"Bella, I needed -"

"OH MY GOODNESS. RENESMEE YOU'RE ALIVE!" she screamed into the phone.

It seems I was partially right before. She told me how Alice had been keeping tabs on me at her and Edward's request. I had looked so bad that Alice was sure I must have starved to death when I disappeared from her vision, due to Jacob's presence. They had been out looking for my body, but I had been traveling mostly in forests, barley ever passing a highway, never a street sign or building to give a clue as to my location. Months of snow and rain had covered my scent. They were searching blindly.

"Are you alright?" my father's voice now came through the phone."

"Yes, and I'll explain everything when I see you. Can you meet us back at the house?"

"Us?"

"Me and . . . Jacob. It's a long story. We'll tell you everything when we get there. We are leaving right now."

"We can come and get you. Where are -"

I could hear someone coming our way.

"No, we're going to run back. I have to go. I love you all." I said cutting him off, then quickly hung up the phone. Neither of us had any possessions so there was nothing to gather up. Jake had already washed out my bloodied shirt, dried it, and put it back on me. We managed to slip out the door and around the corner, just before someone came down the hall. They must not have seen us, because they started banging on the room's door.

We ran through the woods, hand in hand, straight back to the house. Jake never phased. With no aimless wandering the journey took much less time. We talked about everything and nothing; catching up and loving each other the entire time. He told me more about his journey back to me, and after some playful leering on my part he also explained how he had been too worried about me to even realize he was without clothing, not that I minded. We were staying deep in the forest. No one was going to see us.

He also told me how he was so afraid he was going to lose me that after the first day, when I still had not woken up. He didn't want to leave me, not for a second, but could see how malnourished I was, he didn't think I would make it much longer.

"The room next door ordered takeout the other day and I . . . err, kinda might have . . . borrowed some of the orders from his truck that he still hadn't delivered." Jake looked so guilty but I was glad he had eaten. "I tried waking you to get you to eat some, but when that didn't work was when I gave up and started feeding you myself. I wasn't sure it would work, but you drank while sleeping."

In turn I told him what I had been up to, which mostly amounted to just drifting around for the last few months. But more than that I told him how my life held no meaning without him in it, how I had lost the will to live, but when I thought I was going to die, regained it when I realized that he would not have wanted me to give up. He had saved me again.

Three days later we arrived at the main house. My family was already there waiting for us.

"Mom, Dad!" Felicity was the first out the front door, wrapping both of us in a hug, followed closely behind by Bella and Edward. They hugged us, and told Jake (and me) how happy, and surprised, they were to see him (us) . . . alive.

Rose, Emmett, Alice, Jasper and Jennifer came out soon after.

"Carlisle and Esme were searching for you farther north than the rest of us. They should be back within the next hour or so. David, Angelina and the twins are flying in with Leah as we speak. They should be here by morning," Bella informed us. I guess they had gone back to Greece. But without Felicity and Jennifer. I'll ask about that later.

"Jacob, not that we're not overjoyed to see you . . . but um . . . could you . . . you know -" Edward said while tossing a pair of pants to him.

When did he even leave to go get those?

"Oh . . . um yeah," Jake blushed as I temporarily slid away from him so he could put them on. "Thanks. I kinda forgot," he explained.

Then Jake once again told everyone, just as he had with me, how he was able to essentially come back from the dead.

"You merged with a new animal and still chose a sinking dog?" Emmett busted into a fit of laughter.

"Is your Wolf form the same as before?" Jasper pondered out loud, ignoring his brothers howls.

"Oh, err, no," Jake sadly sighed. "I can't seem to communicate with the other Wolves anymore. And, um . . . actually I don't even know what I look like that way," he admitted. "There were not a lot of mirrors in the forest."

"Well let's go find out," Alice said, disappearing for a second before reappearing rather impatiently by the front door with a large mirror. "Come on Jacob, phase," she ordered while taping her foot.

"Alice, I just got my Jacob back after . . . I don't even know how long. I think that can wait until tomorrow. We have some catching up to do." I continued while winking at my long lost love. There was a bed upstairs and I really wanted to use it.

"Oh come on Nessie, it's only been four months. You can't wait another few minutes?"

"It might have only been four months but without my soulmate if felt like forever since I have seen him."

"That's why you are just going to have to wait my dear," Jasper said to his wife before tilting his head upwards, towards the stairs. "Go. We'll see you in a day . . . or two," he smirked to us.

He didn't have to tell me twice. Or Jake either. Before I could even respond Jake had picked me up, easily since I was already in his arm, and we were halfway up the stairs, to my parents bedroom, before we heard Carlisle's voice.

"Hold on you two, before you disappear I think it would be best if I gave each of you a quick check up. Renesmee you've been through so much, both emotional and physical, and well, you are looking a little malnourished."

"And I'd like Carlisle to look at that arm," my father interjected, pointing to the one Jake had reset.

"Yeah and Jake . . . you being dead," Emmett added, between laughs, "that can't be good for your health."

Ha, ha.

We got the _all good_ after a couple pints of blood for me, at Carlisle's insistence, and then without another word to anyone, Jake and I disappeared into my parents bedroom. I'm sure they all understood our need to be together privately now, even Alice, despite her impatience.

Two days later we descended back down the stairs. We probably would not have left the room so soon, but I was thirsty. Someone in my family had left trays of food outside the door for us, but I let Jake eat it all. He tried to get me to eat some, but I never developed a taste for human food, even after all these years. I'm sure my father could hear me, but was counting on my need for blood to coax us out of the bedroom.

I had not been a child in over 50 years, but I was still his daughter, and having to listen to Jake and I . . . well I'm sure even after 500 years it still won't be easy for him. I half heartedly wondered if Bella had bothered to shield us. Not that it mattered, but still a part of me . . . only a small part, still wondered.

After a quick hunt for one of the deer we raised, Jake and I returned home. Alice was once again by the door, mirror in hand, waiting for us.

Jake had never phased as we ran. Actually he hadn't changed into his Wolf form since I first attacked him in the forest. It suddenly dawned on me that he might be worried about that. I had attacked him the last time he was a Wolf. Was he worried about what he looked like in his new Wolf form, or worried about my reaction if he looked different? If he was, then I figured that he was waiting for me to have the support of my family around if he did not appear as he once had and I _freaked out_. But . . . no, he couldn't be. I'd love him if he had three heads, a permanent limp, and no tail. Ha, ha, ha. No tail . . . on a wolf. That would be funny. A slight chuckle escaped my lips. Now most of the family looked over to me like I was the one with three heads. I just waved them off, rolling my eyes, like it was nothing to laugh out loud like some crazy person. Was I crazy? Maybe. I certainly had been through enough to render a normal person insane.

"Okay, I guess this is the moment of truth," he said to me before backing up to a safe distance in order to phase.

"I never got a good look at your new Wolf self the first time. I'm probably as eager to see what you look like as you are. You know I love you no matter what," I assured him and truly meant it.

"Ready?" Jake asked, looking directly into my eyes. I couldn't form words anymore though. I nodded and tried to smile. I hoped it was convincing.

It must have been because a second later Jacob phased.

My Jacob's Wolf fur had always been a russet-auburn brown, but now, in this new incarnation, had some darker streaks blended in to it. And his Wolfs body - it was still big, but not as huge as it once had been. That made sense. Whatever Wolf that had agreed to share its body with Jake had not had generations of Quileute magic running though its veins. He was still bigger than a normal wolf, but was, by my estimate, a good four inches shorter than before. Jake was still 6'7" as a human, so only his Wolf had altered its physical form. But his eyes . . . his wolf eyes, they were exactly the same as his human eyes. They were still there, just as they had been before, just in this new body.

I must have been staring longer than I thought. Not speaking, not talking, because Jake started barking. Huh?

"He wants to know what you think." Edward translated. "He's afraid you don't like his new Wolf body."

Jake barked again. Was he mad at how my father worded it, or did he think that was true?

"I'm not upset. You look like . . . it's not so much that you still look like you, it's more that you still _are_ you," I quickly amended. For some reason Edward, Bella, and I think even Jake, though it was hard to tell with him as a Wolf, but they all started laughing. I didn't know why.

"That's almost word for word what Jacob told Bella when he first laid eyes on her after she became a newborn." Edward explained.

"Oh." Sometimes it was frightening how alike Jake and I truly were.

Jake soon phased back so we could talk more. That was good because I had a lot of questions.

"Jake, I'm confused. Why do you still look like you. Human you," I amended. "Don't get me wrong, I love it, I just don't understand. It's just I remember the old stories of Taha Aki when he joined with the first wolf. Don't the legends say that his human body was transformed into a new more glorious version of itself, or something like that?" I asked.

"Hey are you saying my body wasn't glorious before?" he chuckled over to me, trying to lighten my very serious mood. I probably still looked like a wreck, thinking that he was dead. I had gained back some of the weight I had lost, but was still painfully thin. I knew my husband, above anything else, he would want to make me happy. I needed to make him happy, too. It's taken him so long to find this body, his wolf body, he knew how his absence put me through so much stress. Not that it was in anyway his fault, I just knew how his mind and the Imprinting worked.

"Of course it was," I admitted. He was gorgeous before, almost as good looking as a Vampire. "But over the years you had been injured, time and again. And look at what I did to you, biting your neck and wrist," I ran my finger over his new scars. "Sorry again about that." I said as he shook he head relieving me of some of my guilt. "But the rest of your body, all of your old wounds are gone. Every claw and bite mark, every knife and puncture wound, the bullet wounds, they're all gone."

"Well technically this," he said pointing to his wrist, "was all my doing." I disagreed, but kept my mouth shut for the time, because it looked like there was more he wanted to say. "But my joining with a new wolf kinda did the same thing, fixing everything that was wrong before. Not that I'm really an expert, or anything, but I had been a Wolf before and already had a pretty awesome physique, if I do say so myself, so this time, I think it was the wolf's body that mostly got transformed in the joining of our two Spirits. He was a lot smaller before we merged. Seeing myself in the mirror just now, my Wolf self is a lot larger than it was before we merged in Mongolia." He took a deep breath. "I tried darling, I tried to find one that looked just like I did before but there weren't a lot of options. You know the wolf population in the world is almost non-existent now."

"I do, and that's why I'm so surprised because you not only still look like you but you're Wolf . . . it's so close to what you looked like before. Not exact, but pretty close. Especially your eyes. Your Wolf still has your eyes. I see no difference there. And as a Wolf you're almost as big as you once were. Your fur color might be a little off, but I'll get used to it."

In the end it didn't matter what he looked like, familiar or altered, as long as he was with me, I . . . we would be fine.

"We should run some drills. See how your new Wolf holds up in a battle." Jasper sputtered.

What? "Why?"

"Jacob, you might not be as effective as you once were against a formidable opponent in your . . . _new_ form," my father offered.

I knew what they were implying. That because Jake was not as large as he was before, he might not be as strong or fast as he once had been. That if we were in another battle with a full Vampire Jake might not be able to save me.

Even though Jasper was the one to first voice it, I realized that my father thought Jake was not enough to protect me. That he could not keep me safe from our kind. But he was wrong. Jake would die for me, to keep me safe, just as I would do for him. Just as he did do for me.

"Bring it." I challenged. Jake could take any of them on. I knew it. Even if he was smaller than he once was. It didn't matter. His spirit was just as strong. And Edward forgot one thing. Jake and I were a team. If you took on one of us you took on both of us.

But of course for right now I knew that they – my father and the rest of my family, they all needed to see that Jake was just as strong, just as powerful, just as fast as he ever was. I knew it, deep down in my core. It was his Wolf spirit. That was my Jacob. It didn't matter what body, what form he inhabited, he was my Jacob. And my Jacob was strong and powerful and . . . wonderful. He was my love and was always perfect. There was no doubt in my mind.

"Can I have a go?" David asked coming out of the house, wrapping his father in a hug.

Over the next hour Jake fought off both Vampire and Wolf attacks and, much to my uncle's chagrin, managed to rip off Jasper's arm. It looked like it hurt, but it was not like his arm couldn't be reattached. He would be fine in a few minutes.

More importantly my beliefs were confirmed as Jake not only held his own, but surprised everyone in his ability. He was even better – stronger and faster, than before.

* * *

Later that night we were back in our own bedroom, in our own house, settling into our own bed when I decided I needed to state the obvious. It made me so happy, knowing that my Jacob would be safe . . . forever. "Jake you're immortal"

"Aren't we all?" he chuckled back.

"Not exactly. Vampires can live for a very, very long time, but just as you saw with the Volturi, we can be killed. So can the Wolves, at least the others can. But you, you are different. This," I waved my arm up and down his form, "proves that you are something else. You are truly immortal. You can phase out of a dying body and find a new one. You can live forever. Don't you see? You never, ever have to die?"

"That is not exactly true. But I'll be alive for as long as you are, Nessie. That's a promise."

Didn't he see how wonderful this was? "But Jake you can live for-."

"Nessie," he sighed, cutting me off, "did you want to go on existing when you thought I was gone?"

Of course, he knew I didn't, he was right. As soon as I was gone, whether it happened in a month's time or ten thousand years from now, he would find a way to follow.

Suddenly I knew that Jake and I, _we_ would be together forever . . . or not. Just like, deep down, I knew it always should be.


	133. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 **2065**

Bella's Point of View

* * *

I'd never given much thought about having children, but now as I watched my daughter packing to leave, to join her own family, for the first time in decades it dawned on me that I was saying goodbye to a part of myself. Sure, we had lived apart before, but now our impending separation felt more permanent. I knew it wasn't, yet the idea still saddened me.

Edward and I would continue on as we always had; possibly as it was always meant to be, together with the rest of the Cullens - my adoptive father and mother-in-laws, Carlisle and Esme, and my husband's siblings, Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie.

My miracle daughter, Renesmee was going off to live with her husband, and my best friend, Jacob, and their family - my grandchildren Felicity (and her wife, Jennifer) and David (and his mate, Angelina) and their children, my great-granddaughters, Jeanette and Julia. And let's not forget my step-sister Leah who recently, some would say _finally_ , Imprinted on the newest of the Grecian wolves, Xander.

As Nessie and Jacob piled the last of their suitcases into the car, to take them to the airport, I realized that this was not the end. Only a continuation of our story; ready to turn the page onto the next chapter of all of our lives. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. We were a family, no matter where we were located in the world.

I was ready for whatever the future held.

* * *

The End

or

To be continued . . . forever?

* * *

A.N. - That's it. My story is done. Thank you sooooooooooo much for reading and making it all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it.

I do plan to go back and fix a number of things. I don't think i got Jacob exactly right. He needs to be more Alpha, less second-guessing of himself. I'm not going to change the major events of the story, just his reactions and internal monologue on things. And i am thinking of reposting it as a revised version while keeping this original for those of you who like it the way it is.

I am also going to write actual chapters for those first few "50 years after" recap chapters and have it be more consistent with the rest of the story. And i have thought of a few other things i wanted to add in that are missing. This is going to make the story even longer so i plan to republish it in several smaller instalments.

If you have any suggestions i would love to hear them.


	134. Authors Note

Authors Note -

If you are interested in reading it, I just published the first chapter of Book One of _O_ _rbiting Satellites_ – my revised version of _Sunrise_.

I have broken _Sunrise_ up into 5 smaller books, while also adding to some small touches and events to most chapters and completely expanding others. My revised version of _Sunrise_ has a more testosterone-filled, Alpha Wolf version of Jacob.

When Alpha Wolf Jacob Imprints on Half-Vampire Renesmee their lives revolve around each other, like two orbiting satellites, one always chasing the other. Jacob thought things were finally going to be perfect, so why were their lives together a struggle? Follow Jake and Nessie's changing relationship, ups & downs, after BD till she matures & beyond.

All written in Renesmee and Jacob's Point of View. All Canon.

Here's the link:

s/13204890/1/Orbiting-Satellites

s/13204890/1/Orbiting-Satellites-Bk-1-Sunrise-revised-and-broken-up-into-5-books


End file.
